I think this thread is not like to satisfy curiosity but to increase post quota.

About questions to fix something: Nothing to be fixed, it is intentionally changed by theymos, and there are things can not be fixed or hardly to be fixed in SMF software. Let it be.
Each user has a display name, which is the only name ordinary users see, and a username, which is what you use to log-in with. Almost always, they are the same.
If I change a name for reasons of appearance, then I only change the display name. The username remains reserved, the user can still login using the username, PMs can still be sent to that username, "search member" allows searching for the old username, etc.
If I change a name for reasons of privacy, then I change both the username and the display name. In this case, it is possibly hazardous to reserve the old username, since it allows someone to test for the existence of that username, possibly defeating the privacy benefit. If you're worried about being impersonated, then simply don't seek to have your username changed.
Why are you guys posting the old names of people who clearly needed their names changed for privacy reasons? Obviously any data posted online is going to be quickly archived somewhere, but that doesn't mean that your highlighting/reposting of it has no effect. In some cases you may literally be putting lives in danger. If you were investigating a scam or something, that'd be different, but you seem to just be indiscriminately & recklessly dredging up data that would best be forgotten.
Privacy is the top reason for me agreeing to a name change. It's just not often done for well-known users, and I don't announce it.
When a name is changed for privacy reasons, I sometimes partially or completely fix that. I consider quotes of the form [quote author=... link=topic=... to be fixable; other quotes are not.
- If it looks like there's much chance that a scam case will be opened against someone, then I won't change their name to begin with.
- Flags/feedback most often don't exist for users whose names I change
- The Trust system is intentionally not accessible to search engines.
- Trust ratings don't usually mention a user's original name or other sensitive details.