Kanye West has legally changed his name to Ye with judge's approval

Musician and fashion designer said he liked the name because it's the most commonly used word in the Bible

The artist formerly known as Kanye West is now officially Ye. Just Ye.

A Los Angeles judge granted his name change, approving a request the performer, aged 44, filed in August, citing "personal reasons".

The name change now means the Grammy-winning rapper and producer no longer has a last or middle name. His previous full name was Kanye Omari West.

In 2018, Ye released an album by the same name, a moniker he's long used as a nickname.

"I believe 'ye' is the most commonly used word in the Bible, and in the Bible it means you. So it's I'm you, I'm us, it's us," he said that year in a radio interview.

"It went from being Kanye, which means the only one, to just Ye being a reflection of our good, our bad, our confused, our everything."

West had tweeted then that he wanted the change. “The being formally known as Kanye West. I am YE,” he posted.

In August, Ye released a two-hour, 27-track album Donda, which was released after weeks of delay and several stadium-filled public listening sessions.

The spotlight has shone recently on Ye more for his personal life than his art, after his partner of nearly a decade, Kim Kardashian West, filed for divorce earlier this year.

Kardashian West did not, however, ask that her last name be changed back to Kardashian when she filed to split from Ye in February. She even used it while hosting Saturday Night Live last week. The couple’s four children also have the rapper's former last name.

In 2020, Ye launched an improbable and ultimately failed presidential bid.

In April, Netflix acquired an "intimate documentary" about Ye's life for a reported $30 million, set to premiere in 2022. The streamer released the title, jeen-yuhs, along with a teaser at a virtual event in September.

Co-directed by Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah, also known as Coodie and Chike, who are behind the rapper's music videos Jesus Walks (Version 3) and Through the Wire, the film will be split into three episodes and provide an all-encompassing look into Ye's career over a span of two decades – from hip-hop producer to solo superstar and fashion designer.

A release date has not been announced.

– Additional reporting by AFP and AP