Originally Posted by
NewFlight
Have a question pertaining about my passport application.
I am a born US citizen so is my mother and father.
The question is on the DS-11 application it state's to add your first and last name, on my Birth Certificate and SSN I have both my father, and mothers maiden name, my father last name is basically like my middle name on the Birth Certificate, and SSN, When I obtained my driver's license I only have my fathers last name. So the question I ask when doing the application should I add both my fathers, and mothers last name? or could I go ahead and just use my fathers last name the way it is on my drivers license?
Also wanted to know how could I obtain the 48 page passport book? Would I have to request for it?
I'm not sure what a State Dept. employee or a knowledgeable lawyer would say. I can give my experience given my hyphenated name, though, as it might provide a little information.
My birth certificate has my birth name/maiden name. I file my state and federal taxes under my legal name, which is a fairly long hyphenated name. I replaced my SSN after marriage and it has my hyphenated name. My Ohio DL has my first and spouse's last name only - the state said it couldn't accommodate the length of my first name. So, I went to the Clerk of Courts to drop off my passport application with documents containing three different names, which was slightly entertaining but mostly annoying.
Anyway, I consider my hyphenated name my legal name and I use that name whenever I can, and that's the name I elected to use on my passport. The feds don't have an issue with my name or its length. The Clerk was quite hesitant to process my application for some reason so I had to remind the Clerk of Courts that that her job was only to ascertain my identity, which my documents (SSN, DL and marriage license) allowed her to do, regardless if I had used the long name or the DL name on the application, and that I had filled in the DL name and my maiden name on the application so I wasn't hiding anything.
Anyway, back to your issue: my question is what name do YOU consider your legal name? What name do you use for official business, like jobs and taxes? I suspect you could use either name, since you have plenty of documentation as to your identity whichever name you choose. Further, you do have to submit other names used in the past, so whichever name you didn't choose will be submitted anyway.
FWIW, I've called the State Dept./Passport division in the past and they were helpful if calling makes more sense to you after reading the responses here.