# Any one guilty of NOT knowing your SSN? (Social Security #) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 3, 2011, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-one-guilty-of-not-knowing-your-ssn-social-security/573288 "2011-03-03T01:00:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-one-guilty-of-not-knowing-your-ssn-social-security/573288/1 "2011-03-03T01:00:20Z")
I was at the doctor today. The receptionist asked me for my SSN. I blanked. I mean, I knew the last four numbers because I use that all the time. It’s been so long since I had to recall the whole thing I forgot!! :eek: The receptionist looked at me like I was crazy when I told her I’ll have to call you back with that. (She wasn’t happy with me.) I don’t keep my card on me. I keep it in a file at home. Just wondering how uncommon that is. And uh, oh yeah, get’n old sucks! ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-one-guilty-of-not-knowing-your-ssn-social-security/573288/2 "2011-03-03T01:27:35Z")
1. I have you for the other 8. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-one-guilty-of-not-knowing-your-ssn-social-security/573288/3 "2011-03-03T01:33:02Z")
Me. I couldn’t tell you my phone number (or credit card number, or ATM, or…) off the top of my head either; I’m simply really bad at remembering numbers. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-one-guilty-of-not-knowing-your-ssn-social-security/573288/4 "2011-03-03T01:34:23Z")
I know mine, my husband’s and my daughter’s. Comes from being the one who gets to fill out all the papers in the family. ---
**Author:** ![heathen\_earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/13edae/32.png) [@heathen\_earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heathen_earthling)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-one-guilty-of-not-knowing-your-ssn-social-security/573288/5 "2011-03-03T01:49:35Z")
I don’t know mine. I don’t think I even have it written down at home, but I could probably get it somehow if I really needed to. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-one-guilty-of-not-knowing-your-ssn-social-security/573288/6 "2011-03-03T01:53:24Z")
Mine shares several digits with a relatives telephone number. So if I sit down and think about it I can usually remember both, I often find that if I’m in a hurry, I write the beginning of the telephone number for the SS#, or start dialing my SS# to call my relative. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-one-guilty-of-not-knowing-your-ssn-social-security/573288/7 "2011-03-03T03:11:14Z")
I didn’t know mine until I was a senior in high school and I had to use it on all of my college application and scholarship forms. Memorized it pretty quickly then. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-one-guilty-of-not-knowing-your-ssn-social-security/573288/8 "2011-03-03T03:41:50Z")
The only long number I know off the top of my head is the 16 digit library card number at my university, and only because I spent 7 years inputting it on my laptop so that I could access periodicals and peer reviewed journals. ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-one-guilty-of-not-knowing-your-ssn-social-security/573288/9 "2011-03-03T03:51:45Z")
I know mine, all my kids’, my husband’s, and my EX-husband’s. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-one-guilty-of-not-knowing-your-ssn-social-security/573288/10 "2011-03-03T04:16:08Z")
I’ve known mine for years now. Can’t remember why or when I learned it in the first place, but it comes in handy for checking up on tax stuff and student loan stuff online. As far as people who don’t remember their ssn off the top of their head… it makes people think you might be an illegal immigrant. You could stick to saying “I’d prefer not to provide that information out loud” and carry your card around on you so you always have it in person, and let people write it down off of that if you decide they deserve to have it. I always have my card in my purse, just in case. Otherwise I’d lose it. And it’s handy when you need to get a new driver’s license. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-one-guilty-of-not-knowing-your-ssn-social-security/573288/11 "2011-03-03T06:06:12Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > …I don’t keep my card on me. I keep it in a file at home… I haven’t seen my Social Security card in over 6 years, I have no clue where it is. ---
**Author:** ![fubbleskag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fubbleskag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fubbleskag)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-one-guilty-of-not-knowing-your-ssn-social-security/573288/12 "2011-03-03T06:17:42Z")
I’ve only had a SSN for about a year, and haven’t bothered to memorize it. I don’t carry the card around with me, it’s filed away at home - although, I do have it written down on a scrap of paper somewhere in my wallet. Frankly, I’m a little surprised at how often it’s asked for. Growing up in Canada, no one but my employer or government agencies ever received my SIN (Social Insurance Number) - anyone else that asked was flatly refused. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-one-guilty-of-not-knowing-your-ssn-social-security/573288/13 "2011-03-03T06:34:00Z")
I only learned mine when I got my license at 16. It probably took another year or so before I knew it cold. In college it was my student id number (does this practice strike other people as mind-numbingly stupid given the prevalence of identity theft?) and I had to write it down scores of times over the years, so I don’t think I could forget it even if I wanted to. On the other hand, I’ve had the same phone number for 13 months, and I’m only about 90% sure what it is…part of the problem I have with it is that the last 4 digits of my phone number are _also_ the last 4 digits of my SSN, just in a slightly different order. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-one-guilty-of-not-knowing-your-ssn-social-security/573288/14 "2011-03-03T07:56:20Z")
I know the Spanish ID#, Spanish SSN and US SSN by heart. I don’t remember my first SSN: when you move there from abroad and ask for an SSN, they give you a provisional number, but mine only lasted the week it took to get the real one so all I remember is that it started with 800. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-one-guilty-of-not-knowing-your-ssn-social-security/573288/15 "2011-03-03T08:07:08Z")
I can’t remember my American SS number - it’s on the card in my wallet, for the rare occassion I need it. I know my Israeli ID number by heart, of course, along with my wife’s. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-one-guilty-of-not-knowing-your-ssn-social-security/573288/16 "2011-03-03T11:12:37Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > I haven’t seen my Social Security card in over 6 years, I have no clue where it is. Same here. It disappeared about the time I heard it wasn’t a good idea to keep it in your wallet, so I put it somewhere. Poof! ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-one-guilty-of-not-knowing-your-ssn-social-security/573288/17 "2011-03-03T11:19:49Z")
I’ve known my own since some time in seventh grade. Don’t know why I memorized it then, but I remember the receptionist being impressed when I could rattle it off at the Duke U. student health center. (Me, I was a little puzzled that she was so impressed: I was there for a summer enrichment program for gifted kids… Remembering a 9-digit number is less-than-impressive. Heck, most of us knew our phone numbers, too: 10-digit number!) I also know my brother’s SSN (pretty similar to mine,) my mom’s, my husband’s, and my ex-husband’s. Couldn’t tell you my son’s cell phone number, though… ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-one-guilty-of-not-knowing-your-ssn-social-security/573288/18 "2011-03-03T13:07:09Z")
Not only do I know mine, I still remember my late wife’s, even though I haven’t had to used it for over five years. ---
**Author:** ![fubbleskag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fubbleskag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fubbleskag)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-one-guilty-of-not-knowing-your-ssn-social-security/573288/19 "2011-03-03T13:16:51Z")
> [@antonio107](#): > > The only long number I know off the top of my head is the 16 digit library card number at my university, and only because I spent 7 years inputting it on my laptop so that I could access periodicals and peer reviewed journals. Just noticed this on re-read and realized I still remember my high school library card from the early 90s (used to reserve books on the computer). Sometimes I wish I could go through my memories and toss out some of the useless stuff to make room for the stuff I always find myself forgetting. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-one-guilty-of-not-knowing-your-ssn-social-security/573288/20 "2011-03-03T14:35:29Z")
> [@fubbleskag](#): > > Frankly, I’m a little surprised at how often it’s asked for. Growing up in Canada, no one but my employer or government agencies ever received my SIN (Social Insurance Number) - anyone else that asked was flatly refused. I’m also from Canada and I had the same surprise when I moved here to the States. Everyone wants that number from me - how is it that more people aren’t victims of identity theft because of this? I’ve only had my SSN for 4 years now and I _just now_ got it committed to memory. Mostly. It’s definitely not automatic, I still need to stop and give it some thought before I can come up with it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-one-guilty-of-not-knowing-your-ssn-social-security/573288.md?page=2)