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?"

Comments

No

[MarkusQ]

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

Dumbass

[Cranx]

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.

Yes, sort of

[tm2b]

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the misdemeanor of driving without a license (the cop did not care about the reasons, he could only see that my license was revoked).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.