Social Security Index gets you dead people.
Wait - that sounds ridiculous.
The social security index gives you the name, social security number, date of birth, date of death, and location of death of people who have died (this is from memory - I haven’t used it in awhile).
“When I was seventeen…I had a very good beer…”
To be in the Social Security index that you’re talking about, they (well, actually, I suppose it would be their estates and not them personally) also have to have received a death benefit from Social Security.
We had a 19-year-old young lady named Nicole staying with us (blonde, very sharp, and liked to collect dumb-blonde jokes, by the way) who was very well acquainted with a young black man named Harold Lee Jr. after his father, but nicknamed O.J. for his football skills.
Likewise, my mother was “Batty”, which I always thought was appropriate! 
The Cat In The Hat
I heard the story of a guy in Alberta called Clifford Olson. (For those who don’t know, Clifford Olson is the name of a serial killer.) He telephoned his mother after the story broke, and said, “Mom, I’m changing my name.” His mother said, “I’ll pay for it.”
There is I suppose no way to say this without it sounding disparaging about people of certain levels of education or economic condition, but: My husband’s sister used to volunteer at their church which involved spending time with some unwed mothers. One day she came home exceptionally exhausted and said “I just spent the entire day trying to talk some girl out of naming her baby ‘Dijonaise’!” When the episode of “The PJ’s” aired that had the HUD lady listing the names of her grandchildren (Pantene, Advil, Dorito, etc) we joked to each other “What about ‘Dijonaise’?”
FOAF alert!
(::insert nifty klaxon sounds here: 
My GF’s mother is a kindergarten teacher, in one of the poorest parts of the Bronx. She claims to have had at least five girls named “Female” in her class over the years.
I’m not surprised that they don’t show up on the Social Security rolls, because people in the area tend to have a great distrust of government; many parents refuse to fill out even the simplest paperwork from the school, so it seems likely that they wouldn’t apply for SSNs for their children.
Laugh hard; it’s a long way to the bank.
Stupid auto-smiley. Ignore that graphic.
I had a friend in high school whose little brother was named Wang Dang. Poor kid…
To Auraseer: Isn’t it mandatory after delivery at the hospitals to obtain a SS # for your child? Plus, aren’t SS#s required to get welfare and WIC for children even if the children were not born in hospitals? Since governmentally funded insurance medicare/aid I dont know which is welfare, seems to cover so much more than my work affiliated insurance I would assume that hospital deliveries are quite common. (Not counting the deliveries that are hidden and we read about in the paper)
p.s. my daughter has a friend named “Chiquita” But pronounced Sheuh-quad-ah. Her grandmother calls her Maria. Imagine that!
My mother should be in the social security index. She isn’t. How come. How far back does it go. She died in 1980 and received death benefits starting in 1976 when my dad died.
It might be now-a-days (when my son was born, they did it matter of fact), but I didn’t get a SS# until I was twelve (1985) and I hit the age of requirment or something. So I guess if she’s worked long enough, she could of hit children born before the mandatory SS# mark.
“I guess it is possible for one person to make a difference, although most of the time they probably shouldn’t.”
Ursula:
If you want to have any contact with the Federal Government (such as declaring dependents on your IRS forms or receiving WIC, food stamps, etc.) everyone in the household, including infants, must have an SSN.
If you choose to avoid the IRS and various welfare agencies, you don’t get an SSN. I don’t think that you are required to have a Social Security Number/card just to breathe in the U.S. However, you are required to supply your SSN on all Federal documents, so, effectively–but not by specific law–you must be registered by the time you will first show up on a 1040/1040EZ/etc. instead of when you begin your first job.
Tom~
How about Dick Smails…Sofonda Peters…Ada Pancake…All real people.
At my high school, the orchestra teacher was Richard Long, and no great surprise, he DID go by Dick.
“Sofonda Peters” is a drag name, Lemmon. Incidentally, I don’t know about the US, but in Canada you’re supposed to get your SIN number (Social Insurance) before you get your first job, not at birth. I got mine at age 16.
Perhaps the parents are waiting for the girl to choose her own name?
People are sometimes listed under an alternate name. My uncle’s first name was Richard, but the SSI lists him as R.
“Age is mind over matter; if you don’t mind, it don’t matter.” -Leroy “Satchel” Paige
That’s not the kind of benefits I was talking about; I think “survivor’s benefits” is the name used for the regular monthly payments you’re describing… though I’ve never actually dealt with Social Security personally so I’m not sure what the exact terms are.
The one I meant is only get paid once, after the death of the individual. If you got money from Social Security in 1980 after she died, then she should be in the index.
My dad was a minister, and I’ll never forget the time he came home steamed over a couple last name Flavver who wanted their baby baptized “Gumdrop”. He said he’d finally had to flatly refuse to stand up in front of God and inflict that name on an innocent child. I also went to school with a Roxanne Rolls, and I’ve never figured out whether that was a gag - my suspicions are high, because she had a brother named Royce.
Straying off original topic here, but 1. regarding Social Security in the U.S.-
I know that I received my number way after I was born; my children, however, would not be released from the hospital until I had registered them. Their numbers came within a few weeks via mail.
One must learn by doing things; for though you think you know it you have no certainty until you try.
–Sophacles