wikipedia says:
On October 25, 2006, in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, Johnson, whose jersey number was "85", announced that he would prefer to be called "Ocho Cinco," which is "eight five" in Spanish. ("Eighty-five" would be "ochenta y cinco").[58] During warm-ups for the October 29, 2006 game against the Atlanta Falcons, the back of his jersey read "Ocho Cinco" instead of "C. Johnson". Quarterback Carson Palmer ripped the label off the jersey to reveal the usual "C. Johnson".[59] According to ESPN, Johnson was fined $5,000 for the stunt despite the fact that he did not wear the "Ocho Cinco" name tag during the game.[60]
Johnson legally changed his name to Chad Javon Ochocinco on August 29, 2008.[61] The Cincinnati Bengals decided to allow him to have it on the back of his jersey,[62] though Ochocinco continued to wear his old "C. Johnson" jersey during the 2008 football season,[63] because of contractual obligations with Reebok. He has played with "Ochocinco" on the back of his jersey since the 2009 preseason.[64] He wanted it to read "Ocho Cinco" but the NFL will only allow his legal name as spelled on his name change paperwork.[65]
Ochocinco announced on his live USTREAM broadcast in 2009 that he would be legally changing his last name to “Hachi Go” in 2010. He also held up a Customized Cincinnati Bengals Jersey with the last name "Hachi Go" on the back. Just as the words Ocho Cinco translate to 8 and 5 in Spanish, the words Hachi Go (八五) translate to 8 and 5 in Japanese.[66] However, he did not go through with the name change.
On January 25, 2011, Ochocinco told an ESPN reporter that he will be changing his last name back to Johnson.[67] However, on June 30, 2011, Ochocinco told an ESPN reporter that because of financial issues, he would keep his name as Chad Ochocinco and not go back to Johnson.[68]
On July 23, 2012, after Ochocinco's move to the Miami Dolphins, he legally changed his name back to Chad Johnson at Broward County courthouse as he wanted to reconnect with his former self before he changed his name to Ochocinco.[69]