Multiple servers, and Mojang, stated that name changing does not effect either bans or any physical items in the server. Commands such as /home may not be safe though, as they are not tracked by the UUID, yet rather by the server files containing only the users ORIGINAL name. So if a friend of yours is online, you can trust him, unlock all your chests, have him lock them, and change your name, then take ownership of them again. Once this has happened, everything will be fine and dandy. Just to be certain I strongly suggest you look through google and look through other servers forums just to be sure. It is different for all people. Look through yourself, there is the smallest chance it will fail. This is because players are be traced by their UUID (account id). I personally am changing mine. Nothing you can do to stop me, if I lose my rank, I am fine with it, I cannot stand my current name as it was from near 4 years ago when I had no idea what I was doing. I hope I do not lose my rank, yet if I do, and lose my stuff, at least I can start from scratch
PS: If you have a chest, it WILL be locked, no matter what. If you unlock these, PERFECT, just ensure no one knows where you live (Heh heh)
