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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?"

5 of 195 comments (clear)

  1. Cross-reference by erykjj · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Just cross-reference it with another document which shows the same last name/address/phone/ID # combination.

  2. Dumbass by Cranx · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

    1. Re:Dumbass by LouCifer · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Damn, you beat me to it.

      I agree 100%. My name's Mike. On all of my legal documents (including my DL) it's listed as Michael.

      Why? Because I'm smart enough to realize the headache it would cause if I put 'Mike' anywhere.

      --
      Religion is for people afraid of going to hell.
  3. Possible Problems by Hank+Reardon · · Score: 2, Insightful

    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...
  4. I second that by ink_13 · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Change your name to "Tim".

    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 /.