SANTA FE (AP) – The state Court of Appeals has ruled against a Los Alamos man who wanted to change his name to a phrase containing the “f-bomb.”

The man appealed after a state district judge refused his request to change his name to a phrase that included the obscenity, followed by the word “censorship.”

Judge Nan Nash ruled that the proposed name change was obscene and offensive.

The man — whose legal name is Variable — argued that it was improper government censorship to deny him the name change.

The Court of Appeals panel says the district court’s action doesn’t infringe on the petitioner’s right to free speech.

The judges say the man has the right to call himself whatever he wants, but the court has the authority to turn him down once he seeks court approval for a name change.