Real ID and SS

[doneat54]

Have noticed that my middle name/initial with SS is not the one I currently used and has been on every ID I have had since maybe 14 years old. I "took" a new middle name in my teens as part of a religious passage... but am pretty sure it is never documented anywhere. I just started signing my new name on everything that I could.


Fast forward decades.... I go to get a new driver's license in a new state and had read that to get a "real" ID (a DL that can take the place of your passport in most, if not all situations) in addition to a current passport and proof of residency, I need my SS card. Which I lost years ago somewhere (although I'd bet it IS in our house somewhere), so I ordered a new one on the SS website. Haven't gotten it yet.

So I asked the very pleasant lady at the DMV today if my middle initial would have to match to get a Real ID and she said yes, and even told me where the nearest SS office was.

So Googling now, and on the SS website, it seems that SSA does not consider middle name, or initial (I think SSA only has my original initial actually) part of a legal name, and to collect you only need to prove identity to your first and last names.


But if I want a real ID, DMV inferred that I should have to go to SSA and get my middle initial changed.

Anyone run into this? Anyone change an initial or name with SSA? Maybe it is even not worth doing since the lady at the DMV said that my Passport is the same as a Real ID and I will probably always need a Passport as I intend to keep traveling once I can....

 

[CardsFan]

DW had changed her name (with SS) upon marriage, to her maiden name hyphenated with mine (yeah, that was thing in the 80's). Over the years she took to shortening the name, using her maiden middle initial. When we both went to get our "Real ID's", just before she went on Medicare, they strongly suggested she change her SS ID to match what she had been using. She did that.

Would there have been an issue? I don't know. But this just made it very simple.

 

[hiker]

It is worth doing, in my opinion. When I got my first SS card at age 14, in an act of complete idiocy I changed the spelling of my middle name to something my 14 year old self thought was fancier. Never had any issue with it and never saw or used the card for decades as I worked for the same employer for 34 years. As I approached Medicare age I realized the card had gone missing somewhere along the way. I went in person (pre-Covid) to the SSA office and got a replacement; had to wait in a long line outside in the cold. It was necessary to tell the rep specifically that I wanted to change the spelling of the middle name as he initially prepared a new card exactly like the old one, but he happily made a second one. At the point I replaced my card and corrected the spelling I already had a real ID driver's license, but I believe the recently issued SS card helped me to have an issue-free online signup for Medicare. For that reason alone it was worth the 2 hours at the SSA office.

 

[donheff]

DW's Real ID license has one middle initial and her SS, passport, and financial accounts have another. She decided it is easier to leave the critical stuff as is and hope for the best on the driver's license.

 

[ERObjd]

Many of us remember when our SS # was used as Driver license # in some states.

When I was in Army even as recent as 1990, when my unit shipped off to Desert Storm we had our SS # stenciled on to our A bags in blaze orange paint and a big tag with our name and SS attached to our rucks.
In college in the mid 80's SS would be used when instructors posted test grades.

It has only been about a decade ago when DOD replaced SS # on military ID with a DOD #

 

[braumeister]

When they first started doing the trusted traveler routine, I ran into some confusion from the names I had on my frequent flyer accounts. So I changed them to exactly match my passport name and it has been smooth ever since.

 

[CindyBlue]

I ran into a hellish situation a few years ago trying to get my driver's license renewed - and not even the Real ID! - because when I got married, I changed my name on my SS card to be "first name-maiden name-married name." But on my driver's license it was "first name-middle name-maiden name-married name." And because they didn't match, the DMV would not renew my license! I started renewing about a month before my license was due to expire. I tried everything I could think of, emailed and called etc. But it was now less than a week before my license was due to expire and no one would help me deal with it. I was in tears of frustration by then (and I don't cry easily!!)

Desperate, I called the state DMV again - for the nth time! - and got ahold of a real person, who told me to go to back the DMV and get in a different line to make sure I didn't get the guy who refused to renew my license the first time. I was stunned - I was sure that wouldn't work! But I did it...and he not only renewed my license but even changed the name on my license to match my SS card so I wouldn't have this problem again. And then years later, my Real ID application went seamlessly. Whew!

So...it seems to depend on who you get in the DMV line...some are real sticklers for the letter of the law, and some will understand the situation and help you out.

I can tell you that, given what I know now, I sure wouldn't change my name to my husband's again! Grrr!

 

[ncbill]

I got the passport card on renewal to avoid the need for a special trip to get a Real ID...my drivers license isn't up for renewal for several more years.