Has Kanye West changed his name to "Ye Ye"? Rapper's spokesperson clarifies rumors

Kanye West's team recently cleared the air about his name change to "Ye Ye." A spokesperson for the rapper confirmed to Page Six on Monday, June 16, 2025, that no such thing was happening. According to the representative, a misunderstanding led to the speculations that the rapper was changing his name for the second time.

"[The misunderstanding happened due to] an oddity created by an online form that required something in both first name and last name fields," the rep said.

The speculations about Kanye changing his name arose due to the apparent mention of "Ye Ye" on certain documents. Last week, Page Six obtained the business documents of Kanye West under the name "Ye Ye," filed by his chief financial officer, Hussain Lalani, in California.

In the documents, "Ye Ye" was described as the "manager or member" of the rapper's companies, Yeezy Apparel, Yeezy Record Label, and Ox Paha Inc.

The representative clarified that the rapper usually goes by the name Ye. However, the form required both the first name and last name fields to be filled up. Hence, the system automatically filled in the last name portion by duplicating the name put into the first name section.

According to HotNewHipHop, the mention of "Ye Ye" in the forms was completely technical and had nothing to do with Kanye's personal choices.

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When did Kanye West change his name for the first time?

In September 2018, Kanye West announced X, stating that he was changing his name to "Ye." Earlier that year, he had spoken about the spiritual importance of this name. In February 2018, he had a conversation with radio host Big Boy regarding the same.

"I believe 'Ye' is the most commonly used word in the Bible, and in the Bible it means 'you.' So I'm you, I'm us, it's us. It went from Kanye, which means the only one, to just Ye - just being a reflection of our good, our bad, our confused, everything," he said.

This conversation happened just a few months before he dropped his eighth studio album titled Ye. Since the 2018 announcement, Kanye has adopted the name on multiple platforms, from music to social media.

Finally, in 2021, he decided to make the name change permanent and filed legal paperwork. According to Page Six, the rapper then cited "personal reasons" behind the decision.

The outlet added that despite this change, he was still referred to as Kanye West in the music industry. This later prompted Ye's former chief of staff, Milo Yiannopoulos, to demand that he be called by his new name. In an open letter dated March 2024, Yiannopoulos wrote that the rapper should not be called by his "slave name."

However, to clarify again, while Kanye had legally changed his name once in 2021, the recent speculations were untrue.

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In separate news, Radar reported on June 17 that Kanye West and Bianca Censori had discreetly checked in at The Balance Rehab Clinic, a luxury rehab center, in Spain. The outlet added that this was amid the rumors about their strained relationship.

Edited by Meenakshi Ajith