Why Kim Kardashian Decided to Change Her Name 18 Years Ago
What does a name mean? Kim Kardashian's rose would smell just as good under any other name. Before her family's eponymous television program debuted in October 2007, the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star had different ideas, and she made the decision to change her name for one significant reason.
“I used to always go by Kimberly, until we signed on to do the reality show,” in a December 4 article, Kim informed Time. “And when I looked at my chyron, Kimberly Kardashian, I said, ‘I think that's so long for people to say.’ And like, ‘Let's just shorten it to Kim.’”
Even though the 45-year-old is now recognized globally by her abbreviated name, she still finds it odd.
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“It's so weird,” she added, “because all my friends from high school and growing up, and my dad, everyone calls me Kimberly.”
However, that doesn't mean Kim hasn't used her shortened name. In fact, on December 4, she joined Snoop Dogg and her mother Kris Jenner in a livestream called "Kimsmas" to celebrate the holiday season with her shapewear company, SKIMS, which is named after her own nickname.
However, Kim, the mother of children Northwest, 12, Saint West, 10, Chicago West, 7, and Psalm West, 6, with ex-Kanye West, had first chosen a different pun, naming the company Kimono, before the $5 billion shapewear brand was christened SKIMS. Fortunately, she changed her mind after being criticized by the Japanese government and others, which was another name change she considered advantageous.
“You can really feel the noise,” she talked on understanding when to pay attention to critics. “You can hear when it is so loud. For Kimono, I thought, I have such respect for that culture, and I wouldn't want someone to think that I was misusing or appropriating it, so let's change it.”
Naturally, Kim is not the only celebrity who goes by a different name in public; her mother, Kris Jenner, was born Kristen Houghton.
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