History Main / RenamedToAvoidAssociation

* Avoiding legal disputes. It doesprn't matter who came first; two things sharing the same name has the potential to get thorny. If one creator is significantly smaller than the other, renaming their character may be a lot less of a hassle than fighting it out. WritingAroundTrademarks might be utilized.

* [[Characters/StreetFighterI Ken]] in ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' did not have a last name until action figures based on the second game were released, at which point it was felt prudent to add the surname "Masters" so there would be no confusion with the Ken of Mattel's Barbie line of toys.

* [[Characters/StreetFighterI Ken]] in ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' did not have a last name until action figures based on the second game were released, at which point it was felt prudent to add the surname "Masters" so there would be no confusion with the Ken of Mattel's ''Franchise/{Barbie}'' line of toys.

* [[Characters/StreetFighterI Ken]] in ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' did not have a last name until action figures based on the second game were released, at which point it was felt prudent to add the surname "Masters" so there would be no confusion with the Ken of Mattel's Barbie line of toys.

* In planning stages, ''Manga/OnePiece'''s Sanji was initially named Naruto (as he is a chef). He was renamed as not to overshadow the release of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''.

* [[Characters/StreetFighterI Ken]] in ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' did not have a last name until action figures based on the second game where released, at which point it was felt prudent to add the surname "Masters" so there would be no confusion with the Ken of Mattel's Barbie line of toys.

* Avoiding legal disputes. It doesn't matter who came first; two things sharing the same name has the potential to get thorny. If one creator is significantly smaller than the other, renaming their character may be a lot less of a hassle than fighting it out. WritingAroundTrademarks might be utilized.

** During the ComicBook/New52, DC Comics finally renamed their Captain Marvel ''ComicBook/{{Shazam}}'' (which was the book's ''title'' prior to the rename) after decades of the character [[CaptainMarvel coexisting]] with Creator/MarvelComics's ComicBook/CaptainMarVell.[[note]]Shazam predated Mar-Vell, but by the time DC snapped up the former Marvel had already trademarked the "Captain Marvel" name.[[/note]] This rename coincided with ComicBook/CarolDanvers' rise to popularity as Marvel's new Captain Marvel.

* Avoiding legal disputes. It doesn't matter who came first; two things sharing the same name has the potential to get thorny. If a one creator is significantly smaller than the other, renaming their character may be a lot less of a hassle than fighting it out. WritingAroundTrademarks might be utilized.

* Avoiding thorny associations with the newer name-user, especially if they are controversial, too adult for your family-friendly character, or (in the case of real people) well-known political figures. If the notoriety is recent, this can also avoid accusations of RippedFromTheHeadlines.

* The name of the title character of ''Series/TheGreatestAmericanHero'' was briefly changed from Hinkley to Hanley following the attempted assassination of UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan by John Hinckley. It was reverted back after a few months.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'', the agency that Sterling Archer and company work in is called the International Secret Intelligence Service, or ISIS for short. By the time season 5 was in production, the terrorist organization who called themselves the Islamic State of Iraq & Syria was the main talking point of international media coverage. The showrunners wrote into the story that ISIS was being shut down by the CIA for operating without proper government clearance, and the name was retired to avoid associating with the real world terrorists.

* An interesting example in WarhammerFantasy. Malekith, the leader of the Dark Elves, happens to share a name with Marvel's Malekith, who is ALSO the leader of the dark elves. With Marvel's rise to even higher fame, and power of Disney, Games Workshop renamed Malekith to Malerion in the shift to AgeOfSigmar, and the character has not had a major story focus since Age of Sigmar dropped.

* Music/TheSmiths guitarist Music/JohnnyMarr changed the spelling of his surname from "Maher" to avoid confusion with the drummer of fellow Manchester band Music/{{Buzzcocks}}, also named John Maher.

* Music/Blink182 were forced to change their name from just "Blink" by an Irish group of the same name.
* During the SurfRock craze of the '60s, two separate bands called themselves The Surfaris. There was a relatively obscure band from Orange County, California--and there was the band from Glendora, California, who had the mega-hits "Wipeout" and "Surfer Joe". The legal dispute over the name resulted in the Orange County band getting forced to change their name, in spite of the fact they had the name first. So they rebranded themselves The Original Surfaris.
* Music/HavalinaRailCo were initially named just Havalina, but expanded their name to avoid confusion with another California band, The Havalinas. Where things get funky is, years later HRC felt the need to change their name once more after several members departed, and they believed The Havalinas had disbanded by that point, so they felt it was safe to shorten their name to just Havalina again. Which just led to confusion a few years later when a completely unrelated Mexican band formed, also calling themselves Havalina.
* Rapper Music/{{Kitty}} started out as Kitty Pryde, but shortened her name because of associations with the [[ComicBook/KittyPryde Marvel Comics character of the same name]].

* The [[UsefulNotes/UnionsInHollywood Screen Actors Guild]] does not allow duplicates in its roster, so some actors have to be credited as something else to avoid overlapping with a more established actor. For example, Creator/MichaelKeaton's stage name is to avoid duplicating Creator/MichaelDouglas, while Creator/MichaelJFox added the "J." middle initial (his real middle name is Andrew) to avoid duplicating Creator/MichaelFox.[[note]]This became an EnforcedTrope in mid-to-late '30s. Before then, there apparently were less regulations, until [[MistakenIdentity a number of public scandals occurred that implicated the wrong people]], including an incident where an actor known as William "Stage" Boyd was caught numerous times with illegal alcohol (during UsefulNotes/{{Prohibition}}) and drugs. Each time it made the papers, the "Stage" was omitted, accidentally accusing completely unrelated matinee idol William Boyd, eventually unjustly ruining his career. Fortunately, the latter Boyd was able to bounce back, taking the role of HopalongCassidy, a role he came to relish to the point he played the character exclusively to the end of his career (even famously refusing the role of Moses in Film/TheTenCommandments, as he felt that audiences wouldn't take the film seriously if Hoppy was Moses...)[[/note]]

* The [[UsefulNotes/UnionsInHollywood Screen Actors Guild]] does not allow duplicates in its roster, so some actors have to be credited as something else to avoid overlapping with a more established actor. For example, Creator/MichaelKeaton's stage name is to avoid duplicating Creator/MichaelDouglas, while Creator/MichaelJFox added the "J." middle initial (his real middle name is Andrew) to avoid duplicating Creator/MichaelFox.

If done while adapting a character (perhaps from an obscure source material that predated the newer, more famous name-using work/person/group), overlaps with AdaptationNameChange. It can also overlap with DubNameChange if a character's name is well-known in a foreign region thanks to a different work/person/group. No matter the reason, '''the two parties must be unrelated for this to apply.''' Tweaking the name of someone or something to create an {{Expy}} or FictionalCounterpart of them does not count.

* For a year or so, ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'' dropped the name of its spy agency, ISIS, to avoid association with the real-life terrorist group with the same acronym, before temporarily abandoning the spy angle completely and becoming a PI agency for a season, then experimenting with genres for three seasons. By 2020, the Islamic State had ceased to be a major global threat, and thus the spy agency ISIS returned.

* Rapper Music/{{Kitty}} started out as Kitty Pryde, but shortened her name because of associations with the [[ComicBook/KittyPryde Marvel Comics character of the same name]].

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Starlight Glimmer was originally going to be named Aurora, but was renamed as Creator/{{Disney}} had a lock on the name Aurora from ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'' and related properties.

* Avoiding legal disputes. It doesn't matter who came first; two things sharing the same name has the potential to get thorny. If a one creator is significantly smaller than the other, renaming their character may be a lot less of a hassle than fighting it out.