History Main / RenamedToAvoidAssociation

* Post-metal band Music/{{Isis}} broke up in 2010 and reunited for a one-off show in 2018. During the interim, the name (or rather the abbreviation) became associated with a certain extremist group, therefore by the time the band got back together, they went under the name Celestial, after their debut album.

* 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]].

-->'''T'Challa''': I contemplate a return to your country, [[ComicBook/TheThing Ben Grimm]], where the latter term has ''political'' connotations. I neither condemn nor condone those who have taken up the name, but T'Challa is a law unto himself. Hence, the new name -- a minor point, at best, since the panther is a leopard.

** ''ComicBook/{{Miracleman}}'': Miracleman was initially named "Marvelman" before a dispute with Creator/MarvelComics, by then a major player in the comics industry.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Case #1 of ''AudioPlay/TheMorgueFiles'' was revamped with an expanded story and a new name to the main character. Originally based off of "Ticci Toby" (Tobias Erin Rogers), he [[https://at.tumblr.com/davidnearofficial/the-morgue-files-case-1-the-blood-red-sky/0bhkwf6vksr6 was removed to avoid association with his original creator]] and rewritten as Tobias Adams.
[[/folder]]

* ''ComicBook/BlackPanther'': For a brief period of time, Black Panther was renamed "Black Leopard" to avoid associations with the Black Panther Party of the UsefulNotes/CivilRightsMovement. He eventually went back to the old name because [[OlderThanTheyThink the character had the name first]].

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': An InUniverse example: [[Characters/MarvelComicsMilesMorales Miles Morales]]' black father was called UsefulNotes/JeffersonDavis, like the Confederate president who owned slaves. In ''ComicBook/MilesMoralesSpiderMan2018'' #22 by Creator/SaladinAhmed, [[TookTheWifesName he changes his name to Jeff Morales]], [[WhoNamesTheirKidDude wondering]] why his parents called him Jefferson Davis in the first place and pointing out how tainted it is.
* ''ComicBook/{{Miracleman}}'': Miracleman was initially named "Marvelman" before a dispute with Creator/MarvelComics, by then a major player in the comics industry.
* ''ComicBook/ProjectSuperpowers'': The series revived several [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] heroes, but had to rename them to avoid confusion with several more popular modern characters who had arisen in the meantime. Thus, Daredevil became "Death-Defying Devil"[[note]]''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}''[[/note]], Blue Beetle became "Big Blue"[[note]]''ComicBook/BlueBeetle''[[/note]], Yellowjacket became Jack[[note]]one of the names used by Hank Pym, best-known as ComicBook/AntMan[[/note]], and Hydroman became Hydro[[note]]Hydro-Man (with a hyphen) is a ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' villain[[/note]].

* Creator/DCComics:
** ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}}'s alias was initially "Deathstroke the Terminator". This was quietly shortened in the '80s after ''Film/TheTerminator'' essentially monopolized the term.
** ''ComicBook/TheFlash'' supporting speedster Max Mercury was initially named Quicksilver, but the character dropped into obscurity after the Golden Age. By the time the character was rebooted in the '90s, Creator/MarvelComics had already made significant mileage with ''their'' speedster named ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}}, and so the character was renamed.
** During the ComicBook/New52, DC Comics finally renamed their Captain Marvel ''ComicBook/{{Shazam}}'' (which was the book's ''title'' prior to the rename, and the trope namer for IAmNotShazam) after decades of the character [[CaptainMarvel coexisting]] with Creator/MarvelComics's ComicBook/{{Captain Marvel|MarvelComics}}.[[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 [[Characters/MarvelComicsCarolDanvers Carol Danvers]]' rise to popularity as Marvel's new Captain Marvel.
* For a brief period of time, ComicBook/BlackPanther was renamed "Black Leopard" to avoid associations with the Black Panther Party of the UsefulNotes/CivilRightsMovement. He eventually went back to the old name because [[OlderThanTheyThink the character had the name first]].

* ComicBook/{{Miracleman}} was initially named "Marvelman" before a dispute with Creator/MarvelComics, by then a major player in the comics industry.
* ''ComicBook/ProjectSuperpowers'' revived several [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] heroes, but had to rename them to avoid confusion with several more popular modern characters who had arisen in the meantime. Thus, Daredevil became "Death-Defying Devil"[[note]]''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}''[[/note]], Blue Beetle became "Big Blue"[[note]]''ComicBook/BlueBeetle''[[/note]], Yellowjacket became Jack[[note]]one of the names used by Hank Pym, best-known as ComicBook/AntMan[[/note]], and Hydroman became Hydro[[note]]Hydro-Man (with a hyphen) is a ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' villain[[/note]].
* An InUniverse example: ComicBook/MilesMorales' black father was called UsefulNotes/JeffersonDavis, like the Confederate president who owned slaves. In ''ComicBook/MilesMoralesSpiderMan2018'' #22 by Creator/SaladinAhmed, [[TookTheWifesName he changes his name to Jeff Morales]], [[WhoNamesTheirKidDude wondering]] why his parents called him Jefferson Davis in the first place and pointing out how tainted it is.

* After the success of ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'', the character Roger Roderick Rabbit in the comic ''Comicbook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew'' was much more frequently referred to in-story and out by his middle name than his first.

** During the ComicBook/New52, DC Comics finally renamed their Captain Marvel ''ComicBook/{{Shazam}}'' (which was the book's ''title'' prior to the rename, and the trope namer for IAmNotShazam) after decades of the character [[CaptainMarvel coexisting]] with Creator/MarvelComics's ComicBook/{{Captain Marvel|MarvelComics}}.[[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.

* When ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'' was originally going to be the more serious ''Kingdom of the Sun'', the spoiled, selfish Emperor was meant to be named "Manco". After it was reworked into the screwball comedy that it is today, the Emperor's name was changed to "Kuzco" because, according to Creator/DavidSpade, Manco (or マンコ) is the eqivalent of "pussy" in Japanese.

** [[NaturalizedName Naturalization]] is, more often than not, used as a way to avoid association with group of origin. Particular examples include Germans and Japanese migrants after WWII, or Russian migrants after the end of the Cold War.

* In ''Film/AChristmasCarolTheMusical'', Scrooge's [[TheOnetThatGotAway former fiancée]] Belle is renamed Emily, after her original actress Emily Skinner, to avoid association with Belle from ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'', which also features a score by Creator/AlanMenken.

* Film director Christopher Joseph Columbus goes by the shorter "[[Creator/ChrisColumbus Chris]]" to not be confused with [[UsefulNotes/ChristopherColumbus the famous historical figure]]. That didn't stop him from naming his production company 1492 Pictures after the year the historical figure founded the Americas.

* When Disney purchased 20th Century Fox, they renamed it Creator/TwentiethCenturyStudios, to show that that it was now fully divorced from the Fox Corporation that owns the TV channels Creator/{{Fox}}, Fox Sports, and Creator/{{Fox News|Channel}}. Fox Searchlight was likewise renamed to Searchlight Pictures, and 20th Century Fox Television reverted to its early-'90s name 20th Television.

** Creator/MichaelJFox added the "J." middle initial because there was a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Fox_(American_actor) Michael Fox]] (he actually does have a real middle name, Andrew, but went with [[MysteriousMiddleInitial the mysterious J initial]] to avoid the obvious "Michael, a fox" jokes).

* An InUniverse example: ComicBook/MilesMorales' black father was called UsefulNotes/JeffersonDavis, like the Confederate president who owned slaves. In ''ComicBook/MilesMoralesSpiderMan'' #22 by Creator/SaladinAhmed, [[TookTheWifesName he changes his name to Jeff Morales]], [[WhoNamesTheirKidDude wondering]] why his parents called him Jefferson Davis in the first place and pointing out how tainted it is.

* When ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'' was originally going to be the more serious ''Kingdom of the Sun'', the spoiled, selfish Emperor was meant to be named "Manco". After it was reworked into the screwball comedy that it is today, the Emperor's name was changed to "Kuzco" because, according to Creator/DavidSpade, Manco means "pussy" in Japanese.

** For example, Michael John Douglas took on the StageName of Creator/MichaelKeaton to distinguish himself from actor [[Creator/MichaelDouglas Michael Kirk Douglas]] and talk show host Mike Douglas (birth name Michael Delaney Dowd, Jr.).
** Creator/ElizabethBanks changed the surname to distinguish from Creator/ElizabethMitchell.

** Even then, there are some that slip by; for example, {{Peyton List|1986}} (born in Boston in 1986) and [[Creator/PeytonList1998 Peyton Roi List]] (born in Florida in 1998) once stayed in the same hotel when the latter guest-starred on ''Series/AsTheWorldTurns'' while the former was starring on the show as Lucy Montgomery, creating great confusion as they received daily call sheets and voicemails for each other. Years later, they both starred in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanHush'' (the older Peyton as Poison Ivy and the younger one as Batgirl), with the younger one being credited with her middle initial added in to differentiate the two.
** As a UK example, Creator/DavidTennant was born David [=McDonald=], but there was already an actor with that name. The "Tennant" came from his fandom of Music/PetShopBoys, whose lead singer is Neil Tennant.

* Creator/CharlesBronson originally went by the name of Charles Dennis Buchinsky, and had a number of film credits to that name before he changed his surname to Bronson in 1954 at the advice of his agent, who feared that his Eastern European surname would damage his career due to UsefulNotes/TheHollywoodBlacklist and the [[UsefulNotes/JosephMcCarthy McCarthy]] {{witch hunt}}s that were going down at around that time.

** For example, Creator/MichaelKeaton's StageName is to avoid duplicating Creator/MichaelDouglas.

** This became an EnforcedTrope in the mid-to-late '30s. Before then, there apparently were fewer regulations, until [[MistakenIdentity a number of public scandals occurred that implicated the wrong people]]. This included an incident where an actor known as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_%22Stage%22_Boyd William "Stage" Boyd]] was caught numerous times with illegal alcohol (during Prohibition) and drugs. Each time it made the papers, the "Stage" was omitted, accidentally accusing the completely unrelated matinee idol [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Boyd_(actor) William Boyd]], eventually unjustly ruining his career. Fortunately, the latter Boyd was able to bounce back, taking the role of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopalong_Cassidy Hopalong Cassidy]], 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/TheTenCommandments1956'', as he felt that audiences wouldn't take the film seriously if Hoppy was Moses...).
** Even then, there are some that slip by; for example, Creator/PeytonList1998 and Creator/PeytonList1986 once stayed in the same hotel, creating great confusion as they received daily call sheets and voicemails for each other.

* Creator/CharlesBronson originally went by the name of Charles Dennis Buchinsky, and had a number of film credits to that name before he changed his surname to Bronson in 1954 on the suggestion of his agent, who feared that his Eastern European surname would damage his career due to UsefulNotes/TheHollywoodBlacklist and the [[UsefulNotes/JosephMcCarthy McCarthy]] {{witch hunt}}s that were going down at around that time.

** Similarily, Creator/NicolasCage chose to go by a stage name instead of his birth name of Nicolas Coppola because he wanted to succeed on his own merits and avoid accusations of {{Nepotism}} due to who [[Creator/FrancisFordCoppola his uncle]] is.

** The first instance of this was when they were established in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} in 1961, when they were named the Chicago Packers in reference to the city's meatpacking industry. However, the nickname was highly unpopular due to it being the same as the Green Bay Packers - TheRival to the Chicago Bears. As a result, the Chicago Packers changed their name to the Chicago Zephyrs the following season before relocating to UsefulNotes/{{Baltimore}} a year after ''that'' in 1963 and changing their name to the Baltimore Bullets.

* Film director Christopher Joseph Columbus goes by the shorter "Chris" to not be confused with the famous historical figure. That didn't stop him from naming his production company 1492 Pictures after the year the historical figure founded the Americas.