Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Abbreviating Name on Official Documents?

Posted by Cliff on from the civil-servants-and-a-lack-of-common-sense dept.

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?"

10 of 195 comments (clear)

  1. No by MarkusQ · · Score: 5, Funny

    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

  2. No Problems Here by spribyl · · Score: 2, Funny

    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.

  3. MP by cephyn · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'm surprised they weren't in fear and awe of you, the great wizard Tim. You shoulda just blown them up.

    --
    Moo.
  4. Problems? by SpaceLifeForm · · Score: 3, Funny
    Only for those entities that want to spy on you, and track your every move.

    I'd change your name on some of the stuff to Timmy.

    --
    You are being MICROattacked, from various angles, in a SOFT manner.
  5. Re:encountered various problems. by RevRagnarok · · Score: 2, Funny

    Sounds like my ex. First name: "Jo Ann", no middle name. Then to make things even worse, in our dorm there was a guy name Joe A. with the same last name! So sometimes the mail person would assume Jo A. was a misspelling (along with the wrong apt number... morons!).

    --
    I should put something clever here. Maybe someday.
  6. Re:I'm in a similar situation by AltaMannen · · Score: 3, Funny

    It would be simpler to do so if people could just pronounce my name. Seriously. Sa-Mir-Na-na-na-ni-jad. Simple as that.

  7. Re:I'm in a similar situation by Finuvir · · Score: 3, Funny

    So why don't you just go by Mike Bolton?

    No way! Why should I change? He's the one that sucks.

    --
    Why is anything anything?
  8. Re:Cross-reference by Mumbly_Joe6432 · · Score: 2, Funny

    For some reason I have aquired the habit of signing my nickname instead of my name (it's shorter, I'm lazy, and I think I even forget I have a longer name at times). I have not run into any problems yet, and I think it is because the first thing that most places match is the SS#. I even applied for college using my nickname. My ACT scores, AP scores, and my transcript all transferred flawlessly. This may just be because universities care more, but I mindlessly do this kind of thing often and I have yet to have any major problems.

  9. TIM-MAY!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    tim-may!!!
    tim-may!!!
    tim-may!!!

  10. Re:Credit Reports by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    "Sharing addresses will do it too."

    Even worse, let a sister move in with you for a few months and you will start finding the credit reports listing you as husband and wife!!!

    Then again, my sister/wife had better credit than I did, so what the hell. It helped get me my new house, so what do I know :P