From
KXTV:
Genevieve Catlyn Williamson Heidenreich, wants her entire married name to go on her Social Security card.
But Social Security is saying no. ...
"He said to me, 'it doesn't fit.' And I said, 'what do you mean?' And he said, 'it doesn't fit, the computer won't let me move on,'" Heidenreich explained about her visit to the Sacramento Social Security office. ...
A Social Security representative explained for the agency's purposes, a legal name consists of a first and last name only.
"The first and middle name fields allow 16 characters each and the last name allows 21 characters," the statement added. ...
As for technical limitations, Heidenreich said she can't imagine any reason the process couldn't be changed.
"We're, you know, printing livers on 3D printers and I can't have my name? It's kinda wild."
And from
KHON:
After nearly four years of trying, Ashley Barton became pregnant with her first child, who was born in 2012.
“Her name is Hi’ileikawainohiamaikalohena Barton,” Barton said.
That’s 27 letters, plus the okina, in her baby’s first name as shown on her birth certificate.
But when Barton received her daughter’s Social Security card, she noticed nearly half of her first name was dropped.
“And I asked them, ‘Why is that?’ and they said that there is a limit
to how many characters they can put on the Social Security card,”
Barton said.
I've never seen this kind of story before and now there's two of them on the same day? Did something change at Social Security or is this just some bizarre coincidence?
5 comments:
Per https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0110205125 this is the way it is. Googling "surname too long for social security" brings up prior cases. Lot's of twists, including how we shift to using middle name space for long last names messes up a DMV.
"I have a long name or made a stupid long name and I want it on my Social Security Card!" Really? Forget rules, anarchy reigns!
What if her name was 50 letters, or 100 letters or 500 letters. Sure the system can be changed but why should a system be changed to accommodate a fringe element? I will bet that she never writes out her entire legal name when she signs forms. She probably creates some illegible scribble and says that's how I sign my name. Geez. Everyone everywhere is supposed to change their policies because they don't fit her life.
It only makes since that they change their policy. If it can fit on a birth certificate (that is proof of your birth and NAME) then it should fit on pretty much anything you want, ESPECIALLY government documents.
Years ago in school I remember that kids named "Christopher" had their last letter cut off of their name by the computer. Nobody had a fit, it was just how it was. Good luck getting SSA to spend $ to reprogram the computer to accommodate long names.
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