Kim Kardashian May End Up With Full Custody of the Name “West”

Kim Kardashian West isn’t turning south on her married name anytime soon. Amid a report that her estranged husband Kanye West has legally petitioned the state of California to change his legal name to the monosyllabic moniker “Ye,” a new report from TMZ claims that Kim has no plans to drop “West” from her name even after their divorce is finalized.

“We’re told Kim feels it’s important for her to keep the same last name as her 4 children,” claims the gossip site. “[T]here are no plans to change North, Psalm, Chicago, and Saint’s last names, either.”

Speculation as to whether or not Kim might give up the name started, of course, when the separation was first reported. It bubbled up again in August, when Kim announced her beauty brand, KKW, would be put on temporary hiatus with new branding to come. Some speculated it might reemerge with the “W” removed from the “KKW,” but that doesn’t seem to be the case either. (KKW Fragrances, by the way, is still operating full steam ahead with its original name—new scents were released just this week.)

Keeping a married last name after divorcing to match your children isn’t particularly uncommon—not even in Kim’s own family. Kris Jenner continues to use her most recent married name despite being separated from her former partner for seven years and officially divorced for five. Indeed, Kris briefly considering changing her last name back to Kardashian was a minor plot point years ago on Keeping Up With The Kardashians, but Kim was among those who urged her to keep the name “Jenner” for the sake of Kendall of Kylie. “Keep Kris Jenner,” Kim said at the time. “Don’t you think that’s insulting to your two daughters?”

But this is rather bad news for the numerous entertainment and celebrity journalists who cover Kim online. The rather long moniker “Kim Kardashian West” isn’t particularly conducive to the strict character count of social media and SEO headline writing best practices.