I am completely on board with this! If the name has a connection (and it would make sense for Rumple to at least try) and Bae figures it out, it’s a perfectly logical reason to change his name and I’ve been a big proponent of name-changing theories cause I don’t think he jumped straight to Neal. I really think it was Peter and then when he got to our world he had to change it for 1 of 2 reasons if not both:
1) Try introducing yourself as Peter Pan…seriously that’s not going to fly (pun intended) in our world. He’d be mocked and/or sent to a mental institution
2) Anybody in Neverland would know him and if Rumple went there looking for him and asked / tortured the right person, they could say well he’s going by Peter now and he was last seen….
It just doesn’t make sense to keep the same name if he ever gets to the point where is afraid of Rumple finding him (which he obviously does, the question is how?)
I think that he’s perfectly find using the name Baelfire right now and doesn’t seem to have a problem with it, nor is he worried about his dad.
What if Rumple DOES go to Neverland (be it to follow a name tracking spell, or to find squid ink, etc etc) and Bae SEES him / doesn’t like what he’s doing. For instance if he is going around interrogating people and Bae sees or hears something he may lead him away from it by leaving clues that he’s left and then actually leave but change his name and go somewhere Rumple can’t get to him again.
The only issue I see in that is that young Bae likes to fight. He’s not afraid to stand up to anybody, including his father. (Seriously who else could tell Rumple that they don’t like what he’s doing and what he’s become and beg him to change and get away with it?)
I think something has to change along the way for Bae to go from being sad / having nightmares about his father leaving him to being afraid he’ll ever find him. Seeing / overhearing / learning of something in Neverland could change that.
There’s also the question of his relationship with Hook and whether Hook puts it all together & tells Bae what his father has done. That could trigger things too, finally learning about Milah’s fate and realizing that his father is even more of a monster now that he’s gone than he was before he let Bae go through the portal.
Keeper of Hook's Trenchcoat.