History Main / TheTropeFormerlyKnownAsX

* ''Cindrella: The Sillicious Musical'': The Artist Formerly Known as The Prince. TAFKATP

** [[FromACertainPointOfView From a certain perspective]], Prince's decision to rename himself makes perfect sense: "Prince" was a trademarked identity that was actually owned by his record company of the time. By legally changing his name to an unpronounceable symbol, he was able to release material, and tour, when said record company did not approve -- until their ownership of the "Prince" name lapsed and he was able to reclaim it.

In 1993, Warner Bros. Records legally prevented the musician [[Music/{{Prince}} Prince Rogers Nelson]] from recording under his legal first name "[[OnlyOneName Prince]]". As part of a TakeThat, he changed his name to an unpronounceable, and then-untypeable [[LuckyCharmsTitle "love symbol"]], which resembles a modified transgender symbol, oriented in the same direction as the female symbol and given a second, longer, and more stylized bar at the base of the shaft.[[note]]"O(+>" is an ASCII art approximation of this symbol, and Warner Bros. was forced to supply the print media with a new font containing the symbol. "Ƭ̵̬̊" is another approximation out there that reflects the proper orientation, but it's far more difficult to type out. Currently, the symbol is unavailable in Unicode due to it being a copyrighted logo as opposed to a public-domain symbol.[[/note]] In response, the phrase "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince" was [[MemeticMutation coined by]] a public that had no idea what else to call him, and quickly became a very popular target for parody. His contract with that recording company expired three years later, but it wouldn't be until 2001 that he went back to being known by his given name. Once he did, it effectively made him [[ShapedLikeItself the artist formerly known as The Artist Formerly Known as Prince]], if you're being technical.

* Since UsefulNotes/{{Microsoft|Windows}} was blocked from using the name "Metro" for its Windows 8 UI system, some now call it [[http://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/08/11/0051250/you-cant-bypass-the-ui-formerly-known-as-metro-on-windows-8 the UI Formerly Known as Metro]]. [[http://www.theregister.co.uk Or]] TIFKAM, "The Interface Formerly Known as Metro".
* As a compromise with Greece, the United Nations in the 1990s admitted a new member country using the name "The former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia" (FYROM). (It's now known as UsefulNotes/NorthMacedonia.)

* After years of controversy over the name of the NFL's Washington Redskins, the team finally acted to change its name in 2020 at the pressure of its corporate sponsors. The team's temporary name became the "Washington Football Team" before a permanent new name could be picked.
* Much like with the Washington Redskins, Aunt Jemima syrup changed its name and logo after complaints that the woman on the front was a {{Mammy}} stereotype. The renamed product, Pearl Milling Company, still had "Same Great Taste as Aunt Jemima" printed on the bottle.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'' during a usual squabble between [[VitriolicBestBuds God and Dragon]] -- "[[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2005-11-04 What are you, the artist formerly known as Buddha?]]"
* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' has "[[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/040910 demon once known as Riff]]".

In 1993, Warner Bros. Records legally prevented the musician [[Music/{{Prince}} Prince Rogers Nelson]] from recording under his legal first name "[[OnlyOneName Prince]]". As part of a TakeThat, he changed his name to an unpronounceable, and then-untypeable [[LuckyCharmsTitle "love symbol"]], which resembles a modified transgender symbol, oriented in the same direction as the female symbol and given a second, longer, and more stylized bar at the base of the shaft.[[note]]"O(+>" is an ASCII art approximation of this symbol, and Warner Bros. was forced to supply the print media with a new font containing the symbol. "Ƭ̵̬̊" is another approximation out there that reflects the proper orientation, but it's far more difficult to type out. Currently, the symbol is unavailable in Unicode due to it being a copyrighted logo as opposed to a public-domain symbol.[[/note]] In response, the phrase "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince" was [[MemeticMutation coined by]] a public that had no idea what else to call him, and quickly became a very popular target for parody. His contract with that recording company expired three years later, but it wouldn't be until 2001 that he went back to being known by his given name. Once he did, it effectively made him [[ShapedLikeItself the artist formerly known as the artist formerly known as Prince]], if you're being technical.

* Dangerous Toys' '' The R*tist 4*merly Known As Dangerous Toys'' (also parodying Prince's penchant for Letters2Numbers). This was apparently something of an in-joke - two of the original members had left the group, and they had considered changing the band name to reflect this.

* As a compromise with Greece, the United Nations in the 1990s admitted a new member country using the name "The former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia" (FYROM). (It's now known as North Macedonia.)

** After Prince's death in 2016, some twisted individuals on the web began referring to him as "[[TooSoon The Artist Formerly Known as Alive]]. Or The Artist Formerly Known as The Artist Formerly Known as The Artist Formerly Known as Prince. " Others considered him as "The Artist Forever Known as Prince".

* As a compromise with Greece, the United Nations in the 1990s admitted a new member country using the name "The former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia" (FYROM).

* One ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'' fanfic featured several Princes. One was called "The Prince Formerly Known as Artist", probably referencing the theater adaptation mentioned below.

* In a stage adaptation of ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'', one prince vying for Jasmine's affection is "The Prince formerly known as The Artist"

* In a promotional spot for ''Film/GoodBurger'', Keenan and Kel talked about how they're becoming big stars and that they'd like to known as "The artists formerly known as Keenan and Kel". Kel then shows their symbol: a white card with a black circle on it. Keenan takes a look and says "It's upside down." They then try to correct it.

* On ''WesternAnimation/Doug'' during the Disney years, Connie starts to become famous for her music talents and having Roger become her manager. During her transition to becoming a rock star, Roger says "Her name is this" holding up a key chain that somewhat mimics the Prince symbol.

* In ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' episode "Close Rick Counters of the Rick Kind", during the rundown of the unprecedented 'rick-icidal epidemic,' Rick questions the Rick known as "The scientist formally known as Rick."

** After Prince's death in 2016, some twisted individuals on the web began referring to him as "[[TooSoon The Artist Formerly Known as Alive]]. Or The Artist Formally Known as The Artist Formally Known as The Artist Formally Known as Prince. " Others considered him as "The Artist Forever Known as Prince".

** From a certain perspective, Prince's decision to rename himself makes perfect sense: "Prince" was a trademarked identity that was actually owned by his record company of the time. By legally changing his name to an unpronounceable symbol, he was able to release material, and tour, when said record company did not approve -- until their ownership of the "Prince" name lapsed and he was able to reclaim it.

'''Crow:''' Naw, more like [[Series/{{Batman}} Frank Gorshin's]] new name.

* In ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'', Ax always calls the leader of the group Prince Jake. (Ax is an Andalite, and 'Prince' is a military title.) During one issue where only the pair of them were left, Jake tells Ax that there aren't enough people around, so he should be called The Jake Formerly Known As Prince. Later, when the group is back together, the two go through their RunningGag ("Don't call me Prince." "Yes, Prince Jake") and Ax says, instead, "I will call you The Jake Formerly Known As Prince."

In 1993, Warner Bros. Records legally prevented the musician [[Music/{{Prince}} Prince Rogers Nelson]] from recording under his legal first name "[[OnlyOneName Prince]]". As part of a TakeThat, he changed his name to an unpronounceable, and then-untypeable [[LuckyCharmsTitle "love symbol"]], which resembles a mix of the symbols for male and female.[[note]]"O(+>" is an ASCII art approximation of this symbol, and Warner Bros. was forced to supply the print media with a new font containing the symbol. "Ƭ̵̬̊" is another approximation out there, but it's far more difficult to type out[[/note]] In response, the phrase "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince" was [[MemeticMutation coined by]] a public that had no idea what else to call him, and quickly became a very popular target for parody. His contract with that recording company expired three years later, but it wouldn't be until 2001 that he went back to being known by his given name. Once he did, it effectively made him [[ShapedLikeItself the artist formerly known as the artist formerly known as Prince]], if you're being technical.