So True? So False? Did Bristol Change Her Son's Last Name to Palin?!

Rumor has it baby daddy Levi agreed to have his son to drop his last name in exchange for no longer being accountable for child support. Is it true?

By Gina Serpe Jan 20, 2011 9:35 PMTags
Levi Johnston, Bristol PalinAP Photo/Paul Sancya, File

We can see the acrimony from our house! Not that it's all that difficult these days.

Rumor has it Bristol Palin is so fed up with baby daddy Levi Johnston that she's changing her son Tripp's surname from Johnston (negative connotations aplenty) to her maiden name, Palin (um...).

And this rumor has traction. It was seemingly started by none other than Bristol herself, when she reportedly posted a message on her private Facebook page, simply reading, "Tripp Easton Mitchell Palin…PALIN!!!" No Johnston in sight.

Then, a supposed source close to the couple weighed in, alleging that Johnston had agreed to the name change on the condition that it would excuse him from paying any more child support. Class act, if true. But is it? Press pause on that blood libel video, this rumor is...

So false!

At least, for now.

A source close to the political fam denied the report to E! News, and indeed the message seems to have been removed from Bristol's Facebook page (if that even was Bristol's Facebook page...fakes abound on the social network).

"It's false," the source said. And for now, at least, the court records bearing Tripp's name—that's Tripp Johnston's name—bear that out.

A court official in Palmer, Alaska, confirms to E! News that no legal petition to change the 2-year-old's name has been filed. And while Bristol has an open custody action in the state, she has not filed a civil action to request the name change.

Court officials tell E! News that if she does eventually decide to file such a request, she must first obtain Johnston's permission.

So the birth name stands. But still, if we were you, we'd watch this space.

—Reporting by Claudia Rosenbaum and Katie Rhames