Man Can't Change Name to 'God'
Wed Oct 9, 9:02 AM ET

LAKE CITY, Fla. (AP) - A man who wanted to change his name to God chose a new name when a judge turned down his request.

 

The former Charles Haffey's new name is I Am who I Am.

The former Haffey said after his first choice was rejected in April, he went to the Bible to find a backup. He drew on a passage where Moses asks God who he is and hears: "I am who I am or I will be who I will be."

"That's kind of wordy, so I'm just going for 'I Am Who I Am' as my full legal name," he said. "My first name, of course, would be 'I Am.'"

The 55-year-old said he sought the name change as a way to gain release from feelings of anxiety and rage that have plagued him since he served in Vietnam.

"I was fatally wounded in the mind and the spirit," he said. "I didn't suffer any bodily injury. It's just what I saw, what I did. I killed myself."

Who I Am said he became a Christian and was baptized in April. It was shortly after that when he decided to change everything, beginning with his name.

Last week, he bought a tombstone to be inscribed with his former name. He plans to plant it in the tall grass on his property.

He said it will read, "'Charles Walter Haffey, born Sept. 23, 1948, and died Oct. 21, 1968, Republic of Vietnam.'"