+1, pretty please? I'd also really, really like a way to see who a person used to be by going to their profile. (I recently had a bad experience with a user, and they tried to approach me again under a different name - I wish I had blocked them the first time, but I didn't).
No, it shouldn't be optional. Putting name history on a profile helps prevent deceptive name changes like Kadi ran across. If you're changing because you figured out a new, awesome name there are no issues about having your name history on your profile.
I would rather have an option for the person who might have accidentally signed up with their real name and want to change it, or maybe they're being harassed by somewhere in real life or elsewhere and want to take cover, maybe she signed up as MrsSchnookums, but Mr Schnookums left her and she'd like to remove that name from her online identity, or any other of a million reasons.
If someone wants to broadcast their name change, fine - but privacy is important, you shouldn't be forced to have some sort of permanent public record
+1 Shhexy Corin. As someone who works with DV survivors, that is how I feel about it. I changed my name from engagedtone about 6 months ago and just put an update to the effect of "This is the glitch formerly known as engagedtone" so people who cared would know.
+1 Shhexy Corin. If you didn't know me well enough to notice that I changed my name, then you probably didn't know me anyways. What's it to you what my name was before? If you're afraid of someone who has bothered you in the past coming back to bother you after changing their name, then simply block that person the first time around.
+1shhexy corin. Options allow for all possibilities. A name change simply allows you keep playing with your current account. For those with no issues, the option to show the name change is great. For others, it might force them to create an alt in order to keep playing.
I don't play every day so sometimes I miss the update someone posts about their name change and then I have to spend a few minutes figuring out who they are. The reverse happened with a few friends when I changed my name. But I didn't realize that it was a privacy issue for some, so maybe there is a happy medium.