I had a little bit of a similar situation but with a first name. I was born in Western New York. My parents had settled on my given name, Janet Alice, then my dad changed jobs about a month before I was born and had a new colleague or boss named Janet. He didn't feel like having a baby around the house with the same name, so they named me Alice June instead. Then a few months later, they reverted to calling me Janet but they didn't change it legally. All my school records, and even my Social Security card, were in the name Janet except my birth certificate. It became a problem when I went to get my driver's license at age 16. We had a lawyer for another matter, so he submitted some paperwork, and it was changed pretty easily. After that, I had a birth certificate with the old name, and then the official name change papers from the state. Just last year, I tried to get a new official copy of my birth certificate, and I got a call from the Dept. of Health saying that my records had been "sealed". But I faxed them a copy of my old certificate and the name change paper and they sent me a new certificate with the NEW name, the first one I had ever gotten in that name. My point to all this is that you might have to get a lawyer to look into this for you, and if the name change wasn't done officially, to file papers with the state to make it all official. After that, you should be able to use the set of papers together to get your passport, and you might even be able to get a new birth certificate in the new name, like I did. Good luck. Janet Hall Werner Reston, Virginia -----Original Message----- From: nyerie-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:nyerie-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of D.C. Sent: Friday, February 12, 2010 10:03 AM To: nyerie@rootsweb.com; dparker708@aol.com Subject: Re: [NYERIE] name change Hello Diane. My mom was born in the early 1930's in another state. Because her parents divorced and her mom remarried when she was 5 she used her stepfather's name throughout her school years. Never ever used her "real" name. At age 18 her stepfather took her down to the courthouse and had her name legally changed. Legally changing your name, unless there was an adoption, does not change the name on your birth certificate. Even though she changed her name, her birth certificate still bears her birth name. Kinda like when you marry, your name doesn't change on your birth certificate. If the birth certificate you get doesn't have your name on it, you might consider that it is your correct name, but you never knew it. You might have to go to the courthouse and file for a name change for yourself. Just my two cents... What did you do to apply for social security? Donna ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NYERIE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message