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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteMuhammad Ali changed his name because he rejected “Cassius Clay,” which he said was a slave name his family had inherited, and wanted a name that reflected his Muslim faith, Black identity, and cultural history. After a brief period as Cassius X, he took the name Muhammad Ali in 1964. Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad gave him the name, and Ali insisted that the public use it.
The sequence of names
Ali’s name changed in two steps, and the order matters because the two steps had different sponsors. His Nation of Islam membership is placed by the National Archives around the period after his 1960 Olympic gold medal, and the National Archives summarizes the change as Cassius X followed by Muhammad Ali in 1964.
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| Name | When it was used | Who chose or gave it | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cassius Clay | Birth name, used until early 1964 | Inherited family name | National Archives timeline |
| Cassius X | Brief period after his February 1964 victory over Sonny Liston | Chosen by Ali, who renounced the Clay name in public | PBS Wisconsin documentary transcript |
| Muhammad Ali | From 1964 onward | Given by Elijah Muhammad; Ali insisted on its public use | National Archives timeline; PBS Wisconsin documentary transcript |
In the documentary transcript, Ali is recorded announcing that he had renounced the Clay name and would use Cassius X. Elijah Muhammad then announced the new name. Ali told reporters that the name came from his leader and teacher, and that he wanted to be known by it.
What Ali said the name meant
Ali’s explanation rests on his own statements, most of them made long after 1964. The Muhammad Ali Center reproduces a retrospective account in which he described the change as a release from an identity he believed had been forced on his family.
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“Cassius Clay was my slave name”
In the PBS Wisconsin transcript, Ali’s answer to the question of why he insisted on the new name is direct: “That’s the name given to me by my leader and teacher, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.” He followed it with “That’s my original name, that’s a Black man name,” then “Cassius Clay was my slave name,” and then “I’m no longer a slave.” The transcript presents these lines as Ali’s belief about the name, and the sources do not independently verify the full genealogy of the Clay family name. What they establish is what Ali said he believed and why.
Freedom from an inherited identity
In his later reflection, reproduced by the Muhammad Ali Center from Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times, he put it this way: “Changing my name was one of the most important things that happened to me in my life. It freed me from the identity given to my family by slave masters…That’s all I was doing.” Because this is a retrospective account, it reflects how Ali framed his decision years afterward, not a statement he made in 1964.
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The meaning he attached to “Muhammad” and “Ali”
Ali also explained the meaning of the new name. The Muhammad Ali Center reproduces his account that “‘Muhammad’ means one worthy of praise. ‘Ali’ was the name of a great general.” The PBS Wisconsin transcript records him giving the meaning as “worthy of all praises” and “most high.” These are Ali’s own readings of the name. They are not a general linguistic claim about the two words.
The double standard he described
Ali argued that the criticism he received would not have followed another kind of name change. In the Muhammad Ali Center’s reproduction of his retrospective account, he said: “If I changed my name from Cassius Clay to something like Smith or Jones because I wanted a name that white people thought was more American, nobody would have complained.” He also pointed to other public figures who changed their names, including Joe Louis and Sugar Ray Robinson, and to the pope, as examples of a practice he said no one objected to.
Why people kept using “Cassius Clay”
Ali’s insistence on the name was itself a point of conflict. The PBS Wisconsin documentary records that some reporters and promoters continued to call him Cassius Clay after 1964. Ali’s refusal to accept that usage was tied to the public response to his Nation of Islam affiliation and to his broader refusal to follow the expectations placed on a heavyweight champion of that era. Ali’s own account treats the name as the issue, while the documentary places the controversy in the wider reaction to his religion and politics. Both readings are useful, and neither requires treating the name change as a publicity move.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the sources establish and what they do not
- Chronology: The National Archives gives the concise timeline: Cassius Clay, then Cassius X, then Muhammad Ali in 1964.
- Contemporary language: The PBS Wisconsin documentary transcript is the best source for what Ali said after the change, but it is a documentary transcript rather than a full record of every broadcast. Quote it with attribution to the documentary.
- Retrospective reasoning: The Muhammad Ali Center’s reproduction of Ali’s later account is the source for his most developed explanation of freedom, identity, and the “Smith or Jones” argument.
- Archival interview: The American Archive of Public Broadcasting holds a direct Ali interview on the link between names, Black American history, and identity. Its displayed transcript is machine-rendered and garbled in places, so check the audio before relying on exact wording.
Readers should treat Ali’s account as his reasoning about his own name. The sources support what he said, when he said it, and the sequence of events. They do not independently prove the family history he described.
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For the quoted lines in this article, the speaker is Ali. The “slave name” language is his, and the historical sequence is documented by the National Archives and the PBS Wisconsin transcript.
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