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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?"
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.
I'm surprised they weren't in fear and awe of you, the great wizard Tim. You shoulda just blown them up.
Moo.
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 /.
I'd change your name on some of the stuff to Timmy.
You are being MICROattacked, from various angles, in a SOFT manner.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.