The state system had capped the characters at 35, which meant dropping off the last letter of Lokelani’s surname. She took offense to this for a number of reasons, not the least of which is her last name carries Hawaiian meanings and remains a strong connection to her late husband.

Lokelani complained to her elected officials and told a local TV news station about the problem. KHON2 ran a story in early September and within two days the state Department of Transportation said it was changing its policy.

A blog post on the DOT website last month says the state has since worked with the county Departments of Motor Vehicles to expand the character limits to a total of 120 characters (40 last name, 40 first name, 35 middle name, five suffix). That’s almost a full Tweet in length. 

There’s no mention of Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele in the DOT announcement. Only a blurb about how the state’s “enhanced requirements” for driver’s licenses and ID cards were deemed fully compliant with the Real ID Act of 2005 after a federal review.

The change took effect in early November.

— Nathan Eagle