NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - AOL Time Warner Inc. will drop the AOL from its name and as its stock symbol Oct. 16, the company said Monday.

The media conglomerate, whose board approved the name change a month ago, assumed the combined name when Internet service provider America Online bought Time Warner Inc. in January 2001.

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The company said dropping the AOL from the name will help restore luster to the America Online consumer brand, which has been losing subscribers for the first time in its history.

Some analysts and shareholders see it as an effort to downplay one of the troubled units of the company and put the problems associated with the merger behind it.

The company, whose other units include Warner Bros. studios, Time Inc. publishing, Time Warner Cable, Turner Broadcasting as well as CNN/Money, will revert back to the old TWX stock symbol that it used before the merger.

The corporate Web site address will change to http://www.timewarner.com, and the units of the company now known as Time Warner Inc. will be referred to as Historic TW Inc.

Shares of AOL Time Warner (AOL: up $0.17 to $15.90, Research, Estimates) were little changed Monday.