Today, let’s consider Sean Combs.
He is a celebrity who has changed his name enough times that the media has stopped reporting on it when it happens, even morning programs on days when there isn’t much else going on.
In his defense, his birth name was “Sean John Combs.” That’s not a joke. Diddy was born named “Sean John,” presumably after either the lyrics to the Jaws theme or the sounds kids make when they’re pretending to wave lightsabers around.
But he didn’t let it stop him. Going all the way back to the early 1990s, Bad Boy Records, and Combs’ early-days collaborations with Biggie Smalls, the multi-hyphenate talent went by “Puffy,” claiming that it was a nickname that he had as a kid due to his bad temper. Around the same time, he was also using the stage name “Puff Daddy.” “Puff Daddy” won out, then “Puffy” again, then a year as “Sean John” in 1998 (Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace was about to come out, he was probably just really excited about that), then “Puffy” some more. That pretty well gets us through the ‘90s.
In 2001, Combs addressed MTV News, announcing that he would be changing his name again in light of the fresh start he’d achieved following his acquittal in a criminal case surrounding a high-profile shooting. Citing Biggie Smalls as the man who gave him his new nickname, Puff Daddy was no more. Now and forever, he was P. Diddy.
Until he wasn’t. In 2005, Combs went by “Diddy,” announcing the switch on The Today Show before being slapped with a lawsuit by a performer in the U.K. who went by the same name. This resulted in the artist being unable to use the name when performing across the pond, making this either half a name change or a full name change with a 180-degree pivot whenever he travels abroad.
According to CNN, 2011 saw the introduction of a brand new Diddy, now going by “Swag,” then switched back to “Puff Daddy” in 2014. In 2017, the artist’s most recent name change took place, with Combs legally replacing his middle name with the word “Love” and referring to himself as “Brother Love” on social media.
Time marches ever forward. Seasons change, flowers wither, children learn and grow, and Sean Combs will inevitably change his name again. When he does, we’ll be here, cataloging the event for posterity. We stand, loyal watchers of Puff Daddy – Today, Tomorrow, and for Eternididdy.