“Chuck”-Inspired Man Legally Changes His Name to “Captain Awesome”

His new smiley face signature, however, is rejected by his bank

How awesome would it be if you were named Captain Awesome?

An Oregon man knows -- he legally changed his name to just that.

Born Douglas Allen Smith, Jr., in Lane County, Ore., in 1983, he's now officially Captain Awesome. The unemployed carpenter says he was inspired by a character on the NBC TV show, "Chuck,"  whose dad told him: "A poor nickname builds good character."

Time will tell if that's true of the former Mr. Smith, but for now he's just psyched to have the new moniker legally approved.

"I just thought it was really funny that Devon's father always called him Captain Awesome," Awesome said about the "Chuck" character who prompted the name change, Dr. Devon "Captain Awesome" Woodcomb.

And so how, if at all, is life different for someone with that hot handle? Hard to know, but so far it seems as prosaic as ever.

While the DMV accepted Smith's new name and signature -- a smiley face and two pointing arrows -- the bank declined that John Hancock, saying it was too easy to copy.

That's probably true -- but it sure isn't awesome.

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