The Weeknd Says He’s Considering ‘Pulling a Ye’ and Changing His Name

The Weeknd might not be known as The Weeknd for much longer, because he recently revealed on Twitter that he is considering a name change. Is the “Take My Breath” singer joking? Possibly. If so, does he know that April Fool’s Day is just one day and not the entire month? 

Regardless, in some tweets posted on Sunday, April 3, The Weeknd suggested that he is considering changing his legal name and stage name to Abel. On Sunday afternoon, ahead of the Grammys, the singer tweeted, “You guys are hilarious. I feel like I should change my stage name to ABEL at this point lol.”

A few minutes later, The Weeknd, whose full name is Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, followed up with another tweet referencing Kanye West’s name change to Ye. Last year, Kanye West officially changed his legal name from Kanye West to  “Ye,” which The Weeknd is referring to in his tweet. In October 2021, a Los Angeles judge approved of Ye’s name change and Ye filed the name change in August of 2021, citing “personal reasons,” per The Guardian. 

“There being no objections, the petition for change of name is granted,” judge Michelle Williams Court said in court documents. Ye originally suggested a name change in a tweet dated back to 2018, which is similar to a tweet The Weeknd posted on Sunday, down to the use of “formally” instead of “formerly.”