Mo. Man Legally Changes His Name to 'They'

BRANSON, Mo. - A Branson man has put a face to the anonymous references people often make to "they" by changing his name to just that: "They."



The former Andrew Wilson, a 43-year-old self-employed inventor, was granted legal permission last week by a circuit judge to change his name.

It's just They, no surname.

He also has changed his driver's license to reflect his new name.

They said he did it for humor to address the common reference to "they."

"'They do this,' or 'They're to blame for that.' Who is this 'they' everyone talks about? 'They' accomplish such great things. Somebody had to take responsibility," he said.

Now, his friends are getting used to his new name.

"They call up and say, 'Is They there?'"

He acknowledged the name could drive grammarians crazy.

"Not only is he making a statement about his name, but he's messing with the entire English language," friend Craig Erickson said.

story.news.yahoo.com.../ap/name_change


Well now isn't it intereting, now he oops "They" can take credit for alot of things some good, some bad.
Well at least he didn't change his name to "It". Could have credit for more if he had done that. "It just broke", "It just happened that way" etc.

That is just bizarre! Imagine what the conversation would sound like if a couple of women were in a coffee shop talking about the guy:

"I hope They will ask me out", "I hope They will try to seduce me", "They kissed me all night long", "They took me out to dinner and then They took me home for a night of wild monkey sex"

I hope this guy is married! Otherwise any girl that talks about him romantically runs the risk of sounding like she is into some pretty kinky stuff!

Jemison

Well, now everyone around here will have someone to blame.

I give this guy a week before the lynch mobs start showing up.

wow, this person is so wild...

so zany...

so foolish...

I feel sorry for his family.. how embaressing..

I can't believe that a judge would allow that! Pretty wild, but why? The reason he gave didn't make any sense or was it a real one.

What the hey! If he wants to have a freaky name, it's a free country. Like klepto said, his family must be embarrassed.

He should have used 'They' for his last name and 'Oui' for his first.

I think its pretty stupid for him to want to change his name to that and even more stupid for the Judge to grant it. And on top of it, if you are going to make a statement with your name, I would suggest doing it over something worthwhile. Hope he has fun getting a mortgage or car loan.

Originally posted by spangbr
I think its pretty stupid for him to want to change his name to that and...

no no. he changed his name to They

If his name is "They"...

Would "Them" refer to his family?
Would "Those" refer to anything he owns?

This kind of reminds me of the U.S. National Guardsmen who changed his name to "Optimus Prime"...

Have any famous people actually done this? For example, is Madonna's name actually "Madonna"? Did she ever legally change it, or is it a stage name only? Is that what it says on her paychecks, driver's license, income tax receipts, etc.?

Yup, her legal name is Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone. Just thought I would throw that in there, FWIW.