One name signifies you have that “it” factor. Cher, Madonna, Beyonce and more recently, (maybe) Britney have come to be known worldwide by a single name due to being famous and most times infamous. Lindsay Lohan recently had a strange thought that she too could drop the “Lohan” and just be Lindsay. Her reps deny she’s dropping the Lohan. Other reports claim her dad’s devastated she’d lose his surname, but can you blame her? Maybe Lindsay’s thinking the loss of “Lohan” will be a new start for her, or she’s just trying to throw the cops off her trail.

For someone to be able to pull off the one name label, they have to have come out to the world that way or earned it. Years from now there may be another Lindsay who’s risen to fame and succeeded instead of falling flat on a bathroom floor of the latest Hollywood hot spot. Down the line we won’t be able to recall her escapades by just saying “Oh yeah, that Lindsay.” We’ll have to say Lindsay Lohan to have the whole picture of her pop into our minds.

She’s a here and now, but not forever celebrity. How many have come and gone down the same path as Lindsay that we don’t remember? Almost half of the child stars of the 80′s? Why yes. They drifted into oblivion and aren’t even remembered when their whole name is given, only their roles known. So maybe Lindsay Lohan’s a little above them, or maybe in 20 years she’ll just be that ginger in Mean Girls.

Her stints in jail have been shorter than her adult career and a cliché child star tale is what we’ll remember Lindsay as. Even now, just writing Lindsay makes no sense. She went from a freckled darling in one Disney remake after another to being one of America’s favorite joke subjects. She could never pull off the one name. She hasn’t solidified her career enough. Again, Mean Girls was amazing, but it was also years ago. She should focus more on the charges on her police records instead of the name printed on them.