Only in America: Change your (35-letter) last name!

Government officials encourage a Hawaii woman to shorten her surname for her ID card — and more in our collection of strange revelations about the nation

Samantha Rollins's avatar
By
last updated
Change your (35-letter) last name!
(Image credit: Screenshot/KHON2)

A Hawaii woman was encouraged by local officials to shorten her name because it exceeded the number of characters that could fit on her state ID card. Janice Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele called the suggestion disrespectful to the Hawaiian people, as her last name has been passed down for several generations. She is urging the Department of Transportation to change its character limit to 40.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Samantha Rollins
Samantha Rollins

Samantha Rollins is TheWeek.com's news editor. She has previously worked for The New York Times and TIME and is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.