Long-named US woman celebrates government climb-down.

A US woman has won a battle to have her full name put on her driving licence.

Janice "Lokelani" Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele's name is so long - containing 36 letters and 19 syllables - that it would not fit on the documentation.

But she says her grievance has now been redressed.

Hawaii government computer systems are to be upgraded by the end of the year, allowing her to have her full name on her driving licence and ID card.


"No-one ever gets away with chopping my name without hearing about it"
At present her documentation only has a truncated version of her name, because the computer system in Hawaii cannot handle more than 35 characters.

Ms Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele - whose maiden name was the more compact Worth - said that she began the campaign to get her full name on government documentation because she was shocked at the way police treated her after stopping her car.

"The policeman looked at my licence and saw I had no first name. I told him it is not my fault that my licence and state ID are not correct and I am trying to get it corrected," she said.

"He then told me 'Well, you can always change your name back to your maiden name.' This hurt my heart."

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Janice  Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele
Over the last 22 years I have seen... the culture of Hawaii being trampled upon and this policeman treated my name as if it was mumbo-jumbo”

Janice Keihanaikukauakahihuli-heekahaunaele
"Over the last 22 years I have seen... the culture of Hawaii being trampled upon and this policeman treated my name as if it was mumbo-jumbo."

Ms Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele said that the officer's attitude upset her because he was being "disrespectful of the Hawaiian people".


After she brought her concerns to the governor's department, they announced that a license and an ID card which allows her full name on it will be produced by the end of 2013.

A spokeswoman for Hawaii's transport department, Caroline Sluyter, said computer systems across the state were being upgraded to accommodate longer names.

"We have been made aware of that issue, and I know right now they are working to extend that limit to - I believe - 40 characters so that issue can be resolved," she said.

Ms Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele - who got her name after marrying in 1992 - said that her name had many layers of meanings including "one who would stand up and get people to focus in one direction when there was chaos and confusion, and help them emerge from disorder"