Hawaii can't fit woman's last name on license

[TexasTowelie]

HONOLULU (AP) — A Hawaii woman's last name is a real mouthful, containing 36 letters and 19 syllables in all. And it's so long that she couldn't get a driver's license with her correct name.

Janice "Lokelani" Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele is in the midst of a fight with state and local officials to ensure that her full name gets listed on a license or ID card. Her name is pronounced: KAY'-ee-hah-nah-EE'-coo-COW'-ah-KAH'-hee-HOO'-lee-heh-eh-KAH'-how-NAH-eh-leh.

The documents only have room for 35 characters, so Hawaii County instead issued her driver's license and her state ID with the last letter of her name chopped off. And it omitted her first name.

The 54-year-old Big Island resident wrote her mayor and city councilwoman for help, but the county said the state of Hawaii computer system they used wouldn't allow names longer than 35 characters.

More at http://www.chron.com/news/article/Hawaii-can-t-fit-woman-s-last-name-on-license-4812271.php?cmpid=hpts .

[font color=green]Note to Cha--if you aren't married maybe you could help this poor lady out? Mahalo.[/font]

[Fantastic Anarchist]

1. Does anyone remember this tale?

The way I remember it is the brother couldn't remember his name because it was so long (which is different than the Wiki version):

Tikki Tikki Tembo

[denverbill]

2. As a programmer, a change like that to the state's computer system could involve a LOT of hours.

And money.

If she wants to shell out of the upgrades, fine. They could change their system to handle a name 100 characters long, and the next day, so jerk would rename himself KeihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaeleKeihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaeleKeihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaeleKeihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele and demand his name be on the license.

[LiberalFighter]

3. I'm not really a programmer but do design applications.

It would be an aggravation beyond just having that change. The layout of the form would also be a pain. It is very important to have consistency and a long name does not help. It is bad enough having hyphen names.

I like to know how her name was entered on her birth certificate and if there was enough room. Also, her drivers license can't be the only situation where her long name is an issue.

In a database of 4.5 million I don't have a last name that is longer than 24 characters.