This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

LICKING COUNTY, Ohio — A Licking County woman hates her first name so much, she’s changing it to something she says is a little more suitable to her personality: Sexy.

Sheila Crabtree has gone by her middle name, Ranea, since she was a teenager. She said she’s hated her first name, for no particular reason, nearly her entire life.

“It’s an ugly name I was cursed with,” she said. “My mom chose my middle name, Ranea, which I love. And my dad chose the ugly name.”

Crabtree said she quietly decided to fix the problem, and petitioned to have it legally changed to Sexy in court.

“My husband sometimes calls me sexy,” she said. “I just decided on that just because it’s fun. I wasn’t expecting anyone to find out. I didn’t even tell my husband I was going through with it.”

But part of the application process requires running a notice in the newspaper. That’s when her plan became public.

“It was in real small print,” she said. “Then a couple of weeks later, I started getting calls and was contacted by everyone. I’m sure if I’d changed it to something ordinary, no one would have even known.”

For the past week, Crabtree said she’s been interviewed by websites, radio stations and TV stations from all over the country. Some of the attention has been negative, with criticism about her choice of Sexy as a new name.

“I’m not doing it for attention,” she said. “I’m just doing it for me. This is what I want in my life. I just wanted to get rid of that name entirely so I could be completely happy. I’m perfectly happy with everything else in my life right now.”

She said her two teenage daughters think the change is a little silly, but they’re both fine with it.

“I like to have a lot of fun,” said Crabtree. “I’m not a real serious person.”

Crabtree is due in court Feb. 11, where a judge is expected to decide whether or not to approve the change.

If it doesn’t go through, she joked she’d try next time she’d try to change it to “Sparkle.”

“I have a sparkly personality,” she said. “I’m just being fun and positive. I know it sounds very silly, but that’s OK. I’m just having fun.”