PORTLAND – A familiar name across Maine soon will become history after the Peoples Heritage bank signs start coming down.

The Peoples Heritage name today officially changes to TD Banknorth, the name of Peoples’ parent company after the recent merger of Portland-based Banknorth Group Inc. and Canada-based TD Bank Financial Group.

In the months ahead, the Peoples Heritage name will disappear from its signs, marketing materials, bank slips and other items at 60 branches across the state, to be replaced by the TD Banknorth name and logo.

Mike McNamara, president of Peoples Heritage, said the Peoples name carries a lot of value, but that it makes sense for all TD Banknorth properties to have the same name.

Banknorth’s other banks – the Bank of New Hampshire, Banknorth Massachusetts, Banknorth Connecticut, Banknorth Vermont and Evergreen Bank in upstate New York – are also changing their names to TD Banknorth in a move that will affect nearly 400 branches.

“It’s a clean sweep,” McNamara said.

The Peoples name has a long history in Maine, dating back to 1875 with Peoples Savings Bank in Auburn. The bank has been known as Peoples Heritage since 1984, McNamara said, when Peoples Savings merged with Heritage Savings of Rockland.

Bank officials say the name change will allow all 397 Banknorth banks and 500 ATMs in six states to operate under a single name, providing customers with added convenience and service.

Although the banks are all becoming TD Banknorth, company officials say they will be run the same, with no change among tellers, management teams or Banknorth’s community banking strategy. Customers will keep their old bank account numbers, and their ATM cards and checks will change when their old cards expire and they order new checks.

The first bank signs to change will be at Evergreen Bank in New York in June, followed by Peoples and Bank of New Hampshire signs in July. Banknorth branches in Connecticut and Vermont will come down in August, and the signs in Massachusetts will be replaced in September and October.

Brad McCurtain, president of Maine Securities Corp. in Portland, said the TD Banknorth name is a better indicator of what the bank is all about. The Peoples name, he said, connotes an image of a small-town homespun operation, while the Banknorth name gives the impression of a larger, more sophisticated bank.

Banknorth Group, the parent company of the banks, in fact is the largest New England-based bank and among the top 30 largest U.S. commercial banks based on assets.

The name change will be good for customers, McCurtain said, and will give the bank more marketing opportunities. For instance, the bank earlier this year bought the naming rights to the Boston Garden, renaming it TD Banknorth Garden effective July 1.

“Just look at TD Banknorth Garden. When your bank is Peoples Heritage, you can’t say, ‘That’s our company,'” McCurtain said. “Banknorth has invested significantly into marketing the Banknorth name, especially in other parts of New England.”

There’ll be a bit of nostalgia when the Peoples name disappears. But McNamara said the public shouldn’t have any confusion with the change.

The bank has been using the Banknorth name interchangeably with Peoples for a few years now. When the new TD Banknorth logo is rolled out, it will be green – the same color as the Peoples logo.

Peoples is the second bank in Maine to go through the name-change process in less than six months. The Fleet name was officially replaced at branches in Maine with that of Bank of America beginning in December, 14 months after those banks merged.