What's in a name? A florida man is fighting for his

He says it's for love, the state says it's fraud

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Posted: 01/29/2013

By: Megan Pringle

Lazaro Sopena and Hanh Dinh married more than a year ago. As a romantic gesture, he changed his last name to Dihn to keep his wife's Vietnamese hertirage alive.

Lazaro Dinh went through all the appropriate steps. He obtained a new passport, Social Security card and changed his bank account and credit cards before applying to update his drivers license.

According to Reuters, Dinh received a letter from Florida's DMV in December accusing him of "obtaining a driving license by fraud."

He was told that his license would be suspended at the end of the month. When he called the state DMV, and explained he was changing his name due to marriage, he was told 'that only works for women."

It turns out, that's true in most states. Dihn's lawyer says only 9 states enable a man to change his name upon marriage: California, New York, Hawaii, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Oregon, Iowa, Georgia and North Dakota. He is now appealing that order, but playing it safe and not driving.