Woman Told To Shorten Name That's Too Long For Driving Licence

A Hawaiian woman has been left outraged after state officials asked her to cut down her 36-letter surname – because it wouldn’t fit on the ID card.

Furious Janice Lokelani Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele claims the state has been ‘disrespectful’ towards her Hawaiian heritage after being reissued an ID card with only 35 letters in her surname.

Her name is so long that the driving licence in question does not even include her first name and middle names at all.

Mrs Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele, who has had to carry two ID cards for the past 20 years, said that the action of missing off one letter was ‘disrespectful of the Hawaiian people’.

‘The county has never accommodated my name on my driver’s license,’ she told Honolulu television station KHON2.

She said the new ID has created a number of problems for her, including not being able to travel and being questioned by police during traffic.

’He looked at it and he goes, “Well, where is your first name?” And I said, “Don’t blame me. This is your department, this is the county”.’

Mrs Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele said that she has been told by the country to take her maiden name or shorten her last name. But she wants to keep the name as a tribute to her late husband.

After the TV station that originally reported the story pressured the local Department of Transport on the issue, officials said they will extend ID cards to a 40-character limit.