Adding a Child's Middle Name

Factual Questions
1

When our first daughter was born, we opted not to give her a middle name, but to let her choose one when she got older (with our full veto power of course). She chose one a couple years ago, we don’t hate it, and it seems to’ve stuck (that is, she says it’s her middle name).

Now’s an appropriate time because my wife lost her wallet, containing the Social Security cards, so we need to apply for new cards on the kids’ behalf. I included the middle name at “Full Name at Birth if Other than Above” on form SS 5, but when my wife saw it, she said “there’s more to it than that.”

How do we go about adding her middle name to her legal name? The state is Montana.

2

You should also get a copy of the government’s pamphlet 10002 for your wife, which says

3

Thanks, but I’ll let you talk to my wife about that irrelevant-to-the-topic-at-hand issue, if you’d like.

4

http://courts.mt.gov/library/topic/name_chg - seems like the forms you need are here

https://courts.mt.gov/portals/113/library/forms/name_chg/child_name_change.pdf - this in particular is the instructions

5

Seems like a lot of work.

I should’ve phrased my question better: Is there or ain’t there some legal principle by which if I want to change my name, I just use that name everywhere? And if so, wouldn’t it apply to kiddos too?

6

You can use whatever name you want, and kiddo can too (absent intent to defraud, etc.), but that doesn’t constitute a legal name change.

In the U.S. today, the reliance on paperwork and proof means that the name on her birth certificate will need to match her other paperwork, and that means going through the formalities of a legal name change. (For example, in my state you need a birth certificate and current photo ID to register to vote. If the names on those two documents don’t match, how is the registrar supposed to know if they belong to the same person? “Sarah Grady” and “Sarah Rose Grady” [hypothetical examples] might be plausible, but what about “Sarah Grady” and “Mary Grady”? Is that just some person who didn’t like their birth name, or an attempt to get legal paperwork for an illegal alien or scam artist or kidnapped child?)

7

Haven’t you essentially filled in the form backwards? Her full name is Aloysuis Breakwater Constantine, Full Name At Birth was Aloysuis Constantine. You can attempt to get that recognised as her legal name because it’s the name she uses, but in these days of documentation and databases, that’s less easy than it was in the old days. Many places won’t let you register a change of name for a child until they turn 18, so it might be a big ceremonial thing she gets to do herself when she reaches her majority.

8

SS is very lenient on the name you use. As long as it’s the name you’re known by at work, they’re cool with it. Assuming the child hasn’t started working, etc., yet, then the SSA (and thus the IRS) have no problem with her picking her middle name.

(This comes from people with a first name like “Harold” but prefer to go by “Harry”.)

But a lot of other people require a legal name change. If you really want an official new name, you check out your state’s rules for this. Usually not a hassle. (But there are some jerks.) Typically you fill out some paperwork, post legal notices, go to court. The follow on with changing it elsewhere should be fairly easy in this case.

9

This is from 17 years ago in Penna. Around when I was born, my father started going using an unoffical last name. Without a legal change, I was registered for school under that name and have used it all my life. Seventeen years ago, I was about to retire and my employer, who converted my pension fund to an annuity, wanted a copy of my birth certificate, which I had last used when getting a passport (under the name I used; the passport office didn’t quibble, although an affidavit was required) so I asked the bureau of vital stats in Harrisburg for a copy, explaining where and under what name I had been originally registered. To my surprise, I got back a letter from that saying that if I could document the fact that I had used my current name for at least 10 years, they would issue a certificate in the new name. I sent them photocopies of my diplomas and passport along with several expired ones. Pretty soon I had a shiny new birth certificate in the name I have used all my life. Obviously YMMV and I’m not sure they would do it today.

10

SS is much more forgiving than say, the military or the passport office, and driver’s licenses come in two types now.

My name was misspelled on my birth certificate, and I had to live with the misspelling on my first passport, issued when I was 9. Having always used the spelling my parents intended, though, I got an SS card with that spelling, and a driver’s license with that spelling. So I initially entered the military with my preferred spelling, and used it all through training. When I got to my unit, however, some paper-pusher started changing it on all my paperwork, saying that whatever my birth certificate said was what I had to use. I pointed out that it would not match my high school and college transcripts, not for that matter my dogtags, and the military ID issued me at basic. She didn’t care.

So I went through the process of changing my birth certificate. This was New York, FWIW. It was free, but it required me to document that I had always used the other spelling, and to state in writing, and have notarized with my signature (free at my bank) that there was an error.

One thing I had that demonstrated that I had ALWAYS used the other spelling was my birth announcements. My parents had saved the extras. I had a xerox of my first grade report card, a cancelled check from the account I had when I had a paper route when I was 11, and so forth. I had to pay $10 for the new copy of my birth certificate, but it was worth it to shove it in that PFC’s face.

Anyway, I suppose you could claim that it was an error that caused her middle name to be left off her birth certificate.

Other than that, I think you will need a formal name change. Since 9/11, this is taken pretty seriously. I had a friend who changed her name after gender reassignment medication, and it cost $100, and a hearing before a judge. The judge wanted to see a doctor’s note, evidence that she had been using the name as long as she had been presenting as a woman, and anything else that would help. I went with her to tell the judge that yeah, everyone called her that.

I have a feeling that you will need a hearing before a judge if she is going to want to have this name on her passport or secure driver’s license. If she doesn’t care about those, and is happy to use it informally, and just have her first and last names on her passport and license, then she can just use it. Most people wish they didn’t have to have their middle names on their passport and secure driver’s license, but if you want to use them to board a plane, it’s required.