Dear Rusty: My sister and I have the same first and last names but are distinguished by our “middle” names. Our last name consists of two family names, which gives us both four, with only our middle names unique. We received two Social Security cards with the same name (middle name excluded), each with a unique number, but with our last name misspelled. So, my questions are:
Which card is mine, and which is my sisters?
Is it okay that our last name is misspelled?
I called Social Security and was told to make an appointment online, which I tried but could not because it wouldn’t accept my last name. I don’t know what to do now and hope you can advise me. Signed: Confused Sister
Dear Confused Sister: You haven’t shared your age, but unless you’re ready to apply for Social Security, you and your sister have time to correct your last name in your Social Security records. In any case, your Social Security Number is what is used to record your earnings for the purpose of future SS benefits, so you aren’t losing anything where your earnings credits are concerned. You should, however, get your correct last name reflected in your Social Security records to be sure that your future benefits will be properly paid.
For Social Security purposes, only first names and last names (surnames) are considered your legal name. You can include a middle name if it will help distinguish you from another, but your legal name for Social Security purposes will be your first and last name only. Thus, you should correct your Social Security profile to reflect your correct first and last name and include your unique middle name for personal purposes to distinguish you from your sister. For additional awareness, SS last names are limited to 13 characters. Also, it’s not uncommon for many people to share the same first and last name (e.g., John Smith) in Social Security’s records – it’s the SS number associated with that name that counts.
Other factors might apply too, such as whether the SS cards and numbers you and your sister now have are new, or if either or both of you have been using those SS numbers for past employment purposes. In any case, those numbers have been assigned to you, so getting your profile to reflect your correct last name is important. It’s also important that each of you separately ...
