“HOW vain, without the merit, is the name,” says the poet Homer, who must’ve realized the power names have because of the image, identity and responsibility they imbue on their owners.
Many of us were born with names that we’re stuck with from womb to tomb. Others change their names, or even just their nicknames, when they move to a different place, feel their original name no longer suits them, or they want to put on a new identity, project a new persona.
There is truly something sacred about names—so much so that the shedding of an old name for a new one represents the acceptance of a new identity and a whole new experience. It represents the death of one’s former self and the creation of a new person. Though unseen, there is a psychological and metaphysical shift in the new person. From that time on, a new path, so to speak, is forged.
In the world of sports, names of sports heroes and heroines are worshipped just as much as their true selves. We interact directly with names and respond to their stimulus in our brains, as if their mere mention brings to life the person those names describe. Close your eyes and gauge your emotional response when you hear the names Manny Pacquiao, Tiger Woods, Tom Brady, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Novak Djokovic, just for starters. There is a lot of magic there, huh.
But there are many sportsmen too who divorced their old names and applied for new ones—to make their tags catchier, to relate better with fans, or for religious and political reasons. For sure, they were serious enough to go through the legal process—filling out all the forms, complying with laws and waiting it out just like everybody else. Anywhere from a day to six months or longer, says the primer on NameChangeLaw.com.
So why don’t we meet a few athletes who went the Full Monty to acquire new names to match their new personas?
“The Greatest,” Muhammad Ali, was born Cassius Marcellus Clay in Louisville, Kentucky in January 1942. He became Muslim due to a deep friendship with Malcolm X and changed his name in 1967.
Kareem Abdul Jabbar was formerly known as Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr., or plain Lew Alcindor. A Muslim even in college, Lew legally changed his name in 1975 while still a Milwaukee Buck. Whether as Alcindor or Abdul-Jabbar, Buck or Laker, Kareem continued to shine in hoops and won six MVP awards in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Ronald Williams Artest, Jr. changed his name to Metta World Peace after that infamous fan and players riot during the championship game between the Indiana Pacers and the Detroit Pistons in 2004. “Changing my name was meant to inspire and bring youth together around the world,” he told LA media in 2011. But now, the hooper formerly known as Artest changed his name again in 2020. He is now Metta Sandiford-Artest, a name that combines his wife, Maya Ford’s last name with his original last name. How will he be called next?
Some athletes change names to make them more stellar, more fan-worthy. Marvin Nathaniel Hagler—the undisputed world middleweight champion from 1980 to 1987 who made 12 successful title defenses, all by knockout, except one—decided he’d jazz up his name by adding “Marvelous” in there. That’s what he was called all the time anyway, but some network announcers often did not refer to him that way. In 1982 he legally changed his name to Marvelous Marvin Hagler. And those announcers had no choice.
Another boxer, Sugar Ray Robinson, was originally known as Walker Smith Jr. But boxing club owner George Gainford described his boxing style as “sweet as sugar” and the nickname stuck. Just ain’t sure if that was legal.
The newest athlete to go for a legal name change is Enes Kanter, now a Boston Celtic called Enes Kanter Freedom. Freedom, a staunch fighter for human rights whose Turkish passport was revoked in 2017, became a full-pledged US citizen with a brand-new name in 2022. “Freedom is essential for ALL,” he says on his Twitter feed.
Now that’s a name, indeed!