A university student from Taichung, Taiwan, recently changed his legal name to “Salmon Dream”. The man, surnamed Chang, had legally modified his name to take advantage of an all-you-can-eat promotion by conveyor belt sushi chain Sushiro, which promised free sushi to customers who had “gui yu” (the Chinese term for salmon) in their identity card names.

But Chang’s Salmon Dream turned into a nightmare, when he discovered that there was a limit to the number of times one could change their name. Under Taiwanese law, citizens can only change their name a total of three times. Chang had apparently maxed out his quota, and was told by a household registration official that his new name would be permanent.

When interviewed by Taiwan’s CTS News outside a Sushiro restaurant outlet, a flustered Chang choked up on camera when asked about his name. “I regret… If I were to be admitted into the hospital [with this name] in the future, I wouldn’t know what to do,” he said. He also claims that a household registration official only informed him about his permanent name change after his new identity card was made.

When contacted by the news station, the director of the North District Household Registration Office refuted Chang’s claim, insisting that the department had double-checked with Chang before processing his name change.

According to the director, the registration staff handling Chang’s application had tried to dissuade him from changing his name. “We asked him, ‘Are you sure? This is the second time you are changing your name. You will only be left with one more chance after this.’ We did specially remind him. So he may have recalled what happened wrongly,” she said.

As it turns out, Chang actually has one more chance left in his quota. His mother had apparently changed his name once in his childhood, and “Salmon Dream” was his second name change. Which means he has one last chance to swap his name, and we hope it isn’t a fishy one this time.

Chang’s school, the China Medical University, was reportedly very concerned about his distress after his botched name change, and provided counselling for him.

​​​​​​​Photos: CTS News