Dealing With a Name With a Space Instead of Hyphen

[DarkSilver 21]

This is more related to my (the USC) work currently.  I added my husband to my health insurance but since his name is “OO OOO” rather than “OO-OOO” it made the second half his middle name (even though I typed it in the correct box).  We’ve had this problem on and off throughout immigration so it’s getting exhausting having to call someone to fix it every time.  Has anyone else had experience with this?  Is it possible to use a hyphen just to avoid this situation or would it be easier in the long run to figure out how to legally switch his name to without the space?  His credit report actually took the space out entirely even though he applied with the way his name is legally written.

[TBoneTX 45,469]

Probably the most consistent way around this is to always put an initial or "---" in the blank for middle name.  Another option is to capitalize the full last name wherever you type it.  If the form-filling system ignores or can't accommodate this, or you notice later that correspondence to him is addressed wrongly, call the organization to which you're applying to get a human being to help you straighten it out.

[MarryMe987654 244]

I have two first names and coming from the Philippines, I knew that it would be a challenge to use my name in the U.S after getting married.

 

One thing that I noticed is in some online forms, fields do not allow spaces or punctuation marks and my first name has both. When this is the case, I separate two names by making the second first name an upper case.

 

For example, if my name is Ma. Christina, it would be MaChristina. If it allows spaces, it would be Ma Christina.

 

If there is no space or punctuation between the first two names, I just don't sweat it anymore because the forms they used probably does not allow it. 

 

Most importantly, I ALWAYS use my middle name in any forms I fill out so it will be clearer that I have two first names, a middle name and a last name. I don't even explain what it is as middle name is treated like a given name here, whereas in the Philippines, middle name is my maiden name.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

 

[DarkSilver 21]

On 11/18/2020 at 11:43 PM, TBoneTX said:

Probably the most consistent way around this is to always put an initial or "---" in the blank for middle name.  Another option is to capitalize the full last name wherever you type it.  If the form-filling system ignores or can't accommodate this, or you notice later that correspondence to him is addressed wrongly, call the organization to which you're applying to get a human being to help you straighten it out.

Thanks for the suggestion!  

[DarkSilver 21]

On 11/24/2020 at 2:59 PM, MarryMe987654 said:

I have two first names and coming from the Philippines, I knew that it would be a challenge to use my name in the U.S after getting married.

 

One thing that I noticed is in some online forms, fields do not allow spaces or punctuation marks and my first name has both. When this is the case, I separate two names by making the second first name an upper case.

 

For example, if my name is Ma. Christina, it would be MaChristina. If it allows spaces, it would be Ma Christina.

 

If there is no space or punctuation between the first two names, I just don't sweat it anymore because the forms they used probably does not allow it. 

 

Most importantly, I ALWAYS use my middle name in any forms I fill out so it will be clearer that I have two first names, a middle name and a last name. I don't even explain what it is as middle name is treated like a given name here, whereas in the Philippines, middle name is my maiden name.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

 

At this point I wish he had a middle name so I could do this!  At least it’s not as complicated as your situation, that sounds like it would be crazy to deal with.  The funniest part for us is that even his home country went from (random made up name) A-lan to A lan to Alan because not everywhere could accept the hyphen or space.  His legal document has a space even though his parents intended it to be a hyphen.  So this whole mess is kind of crazy lol.
 

I’m so glad we didn’t combine our last names now because this is stressful enough.  Thanks for telling me about your experience!!

 

(also his credit report shows Alan even though all his documentation was A Lan.  Save us all.)

[Pasta 1]

Haha. I have the same issue, then I noticed your husband is from the same country as I. 
 

I run my two parts together into a single name. I never changed my name legally so it is still Aaa Bbb in my passport. I lucked out when getting my drivers license. I wrote Aaabbb on the form but the first DMV lady said it had to match my passport so canceled it out and wrote Aaa Bbb. But the second DMV person who was actually entering the info into the system saw the cancellation and said I could do Aaabbb if I wanted. So my passport and drivers license name differ in having the space. This will likely get corrected if I apply for a REAL ID license however. 
 

In practice, it has never been an issue. When I have had to show ID for anything, this minor discrepancy has never been questioned. My credit report shows all names (including my “English” name that I’ve used from birth although it’s not a legal name). Credit is usually tracked by social security number so it hasn’t been an issue either. 

[noname_no 38]

I am so glad this is brought up! So I have two words for my first name and it is a struggle here when it seems like people would just assume that the 2nd word of my first name is my middle name. I do not have a middle name. I didn't like how inconsistent different institution runs. Some I could get them to hyphenate my 2-word first name and others not at all. Thanks @TBoneTX for the suggestion! 

Loving this topic!

[TBoneTX 45,469]

I never researched the reason behind the hyphenation of Mary-Chapin Carpenter's name, but now I might be inspired to.