A Stockholm, Sweden, man said authorities have barred him from changing his name to Halla, the Swedish equivalent of "Hello."

Jonas Peter Haraldsson said the Swedish National Tax Agency, or Skatteverket, ruled he could not change his middle name to the friendly greeting because it might "cause offense and is likely to lead to discomfort for the bearer," The Local reported Wednesday.

Haraldsson said he plans to appeal the decision.

"It started as a bit of fun, since I have three daughters at home who begin every sentence with the word 'Halla.' And besides, it's just the middle part of my name" he said. "But now it's a question of principle. After my application was turned down, I got to thinking: why should Skatteverket be able to decide over what I want to call myself?"

Skatteverket representative Kenth Hammarstrom defended the agency's decision.

"In Sweden, unlike in a lot of other countries, we have legislation preventing people from using names that may cause offense. You can't be named after a swear word, for example, and Satan is out of bounds, as are individual letters of the alphabet," he said, "It's simply not a free choice."