Every Monday at the Sacramento County Public Law Library, any Tom, Dick or Harry can take a workshop to become Tim, Doug or Howard.

Or if they really want they can choose Metta World Peace, the name that former Sacramento Kings player Ron Artest has petitioned to take.

Artest’s attorney recently filed paperwork in Los Angeles Superior Court, requesting that the 31-year-old NBA star now a forward for the Los Angeles Lakers legally replace his given name of Ronald William Artest Jr.

Artest cited personal reasons for wanting to make the change and a desire to promote positive energy.

“The reasons are as varied as there are people,” the Sacramento law library’s Public Services Director Coral Henning said of the name-change requests she sees.

Changing your name in Sacramento County is pretty simple, she said. “People were struggling with this and wanting to get this done, so we created the workshop.”

Henning manages a team of experts who help folks navigate the process of making a legal name change. Between three and 12 people show up each week and pay the $395 it costs in Sacramento County (unless they financially qualify for a filing fee-waiver).

The hard part, Henning said, isn’t getting the decree from Sacramento Superior Court granting a name change.

“The intensive part is going to all of the places that need to know that your name is changed,” she said.

Credit card companies, banks, the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Social Security office and many others need to know that someone has changed his or her name.

One of the requirements is getting your name printed in a general circulation newspaper, which can cost between $40 and $450.

Frank Nuessel, a professor of classical and modern languages at the University of Louisville, is an expert in onomastics the study of names.

He said marriage is one of the most common reasons people change their names. Some people, particularly immigrants, do it to make their name more recognizable to English speakers.

He considers it a big deal.

“People have such a close relationship with their name and such an intimate identity associated with their names,” he said.

Personally, he said, he wouldn’t dream of sloughing his name for a new model. “It’s part of who I am. It’s part of my identity. I couldn’t imagine ever changing it,” he said.

But athletes have been changing their names for decades. From Babe Ruth to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, choosing a different title has become a trademark of the business.

“It could just be a way of getting attention,” Nuessel said of Artest’s decision. “It’s going to take a long time for people to adjust to that name change and to see if it’s going to stick.”

There have been a few other unconventional sports name-changes: NBA player Lloyd Bernard Free had his first name legally changed to World in 1981, so he could go by World B. Free. In 2008, Cincinnati Bengals player Chad Johnson changed his last name to Ochocinco (“eight five” in Spanish).

Nuessel said athletes who have changed their names for religious reasons have made significant lifestyle changes for the better.

When Muhammad Ali changed his name from Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. in 1964 after converting to Islam, Nuessel said that he went from being a despised boxer to an influential athlete.

But “Metta World Peace”?

Artest doesn’t have a reputation for being peaceful.

In November 2004, during a game between the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons, Artest ran into the stands to wail on an innocent bystander whom he thought was the man who throw a cup of Coke at his head.

Three years later, Artest pleaded no-contest in court after being arrested on charges of pushing his wife down, slapping her, and blocking her from calling the police.

“It’s up to Ron Artest to make the changes he associates with that name change,” Nuessel said.

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