Hiroko Yoda says she made several attempts to sign up to the popular social networking site but her applications were always met with an error message.
The Japanese author suspected that her distinctive surname – which she shares with the wise, green Jedi Master of the Star Wars film series – may be at the root of her problem.
Her suspicions were confirmed when her attempts to sign up using other anglicised versions of her surname, including Youda and Yohda, proved successful.
After contacting Facebook she claims she was told that Yoda had been placed on a name blacklist because so many members pretended to be the fictional three-fingered seer. The website only allows people to join under their real names.
“Facebook blocks the registration of a number of names that are frequently abused on the site,” the website’s message read.
“The name ‘Yoda’, also being the name of a popular Star Wars character, is on this list of blocked names.”
Under Facebook’s terms and conditions, users must agree not to “impersonate any person or entity, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent yourself”.
The rules also dictate that members must not “register for a User account on behalf of an individual other than yourself”.
Facebook has now relented and allowed Hiroko Yoda to set up a profile on the site.
Yoda is a fairly common surname in Japan, and a search of Facebook reveals dozens of apparently genuine members with the name.
Facebook had not responded with a comment at the time of publication.
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