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Abbreviating Name on Official Documents?
harlows_monkeys asks: "I went through a bit of a hassle getting a replacement SS card, because my name in their records is 'Timothy' but my driver's license says 'Tim'. They seemed surprised and a little bit suspicious over my going by 'Tim' when my legal name is 'Timothy'. Looking over things, I see that I'm 'Tim' on my driver's license, health and auto insurance, credit and bank cards, bank accounts, mutual funds, paychecks, W-2, and tax returns. I'm 'Timothy' to the SS office, and on my auto lease (but 'Tim' on my auto registration).
The SS office warned me that this mismatch would cause problems. Has anyone else run into this? Should I be going around and changing my records everywhere to say 'Timothy' to match my Social Security records?"
seems like it'd almost be better to change your ss name to tim. if that's possible. i've been doing the same thing. some things say matthew. other things say matt. no problems so far, but who knows...
In Soviet Redmond, software programs you!
Just cross-reference it with another document which shows the same last name/address/phone/ID # combination.
I find it easier to just go by my full legal name on all documents.
Only worse.
I have two completely different names... and it became a problem here because some HR dorks didn't believe that I was me because my phone directory listing has my nickname instead of my legal name.
It also became a problem in college when a professor who knew me personally by my nickname removed me from the class rolls by accident. I had to appeal to get re-added afterwards.
Use the legal name everywhere. It will be a big pain in the ass otherwise.
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and enemy of growth. -JFK
Should I be going around and changing my records everywhere to say 'Timothy' to match my Social Security records?
No. Have your name legally changed to something that requires Unicode to represent. Much more fun, and better for society in the long run as well.
I promise.
-- MarkusQ
I go by Steve
Most documents say Steve
My full name is Stephen J
My credit report has all valid and used forms of my name.
So far no problems.
Even the guys that have stolen my identity have not had problems.
I am willing to be that this is a common issue and most folks can handle it.
Use your real name on legal documents, not the name people call you. You really needed to post an article on /. to tell you that? Go correct it everywhere it's wrong, and from now on, use your REAL name, not your nickname. Dumbass.
... we don't care about valid docs, just go grab a new license or ss card. :) yeah yeah we defeated it once but it hasn't died, that's what you get with people in the legislature with no common sense.
I'm surprised they weren't in fear and awe of you, the great wizard Tim. You shoulda just blown them up.
Moo.
Tim v. Timothy probably doesn't make them suspicious. The "harlows_monkeys" thing, however...
I've run into all sorts of problems with the short and long versions of my name on documents, not the least of which was credit reporting. I always sign the full name, with middle initial, on documents now, and leave the shortened version conversational.
It's weird, but for some reason, the various credit reporting agencies seem to place different names on the reports depending on which "version" of your name you use to request a report. I've invested about 3 years in fixing everything, and I'm about 80% there.
There's so little difference between politics and jihad lately...
This may be a bit more extreme example, but a friend of mine was trying to transfer her driver's license from Texas or something to New York. It had her name like this: F. Middle Last on some of her stuff (like social security card and Texas license) and First M. Last on other stuff of hers. She was there for hours, but they wouldn't trust that she was who she said she was, even though everything else obviously matched up just fine. She actually had to do something ridiculous like get a signed and stamped copy of her birth certificate from Texas, I don't remember exactly what.
While this example is a bit different, and I would imagine slightly more susceptible to this kind of BS, I would say, yes, it can happen to you! Get that sh*t standardized!
You've got to make sure that documents that require your "legal name" all precisely agree. A real PITA, but it'll cause problems.
I had to go to court and almost ended up fined or in jail because of a slight mismatch in my documentation. Because my insurance didn't match, some automatic notifcation system cause the state of Florida to think that I didn't have car insurance, so they canceled my driver's license without telling me. When I was pulled over on the highway, I was charged with the misdemeanor of driving without a license (the cop did not care about the reasons, he could only see that my license was revoked). I then had to have my girlfriend come pick me up, 6 hours' drive away from home, and I had to return later to answer the charges. The DA dropped the charges when I pulled her aside and explained what happened and showed her the documentation, but I still lost the day and a half that it took to drive to that jurisdiction and back for the 8am court date, and the driving of the day of the incident (6 hours there, 6 hours waiting for the girlfriend, 6 hours back).
The good news is that non-legal documents like credit cards don't have to agree as long as you're not trying to dodge creditors. The rule is that if you're using a name in a non-fraudulent manner and it doesn't require your legal name, it's all fine.
But really, really. Make sure "legal name" documents agree completely. The Bureacracy is not your friend, and you must appease it now or it will take its vengeance later.
"It is our blasphemy which has made us great, and will sustain us, and which the gods secretly admire in us." - Zelazny
Yes, when you're filling out something important, you should use your real name instead of a nickname. Isn't this obvious?
This is the #1 reason to never use a JR or SR in naming your children. You are dooming them to forever having their financial records mixed up with every person in your family. Good luck getting a loan if you son or dad has bad credit. You could be perfect and it won't matter.
Unfortunately, your SS is your major ID number and however much it shouldn't be a universal ID system, it's become that without any real oversight or security to it.
I have two legal names (as someone else above mentioned). My given name is Jeremiah, whereas, for as long as I can remember (unless I was in trouble, and that was only with my parents and grandmother), everyone called me 'Jeremy'. All of my school records, my health records, all of my tax returns, all have me listed as Jeremy. Of course, I just figured that this was how the government identified me. Then, while digging through a box of documents one day, I found a social security card paperclipped to a birth certificate, both with the name 'Jeremiah'. This confused me, as I have a social security card and birth certificate (dated one year after the original), with the name 'Jeremy'. Of course, by this point, I wasn't sure what to call myself. I wrote to, and called, the Social Security Administration and never got anything back. I've never actually had any problems with my name. I think it's because when you apply for anything even remotely official, and they ask for your social security number, so long as that's unique and you only use the one you have, the one bound to your name, then you should be ok. I'm sure there's a range of 'accepted variations' on names and such. Pat for Patrick, Sam for Samuel, Tim for Timothy, Tom for Thomas, Matt for Matthew, and so on. *shrug*
Now, everyone just calls me 'Greg', anyway.
Informatus Technologicus
No, seriously. While I doubt it's necessary, it sounds like you want to be consistant across basically everything to eliminate hassle. If all that's going to change is your SS and your auto lease vs. all that other stuff, I know which one I'd pick.
You might feel apprehensive about changing your name from the one your parents gave you, but you're really only doing it legally. Besides, not only will it make an interesting conversation piece, think of all the jokes that are possible...
"There are some who call me... Tim"
PS IANAL. You may wish to consult a real one, rather than believing some wonk from the SS office and bunch of random yahoos on /.
... so that none of the other hundreds of people with your name says they are you. Who in the sane mind uses person names for identification purposes anyway?
I find it hard to believe that having a minor name difference like that will cause any troubles. I mean the police have been tracking criminals for years using all of their aliases.
I'd change your name on some of the stuff to Timmy.
You are being MICROattacked, from various angles, in a SOFT manner.
I have a two word first name (of which corprew is the second word.) This has caused a lot of hilarity over the years with my name being recorded differently in different systems.
It has been a large problem, because the people who look at records at, say, the DMV or an HR department tend to be literalists without much of a sense of humor. I have a bunch of documents with 'E. Corprew' some with 'E.... Corprew,' and some with just 'E....' or 'Corprew.' A lot of it is just how the clerk chose to enter it. I've had name problems with employers, the State Department (passport), the DMVs of two states, and a past employer maintained two employment records for me accidentally after a merger because the symbols that made up my name weren't 100% identical on two different records.
So, yeah, it's been a massive pain in the ass. I change everything to my full name to avoid problems. My advice would be to change all the things to your full name as soon as you can, because if it does come up, it's almost certainly going to come up when you have the least time to deal with it. (like, while processing an insurance claim after an accident or applying for an expedited passport.)
two cents, have fun.
--Corprew
I hate to admit it, and to the day I die will hate my parents for it, but my middle name is Demetrius. That's fine if you have a similar name and it is ethnic, but I'm not ethnic. My brother's is Ashley and my sister is Eyre. I always sign with just a D, and the only people who insist on using the full middle name is the MVA (aka DMV).
I have actually considered a legal name change to drop it to just D.
I should put something clever here. Maybe someday.
This has got to be the least relevant Ask Slashdot I have ever seen!! I know people ask geeks legal questions here all the time, but is this crowd really any more authoritative than random people on a street corner?
The answer, by the way, is that if you use a non-legal name in an official cpapacity you could be suspected of fraud. Your friends may call you Tim, but that is not your name, man.
-------------------------
A person of moderate zeal
I don't ever have to worry about that problem. I just have one name, Paul. There are no shortened or lengthened versions. No nicknames. No other pronunciations or spellings. Just one. It's actually odd because since I never had any other versions I can't really relate to people responding to both Jim and James for example.
Why don't you guys have friends or journals?
You think you've got problems, Timothy? Try initializing your first name and spelling out your middle name as I do. It used to be quite common: F. Scott Fitzgerald, J. Edgar Hoover, etc. Now with computerized forms that insist on either no middle name or a middle initial only, it's getting harder and harder to keep it consistent. Some databases know me by first name "J. Christopher" and no middle name, others as first name "Christopher" middle initial "J" (though I never enter it that way myself), and still others as first name "Chris" with no middle name. And of course there are other variations but you get the idea. I managed with difficulty to get my drivers' license "J. Christopher Carr" when I moved to my current state of residence. Back when New Jersey forced me into "John C. Carr" I got quite a few hassles about my signature. I persevere with this because I'm the fourth of five (damn, I sound like a borg) John Christopher Carrs in my family, and I've lived in the same house with one of the others almost all my life. The confusion we've been spared among friends and family asking for "John" has more than made up for the difficulty of keeping the databases straight.
I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve. BB
My name is hyphenated, and its very aggrivating when people just stop at the hyphen. No, I do not go by my first and middle name - my first name is two words that are hypenated and I go by that name. I'm somewhat OK with initials, but leaving off half my name if you don't know me is unacceptable.
Getting all things correct is almost impossible because people make assumptions. If my name were John-Michael I would always be called John and there are some people who don't seem to know what a hyphen is in the first place. My social security card is different from my Drivers license and *some* of my credit cards. It really is a mess, so I feel your pain.
Just be glad you don't have a hyphen.
Though I did always want to sue standardized test makers for discriminating against those of us with hypens in our name...
unf.
My wife, whom everyone knows by a nickname unrelated to her given name, has handled this situation by writing First Middle "Nick" Last on her IDs. This has never been questioned. It's been no problem even for international travel in the days of terrorism.
On a related note, I have an illegible signature which many people have told me will get me in trouble. But it never has. If someone questions me I neatly print my name under my signature.
There are also conflicts with other cultures.
My own uses the patronimic for naming.
(fake example)
My first name is Robert, my father's name is John.
So my full name (on my Birth Certificate) is Robert John Powell.
However, what is my "last name" (as asked by soooo many forms that you fill out throughout your lifetime)
My last name according to my culture is "John" and my FAMILY name is "Powell"
Do I put "John" or "Powell" on the forms?
I mix and match.
So various government agencies now know me as "Robert John" and others as "Robert Powell"
Both are legit and I'm not trying to defraud anyone.
Some other cultures have different birth dates too (I don't understand the details)
There is the "moon" birth date and also the birth date that you actually came out of your mum.
Trying to fit many many other cultures into Western cultures sometimes causes some interesting results.
They're right, it can cause problems. Mostly only people asking that same question, but it can be a pain. You can change your "official" name to Tim if you wish, simply by putting it on everything and using it consistently.
OTOH, figure how often people will look at the disparity and realize it's your obvious short form for your name, and *not* question it.
With me, it's my last name. It's hyphenated. I always use the long form on official documents, but when dealing with the people involved I tell them I usually just go by part of it, and they call me that.
"I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid." -- Bishop 341-B
What about Paulie/Paully?
So what you're saying is your real name is Timothy but there are some who call you... Tim?
Why is anything anything?
This is part where I would tell them to fuck off
My dad once had to get a passport, which proved troublesome. He was naturalized when he was a child, and he legally changed his name as an adult. He has no middle name, just an initial. The lady at the post office refused to take just a middle initial. It had to be a full name or nothing -- even though he didn't have one.
It's always a long day... 86400 doesn't fit into a short.
Timmeh!
When I was 9 or so, my mom remarried, and I took his last name. I didn't officially get it changed, I didn't get adopted, I just started using it. Apparently it's legal to just take another name, use it for X years, and it will become yours (at least 15 years ago or so).
I remember when I had my first part-time job, I received a letter from the SSA stating something along the lines of "Your social security number of XXX-XX-XXXX is not associated with the name Jeremy Pavleck. If this is an error, please contact us. Otherwise, we will update our records in X days to associate this name to this SSN". Went real nice and easy for me.
When I moved to illinois though and tried to change my license over I had a small problem doing it. They asked for my SS card, and since it was in my old name (and apparently, legally that was still my name at the time - the above letter only associated it as an AKA) and I had to get a new one. The only hassle was going to the SSA office and showing them my license and a report card from school, and they changed it over officially and all.
I also had a mispelling my license (JerAmy instead of JerEmy), but all it took was showing the DMV my SS card.
Looking for hardware (Currently need: Large Etch-a-Sketch) Have one? See my journal!
tim-may!!!
tim-may!!!
tim-may!!!
When I got my medical license, I was all excited -- yeah, it's dumb, but I was an intern. So when my California Department of Motor Vehicles renewal came up, I asked for "MD" to be added to the end of my name. I was hoping it might help with future encounters with police.
:-)
Don't do this.
It turns out the California DMV computers don't have a suffix field, so they made my last name "Cook MD". Later they made some web tools available. But the tools don't work right for me, because my actual last name "Cook" doesn't match the DMV's "Cook MD".
On my most recent renewal, I got rid of the "MD" part. Besides, it's useful sometimes to just be a regular human being -- that way the folks at the bank don't ask me about their arthritis.
It only took me about 8 years. My first name is Matthieu, it's a French spelling, and no matter how legibly I write it some data entry moron always assumes I can't spell my own name and fixes it. There were a few cases where I had to explain it when applying for credit and such but I've never had any major problems. Unless you count getting it fixed, I had to send off for a copy of my birth certificate because the DMV here in Houston wouldn't take my word that they misspelled my name.
On the plus side I could always tell who got my information from the DMV based on the spelling of my name. If you always slightly misspell your name with all companies and government agencies you can see who the biggest privacy violators are.
My Hello World is 512 bytes. But it's also a valid Fat12 boot sector, Fat12 file reader, and Pmode routine.
Female, with a traditionally male name. And a relatively unusual male name- Solomon. My middle name is too long for most documents, so it gets shortened to an initial.
It requires large amounts of proof when i show up for anything and use my full name, so i generally use a nickname for anything that doesn't require a full legal signature. However, if it's in writing, i generally assume that it requires a full legal signature. Using my middle initial has never been a problem, and it does not appear on my social security card. (it wouldn't fit.)
So i just made the license match. There's nothing stopping you from using your name any way you'd like to, especially if it's bleeding obvious that it's similar. Do horror stories abound? Yes. But in almost every case, the folks doing the paperwork-accepting have a little leeway on what they accept, and the more documents you have, the better.
I've asked. Here's why.
I have been called on to help several people with lifestyle changes, including name changes, divorces, and once, that whole changing-the-gender-on-the-license question. the response that i have gotten from the DMV and the SSA in advocating for others has been this: That the social security card and license should have your full, legal name. Mene doesn't. They asked why, and i told them, and they said that's fine because it's obvious that it wouldn't fit. If you aren't happy with it, change it, but make those documents have that in the same form. Your license should ALSO bear any nickname you use in common day-to-day activities IF that nickname is not 'obviously derivative' of your name. For example, they don't think i need to put 'sol' or 'solemn' on my license (even though the latter, which my mum calls me, to me is not obviously derivative) as long as my legal full name with middle initial is there and it's pretty close. The SSA especially was very straightforward: They didn't care as long as they were close, because it was the number that mattered. Timothy and Tim should be fine. Your credit report will include them all, or it should, and you should check to make sure there isn't a timmy yourlastname down the street whose info is ALSO on there.
In my case, the SSA person simply looked at me when i applied, and asked if i was sure.
Sure what? That it's my name? That i'm me? I said, "Sure about what?" and looked confused. She took my paperwork for a replacement card (do yourself a favour. Laminate your social security card, it's rare that they won't accept it and they'll sure accept it better than if you hand them the wad of washing-machine-treated paper that used to be a SS card.) and let it go at that.
Er... that's also how i get my username- solemndragon...
the most interesting part is work, where my name tag on the desk leads people to believe that i'm a temp, because i'm not a guy. That's caused some entertainment, and is an example of why it's gone out of political correctness to begin letters with "dear Sir."
Incidentally, it makes sorting my junk mail easy. Anything for "Mr." gets thrown in the shredder. *shaking head* administration appreciates paper. GO in with every scrap of ID you can find, including utility bills, and eventually they'll get tired of looking at them all. (This was also DMV advice.) As long as there was a cohesive paper trail linking the names, you should be FINE.
"I'd say 'Have a good time,' but arson is still illegal.
it's my middle NAME that doesn't fit. The initial fits just fine. *sigh* solemndragon :0, 'preview' button: 1
"I'd say 'Have a good time,' but arson is still illegal.
People coming from Afghanistan to N America frequently have one name. No last name. People are identified by their fathers name or place of birth, so Osama Bin Laden (not an Afghan), means Osama, Son of Laden. Therefore a person can be just his name, his name plus daddys name, his name plus city's name, or all together in whichever order.
Another guy I know from work is named Sivakumar. One name. Thats all. Some documents take him as Siva Kumar, others like his passport say Siva Sivakumar. My chinese friends get their names flipped over like Tao Lei becomes Lei Tao in N America (family name comes first in China).
In Pakistan, anyone can have any name, and their last name is not necessarily the family name. So when an immigrant family has all but one son's last name common, the department becomes suspicious.
So Europe standardized names like Firstname (full christian name), optional middle name and last family name... gotta be same as your dads last name. Period. No exceptions. All names are atomic tokens with no variations, variations are taken as complete names itself, so Smithson is Smithson, different from Smith. Strange, because even in Europe, say in iceland, name assignments are far more complex.
"Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky
What's even worse than using a shortened version of your name is having two middle names. Try getting any company with a "fill in the blanks" form to accept two middle initials. I absolutely refuse to fill in any form that will not accept two middle initials with my full, legal name. If it doesn't take two middle initials, then all they get is a shortened form of my first name and my last name.
:)
:D
I've fought with banks, credit card companies, employers, and a few other places to use one of the two forms: full first name + both middle initials + last name, or short first name + last name. No other combinations are satisfactory.
Surprisingly, only one bank has given me grief over this. I just closed my accounts with them and went somewhere else.
Every piece of ID I have has a different name / address on it. But haven't had any problems so far.
What's your full name, address, and SSN? Oh, and your mother's maiden name, too, just in case anyone asks about that.
Oh, yeah, and your credit card number with CCV.
We can take care of the whole thing for you. Shouldn't take more than a few minutes. No worries!
I have an uncle whose first name is Bruno. When he was younger, people called him names so he decided to go by his middle name, Marcel.
Now, everyone in the family calls him Marcel, while the rest of the world calls him Bruno.
But wait, it gets weirder.
His wife (my aunt) uses the first name Sophie, but everyone in her family calls her "Claudette".
Now thanks to this AskSlashdot thread, I feel compelled to ask them to see their IDs next time I meet them.
Is it not spelled programmer? Or is there a joke/allusion that I'm missing?
The facts have a liberal bias. --The Daily Show
IANAL, but wouldn't a trademark registration be considered a legal document?
Then instead of using a regual "first, middle, last, " name like everybody else (how bland!) you simply trademark the name you like, get a legal name change - and if the name gets popular and others try to use it - sue everybody for using it!
Imagine the possibilities!
One problem my uncle kept running into was that his middle name was a single letter, E.* While many forms would ask for a middle intitial, there were some which would ask for an entire middle name. Almost always, he'd have to explain that his middle name was just 'E' because the person reading the form would assume that he accidentally wrote his middle initial instead of his entire name.
* He had the middle name 'E' because my grandfather wanted my uncle to be a Jr, but my grandfather didn't like his middle name, which began with an 'E'. So, he gave my uncle the 'E' of his middle name, but nothing else.
. .
They asked me to change my name to Earl, to avoid confusion.
Just look at them mysteriously, and say,
"Some men call me... Tim?"
Anyone who uses one name "Timothy" in one place and another completely unconected and separate name "Tim" in another place is obviously intent on creating an illegal alias and must be up to no good.
To a database you are two people, but I don't think there is a function out there that will equate Charles to Chaz, Charlie, and Buddy.
Robert to Bobby, Tim to Timothy.
They need propername matching. In theory it's simple - specify the first n characgers to match, and that generally work, except for Rob->Bob.
Slashdot's rate-of-post filter: Preventing you from posting too many great ideas at once.
This seems to be a recent problem. In 1999 we got married and our new last name is 21 letters long. Social Security could fit it but the Mass RMV could not. After creative rearranging of our name order on the license they got it all to fit. Now my wife had to renew and the RMV got their panties all up in a bunch that it didn't match Social Security. So now the name has been changed such that the first name includes a space and as much of the last name that fit with the last name starting where the first left off. Tell me that isn't going to cause trouble.
I've hit Karma 50 and gotten a Score:5, Troll... I win!
Your papers don't match you're not a human anymore. The state will crush you now.
Kind of like the Gestapo.
I've hit Karma 50 and gotten a Score:5, Troll... I win!
And Dog help you if you choose, for whatever reason, to change the way you sign your name. There are legitimate reasons for this (such as having an index finger amputated).
Another big one: Do I use my middle initial when ordering things online with a credit card? The form says, "Must match the name on the card." Well, the name on the card is "Joe M Smith." WITHOUT the dot after the middle initial. So am I supposed to enter "Joe M Smith" or "Joe M. Smith?" As far as I'm concerned: who the FUCK cares?
Oh, and get this. My girlfriend immigrated here from Israel. She has no middle name. She is of Russian descent. What does INS tell her? "You HAVE to have a middle name. All Russians have a middle name." Wow, I'm glad they know so much about Russian culture, but unfortunately, they're wrong as hell. So she simply made one up on the spot: she used her nickname (the name she actually goes by) as her middle name. So her name is now "Raisa Raya." How retarded.
Oh, and on top of that, the INS thinks she's a MALE. She received her selective service draft card a few weeks ago! Fucking hilarious.
The government is a decrepit pile of shit.
This just gives me further ammunition for not using nicknames for myself or my children. Of course, my first name's only three letters, so nicknames aren't an issue for me. 8) My kids, however, have names that are commonly shortened. If they want to use a nickname when they grow up, fine, but until then I'll stick with the names my wife and I actually gave them.
The United Kingdom Deed Poll Service allows you to change your name online. It also has a handy FAQ which touches on the the OP's problem: for security reasons, we strongly advise that you do not travel overseas bearing documents in different names e.g. your passport in one name and your travel documents, credit cards and driving licence etc in a different name.
Wasn't the point of a SSN that it widdles you down to only a number, b/c names can both be changed, and abbreviated?
-bZj
.sig
For only $59.95 (+tax) I'll be happy to go around and correct everything that says 'Tim' so it says 'Timothy'.
All you have to do is email me your bank account number, your credit card numbers (with expiry date and 3-digit security code on reverse -- for verification purposes), all social security numbers you have used, and the addresses of your last three residences.
Give me my freedom, and I'll take care of my own security, thank you.
I'd like to make sure my kids all have names likely to cause trouble with Big Brother's computers. Sure, depending on their temperment, it might not be so fun for *them* (the kids) but I think after a certain age they'd either like the idea and therefore stick to it stubbornly, or (peace with honor) drop most of them.
timothy
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
This summer I got a new (uncomputer) job, and for direct deposit, I gave them my personal account information. Unfortunatly, Ive been using my computer "business" account 100% of the time for a couple of years - my personal account was closed. (hmm, would have been nice if they had told me).
My first pay stub I get has my last name spelt wrong (no supervisor, I did not spell my own name wrong on the forms you gave me. I was not the one who typed it into a computer. Perhaps that person was the moron who got it wrong.) I have some cash, so I dont check that the pay went in. Next pay I do. Invalid PIN. Talk to a person: that account was closed. Any attempts at deposits? Nothing that I can see.
Talk to work. We havent gotten a rejection back. Cant help you. (changed to my "business" account at this point)
Return to $MY_EX_BANK and bash some heads. The pass it up the chain.
Get a call: Yes, we got a deposit request on that account. Rejected it, account closed. But we sent the rejection back WITH YOUR NAME SPELT CORRECTLY. $WORK_BANK got confused and rejected the rejection. Money sitting in limbo. No klaxons going off in a machine room somewhere.
Harass work again. Yes, Im prepared to believe you that you havent gotten a rejection notice. Harass your bank. You put $100,000,000/year through them, you should be able to get some answeres. I no longer have an account with $MY_EX_BANK and they got back to me.
Work calls $MY_EX_BANK and hears that there was a rejection. Still waiting to hear back from $WORK_BANK.
ARGH!!!! Still waiting on 4 weeks of pay.
So tell me, collection of computer geeks, what kind of moron built the banking network that rejections are keyed on peoples names, not account numbers, or transaction IDs? Why did a message box not pop up on someones computer when the network got a transaction it couldnt grok?
And for fuck sake. My name is Jeff Warnica. You know how many Warnica's there are in North America? Like 1000. How many in Nova Scotia? <15. How many Jeff Warnica's? 1. Not almost one. Exactly 1. What the fuck happens to people with the name John Smith?
Here in TN, and elsewhere, the same kind of problem arises when various govt agencies get a bug up their ass about your signature not being a cursive version of your legal name. My name is [of the format] "John Quincy Public III", and that is what MOST of my govt paperwork says. But my signature is "J Q Public III", so thats what they put on my driver's license, so thats what they put on my car title, ... and so on in a domino effect. I am considering starting to sign things with an X, just to save a few days of my life (it adds up!), and am curious what they will do the next time I go to get my license or title renewed and sign the paperwork.
Most of the comments here seem to be assuming everybody has their "real", "legal" name, and may also have other names that people call them. Legally speaking it's a bit more complex, or at least more fluid.
Legally, your name is whatever people generally call you. There is no official register of names - such a thing would be impossible anyway. The only way to prove that your name is what you say it is is to show evidence that other people call you that name. The best evidence is official documents, such as a passport, drivers license, etc. If you are the sort of person who has no such official documents, you need people who can vouch that they call you by your supposed name.
If you want to change your name, most governments have mechanisms that allow you to end up with a document that formally indicates that you wish to be known by your new name. However this new bit of evidence about your name doesn't necessarily trump all the existing evidence for your old name. You gotta get all those old documents (passport, driving license, SS, etc.) changed to the new name quickly, or else it won't "take".
All of my legal documents (passport, driver's license, employment paperwork, insurance paperwork, bank & investment accounts, vehicle registrations, credit cards, and so on) have my full, legal name, since that's why I was given a "full, legal name" in the first place. So, I am "William" on paper and to those to whom I am not known, but "Bill" socially.
I have had problems with this in two instances:
- When the people from EMC's support center call me , I answer the phone "Hello, this is Bill." They ask for "William". I reply that yes, I am he. They ask again for William.
- Way back, when I got my skymiles account with Delta (they were actually just called "frequent flyer miles" at the time), I used "Bill" as my name. Since then, when I attempt to have my miles credited to my account, they tell me that I have to have a card in my name. When I attempt to explain to them that "Bill" is short for "William" and has been for the last several hundred years, they stare at me blankly, tell me that the amplifiers go to eleven, and repeat that I have to have a card in my name.
(slightly OT)
I knew a guy in high school whose name was Z Smith. No kidding. Z! (No period after the Z either.) In fact he was the president of our class. Great guy, too: smart, funny, cool. Years later I happened to see an article he wrote -- I think he was working for alexa.com at that point.
But that *is* his real name. Quite possibly other posters have met him too, because he works in the computer field.
DNA is a Turing machine. You, however, being dynamic and emergent, are not.
Tïmöthy
Tímóthy
Tïmôthy
Tîmòthy
More than mere navel gazing.
My legal name WAS David, but I always went by Dave. It's now Dave legally.
I also changed my middle/last name, as part of a marriage thing -- whereas my full name was legally "David Pseudo Longarsepolishname", it is now legally "Dave P Longarsepolishname Shortnewname".
I have various documents (passports, licenses, credit cards, etc.) that have my name as:
"Dave Shortnewname"
"Dave P Shortnewname"
"Dave P Longarsepolishname"
"Dave P Longarsepolishname Shortnewname"
"Dave Longarsepolishname Shortnewname"
The only problem I've ever encountered, to date, is the need to make sure my passport name ("Dave P Longarsepolishname") matches the name on the visa and plane tickets that I purchase, so that the ticket agents don't look at me funny.
That unicode comment reminds me of a funny fact of my life:
I have two birth certificates, with slightly differing names on them!
On one, my last name is written with an "S-Z-Ligature" or "scharfes S" (ß), on the other one with a "double S" instead. As far as i can tell, the correct one would be the former - the other one was issued first (IIRC, don't have them here right now) and probably should have been destroyed when the corrected version was issued.
I usually use the double-S variant of my name though, because often forms have to be filled out in all-uppercase (strictly speaking, scharfes S would be written as "SZ" in uppercase, but that both looks weird and could be mistaken to mean just "SZ" instead of scharfes S anyways) or i have to use ASCII characters only.
Never ran into problems, but i would guess that such issues are rather common in Austria - it seems my grandparents' legal last name was written with double-S, while my parents did some genealogical research to find out that the "original" family name was written with scharfes S; and i doubt that my family is the only one where such things happened.
Free as in mason.
I had signed every legal document I came across as "Ernie" .... fine until I tried to get commissioned in the Air Force. All that paperwork did not match my "Ernest" BIRTH CERTIFICATE. So, take months to change 500 or so documents...or send $5 to the state house to have the Birth Certificate amended. Hmmmmmmmm......problem solved
User MUST show picture ID
My legal name is David, but having read the suggestions here I think that I, too, will start using "Timothy" on all official documents.
Slashdot? Oh, I just read it for the articles.
I've seen a lot of twonks berating you for daring to even consider using "Tim" for anything besides spoken exchages with friends and family, but I haven't seen what I consider a good responce.
It seems obvious to me that you prefer 'Tim' and using "Timothy" is just an accident. My suggestion - go down to the local courthouse and find out how to legally change your name to "Tim". Depending on your location, it's a couple of forms, a formal certification that you're not trying to commit fraud, and a nominal fee. Take the court certified documents, send a copy to the SS people (pun mildly intended), get a new SS card with your "Tim" name, and be done with it.
In fact, depending on jurisdiction, you might "legally" be Tim already - some places all that is needed is to show that you have been consistently using the name.
Standard Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, this is not legal advice, your mileage may vary, void where prohibited, some exculsions may apply, check your local listings for details.
By the time I learned how to spell my name, they'd discovered that "Todd" was the usual spelling, and they/I used it everywhere. When I was 15, I had to have my name legally changed to "Todd" so I could have it spelled that way on my driver license. It was fairly easy and inexpensive because it was just a spelling change and I was still a minor; I understand it gets more complicated and costly for an adult. But it might be worth the trouble, to avoid spending the rest of your life repeatedly having to reconcile the two variants of your name.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
You know those emergency notification cards you fill out for your kids schools? You want to make sure that the name on that card matches your drivers license. Why? If something major happens at the school and you need to get your child, you will be asked for identification and they won't release your child to you if it doesn't match.
Why? The person releasing your child to you may not be someone from the school. It's not your neighbor who volunteers at the school several times a week. It's someone from the police, the fire department, the school systems central office, etc.
We found this out after my son's high school did a post Columbine drill.
This also applies to cards where you are listed as an alternate for your friends and neighbors.
My name is John, that part is easy, the hard part is that I am John Jr.
I always put Jr. on my official documents, regardless of the name suffix field being available (I just add it to the end of the last name field).
Well a lot of people just ignore a name suffix. I had 2 credit cards from 2 different banks, and then the banks merged... I wanted to consolidate my cards with them to reduce my paperwork. One of the banks had ignored my Jr. so even though I have the same SSN on both cards, and the same address on both cards, I was unable to convince them that I am one person, and I wound up canceling one of them out of frustration.
Regardless of wether or not Tim is a dumb ass, this is a legitimate problem.
"I'll have a Guinness, no wait, make that a Coors Light" -Grad student I work with, who shall remain anonymous...
You people are all fucked. Your name is whatever people call you. You have no "full, legal" name.
cf. Findlaw:
I just don't like my birth name and I want to change it. Can I choose any name I want?
There are some restrictions on what you may choose as your new name. Generally, the limits are as follows:
You cannot choose a name with fraudulent intent -- meaning you intend to do something illegal. For example, you cannot legally change your name to avoid paying debts, keep from getting sued or get away with a crime.
You cannot interfere with the rights of others, which generally means capitalizing on the name of a famous person.
You cannot use a name that would be intentionally confusing. This might be a number or punctuation -- for example, "10," "III," or "?."
You cannot choose a name that is a racial slur.
You cannot choose a name that could be considered a "fighting word," which includes threatening or obscene words, or words likely to incite violence.
That's "Mr. Three" to You
Minnesota's Supreme Court once ruled that a man who wanted to change his name to the number "1069" could not legally do so, but suggested that "Ten Sixty-Nine" might be acceptable (Application of Dengler , 287 NW2d 637 (1979)).
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Do I have to file forms in court to change my birth name?
Maybe not. In all but a handful of states, you can legally change your name by usage only. A name change by usage is accomplished by simply using a new name in all aspects of your personal, social and business life. No court action is necessary, it costs nothing and is legally valid. (Minors and prison inmates are generally exceptions to this rule.)
Practically speaking, however, an official court document may make it much easier to get everyone to accept your new name. Because many people and agencies do not know that a usage name change is legal, they may want to see something in writing signed by a judge. Also, certain types of identification -- such as a new passport or a birth certificate attachment -- are not readily available if you change your name by the usage method.
If it's available in your state, you may want to try the usage method and see how it goes. If you run into too many problems, you can always file a court petition later.
You can find out whether your state requires a court order by contacting your local clerk of court. Or, if the court clerk doesn't give you enough information, you can look at your state's statutes in a local law library -- start in the index under "Name" or "Change of Name" or ask the reference librarian for help.
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How do I implement my name change?
Whether you have changed your name by usage or by court order, the most important part of accomplishing your name change is to let others know you've taken a new name. Although it may take a little time to contact government agencies and businesses, don't be intimidated by the task -- it's a common procedure.
The practical steps of implementing a name change are:
Advise officials and businesses. Contact the various government and business agencies with which you deal and have your name changed on their records. See Changing Identification and Records, below.
Enlist help of family and friends. Tell your friends and family that you've changed your name and you now want them to use only your new one. It may take those close to you a while to get used to associating you with a new sound. Some of them might even object to using the new name, perhaps fearing the person they know so well is becoming someone else. Be patient and persistent.
Use only your new name. If you are employed or in school, go by your new name there. Introduce yourself to new acquaintances and business contacts with your new name.
Changing Identification and Records
To complete your name change, you'll need to tell others about it. Contact the people and institutions you deal with and ask what type of documentation they require to ma
So even though this post is days behind the rest of the party, I feel I can relate to the "odd names" posts I've seen here.
My name is Joe Stoner. You don't know how many times I had trouble getting pizza delivered in college. On the plus side, I get remembered a lot more because of the name. And as a musician, people in the audience usually think it's some sort of stage name. But I don't need one, baby! I'm a rock star! w00t!
Well, I'm not a rock star yet, but give me a few more years. It's still an ongoing quest.
I really hate signatures, but go to my website.