Report – Kanye West Legally Changes His Entire Name to Just ‘Ye’

Kanye West has shortened his name to one syllable.

According to a report from Deadline this afternoon (Oct. 18), Kanye has done away with his government name following a judge approving his petition to now go by “Ye.” The rapper, born Kanye Omari West, no longer utilizes a middle or last name.

Ye first filed the documents back in August to shorten his entire name to just two letters. At the time, he was awaiting the green light from a judge to turn what was once a nickname into his official name.

The reason behind the change remains unclear. However, it could have a religious meaning for the Chicago native. During an interview in 2018 when Yeezy was gearing up for his Ye album release, he appeared on the Power 106 radio show and explained that he believed “Ye” to be a commonly used word in the Bible, which means “you.”

“So it’s, I’m you, I’m us, it’s us,” he shared at the time. “It went from being Kanye, which means ‘The only one,’ to just ‘Ye,’ just being a reflection of our good, our bad, our confused, everything. And I’m just more of a reflection of who we are. This is beings.”

And perhaps, Ye had been hinting at this name alteration for a while, but folks weren’t paying close enough attention.

In June of 2018, he tweeted, “Who or what is Kanye West with no ego? Just Ye.” Then, in September of that same year, he typed on Twitter, “The being formally known as Kanye West. I am YE.”

Kanye joins Diddy, hip-hop’s certified name changer, who officially changed his middle name to “Love” back in May.

XXL has reached out to the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles for confirmation and a rep for Ye for a comment.