On File: 1,257 Ways to Say Leisure World

Leisure World in Laguna Woods’ days are numbered. Not that the 40-year-old retirement community is shutting down or its residents skedaddling.

But some residents have long said its name is over the hill and should be retired.

A name-change campaign has been triggered by a feud between the community and the trademark owner.

The Leisure World name-change committee spent Wednesday poring over 1,257 name suggestions submitted by residents.

Over the next week the pile will be pared down to 20, which will be researched and copyrighted.

In August, the list is to be whittled down to five, on which residents will vote.

By fall, the new name is scheduled to replace Leisure World, which for decades has been synonymous with leisurely life.

Marty Rhodes, who chairs the committee, said life at Leisure World was anything but that.

Resident activities include aerobics classes and horseback riding. “We’re not a sedentary community,” he said.

Leisure World has grappled with Heidi Cortese, the developer’s daughter, over the name use.

An agreement requires the community to have any new use of its name approved.

When Leisure World used the name in its website, Cortese fought it because she said she wanted to use it to advertise another retirement community.

She sued and won, and the words “Leisure World” are no longer on the community’s website.

The community’s cable television station also has been the source of a dispute, with Cortese arguing she should get advertising revenue because the Leisure World name is being used.