Names As Listed On Social Security Card: Fill & Download for Free

A Social Security card that names the employee and which does not bear any restrictive endorsement is a valid “List C” document proving the employment eligibility of the individual named thereon. You will also have to provide your employer with a “List B” document that proves your identity.The Social Security card is generally the preferred form of documentation for this purpose, as Social Security cards are uniform nationally while birth certificates vary significantly among issuing authorities, and thus employers cannot reasonably be expected to tell authentic documents from inauthentic ones.See Form I-9 Acceptable Documents for more information.

Question: What do I need to do to correct this issue? My social security card lists my first name as Rick instead of Richard.How is that possible, as the Social Security Administration gets its information from your birth certificate and from your application, questioner?At some point YOU must have written your name down as being “Rick” and they decided that this was the legal name that they were going to put onto your card. They also sent out a letter advising you that a card had been applied for and the name that was used.If you want the card to be amended to show the correct information, then you need to take the same identification documents that you used to apply for the card initially, to the SSA office after you have made an appointment. You’ll need to explain how or why you need the name on your card changed and they’ll have you fill out the correct form for this to occur. You should receive a new card within 4–6 weeks.You cannot do this online or over the telephone.

My grandmother couldn't think of a name for my father, so his birth certificate did, indeed, say "Baby Boy." They were not a religious family, so he was never baptized, either. When he was registered for school at age 5, his older sisters were in charge and registered him by what they thought was supposed to be his middle name. As Dad grew up, he went by "Butch" in his youth (hence the confusion over his middle name, I guess) and as he grew into adulthood, he used another name. He used it for his driver's license, voter registration, draft card, bank accounts, social security card, work, and his social life. He never used the name his sisters used when registering him for school. In fact, he never used a middle name at all.Now you might think that I'm saying that not having a name on a birth certificate is no big deal, but when Dad got to be 65 and wanted to collect the Social Security that he had paid into for years and years and years, he ran into a problem. His birth certificate had no name, and he had no baptismal certificate, and his early school records listed him as someone else! He had a horrible time trying to get those checks coming in. Oh, and when he passed away, my mother had almost as much trouble trying to collect widow's benefits.Most kids hate their name at some point in their life. Then they grow into it or they change it. But please, don't start your kid off with the cards stacked against her.