Two last names

[Chelartie 0]

I've seen similar topics on this, but I'm still not quite sure what to do. My fiance has two last names. The first is his father's last name (ie Doe) and his mother's last name (ie Garcia). So, his name as on his birth certificate would be Juan Doe Garcia.

I went to fill out the marriage license application today and came across the first (of what I assume will be many) name issues. Originally, she wrote Doe as a middle name, so his name appeared as "Garcia, Juan Doe." However, Doe is NOT actually a middle name, but is the surname he has used his whole life. We finally settled it by putting both last names in the surname place, so it's "Doe Garcia, Juan." She told me to check what's on his passport/social security card (he was a student on an F1 and has a SSN) and let her know if it needs to be changed.

The problem is, I think it's different on both documents. On his birth certificate and passport, his name appears with both last names. However, for simplicity's sake, when he applied for his ss card, he just put his name as Juan Doe b/c that really is the name he uses in everyday life.

I just want to be able to choose one way and be consistent from here on out, ie driver's license and other legal docs. I think he prefers just to go by Juan Doe in the U.S. as it's just easier. Can we drop the Garcia on the marriage certificate or should we be consistent with his birth certificate?

Any suggestions? Which agency would be the ultimate authority on this?

[Macaroni 1]

im having a similar problem with my two last names. What happened eventually is that my last names had to be joined by a hyphen to keep them together. Some people wanted to make my first last name a middle name and it just became weird because of having two last names. Hopefully when I do marry my fiance, I will just keep one last name....his. LOL.

[winifredbee 1]

I've seen similar topics on this, but I'm still not quite sure what to do. My fiance has two last names. The first is his father's last name (ie Doe) and his mother's last name (ie Garcia). So, his name as on his birth certificate would be Juan Doe Garcia.

I went to fill out the marriage license application today and came across the first (of what I assume will be many) name issues. Originally, she wrote Doe as a middle name, so his name appeared as "Garcia, Juan Doe." However, Doe is NOT actually a middle name, but is the surname he has used his whole life. We finally settled it by putting both last names in the surname place, so it's "Doe Garcia, Juan." She told me to check what's on his passport/social security card (he was a student on an F1 and has a SSN) and let her know if it needs to be changed.

The problem is, I think it's different on both documents. On his birth certificate and passport, his name appears with both last names. However, for simplicity's sake, when he applied for his ss card, he just put his name as Juan Doe b/c that really is the name he uses in everyday life.

I just want to be able to choose one way and be consistent from here on out, ie driver's license and other legal docs. I think he prefers just to go by Juan Doe in the U.S. as it's just easier. Can we drop the Garcia on the marriage certificate or should we be consistent with his birth certificate?

Any suggestions? Which agency would be the ultimate authority on this?

My Husband is from Nicaragua and we had a similar situation.

His name is Balvino Waldan Alvarez. When we fill out official documents this is what we use even though he goes by Waldan as a last name. When we got married he changed his name to Balvino Alvarez Waldan-Brown. He took my last name as well. When you fill anything out for USCIS make sure you use what is on his BC or passport. When we filed for AOS and used his married name we had no problems nor for SSN. Good Luck!

[Mononoke28 135]

The thing is, even though a mother's last name is used in Latin America, it's not used AT ALL here in the US. So it simply gets dropped.

For example, if a person is named Juan Pablo García López, in the US his "legal" name would be:

FIRST NAME: Juan

MIDDLE NAME: Pablo

LAST NAME: García

The López is not used because it's not needed at all. Using a hyphen in my opinion should not be an option because that creates a whole new last name. In the example above García-López, that's not a real last name but a new one that has been created.

Diana

[EstebanTrabajos 7]

why do u hate 2nd last names Diana?

[Mononoke28 135]

why do u hate 2nd last names Diana?

I don't hate, they're just useless in the yunais... joo nou. It's a nice gesture and all that Latin countries want to pay "homage" to their mother's last names but dude, I can't remember the last time I used my mother's last name for anything. It just doesn't count once you cross over.

Diana

[EstebanTrabajos 7]

u hate j/k

Welllll, in my humble opinion a mother's last name is more important that the father's

nuf said

Edited August 5, 2009 by TävôLuDô

[Mononoke28 135]

u hate j/k

Welllll, in my humble opinion a mother's last name is more important that the father's

nuf said

Kiss a$$...

Diana

[EstebanTrabajos 7]

hater

[Chelartie 0]

I've seen similar topics on this, but I'm still not quite sure what to do. My fiance has two last names. The first is his father's last name (ie Doe) and his mother's last name (ie Garcia). So, his name as on his birth certificate would be Juan Doe Garcia.

I went to fill out the marriage license application today and came across the first (of what I assume will be many) name issues. Originally, she wrote Doe as a middle name, so his name appeared as "Garcia, Juan Doe." However, Doe is NOT actually a middle name, but is the surname he has used his whole life. We finally settled it by putting both last names in the surname place, so it's "Doe Garcia, Juan." She told me to check what's on his passport/social security card (he was a student on an F1 and has a SSN) and let her know if it needs to be changed.

The problem is, I think it's different on both documents. On his birth certificate and passport, his name appears with both last names. However, for simplicity's sake, when he applied for his ss card, he just put his name as Juan Doe b/c that really is the name he uses in everyday life.

I just want to be able to choose one way and be consistent from here on out, ie driver's license and other legal docs. I think he prefers just to go by Juan Doe in the U.S. as it's just easier. Can we drop the Garcia on the marriage certificate or should we be consistent with his birth certificate?

Any suggestions? Which agency would be the ultimate authority on this?

My Husband is from Nicaragua and we had a similar situation.

His name is Balvino Waldan Alvarez. When we fill out official documents this is what we use even though he goes by Waldan as a last name. When we got married he changed his name to Balvino Alvarez Waldan-Brown. He took my last name as well. When you fill anything out for USCIS make sure you use what is on his BC or passport. When we filed for AOS and used his married name we had no problems nor for SSN. Good Luck!

Thanks for the responses. It seems like there's a few different approaches outlined/advice, so I'm still not really sure what to do.

You said your husband changed his name when he got married. I think my SO is fine with changing his name officially to just use first name and dad's last name (esp. since it's already what's on his Social Sec. card). He doesn't want a hyphen or really to use the mother's last name at all. But, when and how does a person change their name?

And, in the meantime, can we actually apply for the marriage license with just his first name and dad's last name? Or will this be a problem b/c of the 2nd last name on the passport/birth certificate? The woman at the court house told me to see what's on his passport and social security card, but the problem is, they're different! Passport has (First Name/First Last Name/2nd Last Name) whereas ss has First Name/First Last Name.

Thanks!

Edited August 5, 2009 by Chelartie

[Chica Yeyé 41]

I had to hyphenate them in Canada, otherwise they would ALWAYS ** up my paperwork

[Cacerez 19]

Hey "the other Chelsea"! Josue's passport has his 4 names and so does his SS Card, but for all the paperwork with the K-1 & AOS, as well as for his license (when we apply for it, which we already have tried, but that's a whole 'nother story), we used first, middle, dad's name, and for the USCIS paperwork we put first, middle, dad's, mom's in "other names used." When we married, I changed my name to first, middle, his dad's name and dropped my maiden name. Also, on all his job applications so far we have been putting first, middle, dad's...so far no problems

Hope that helps!

[winifredbee 1]

I've seen similar topics on this, but I'm still not quite sure what to do. My fiance has two last names. The first is his father's last name (ie Doe) and his mother's last name (ie Garcia). So, his name as on his birth certificate would be Juan Doe Garcia.

I went to fill out the marriage license application today and came across the first (of what I assume will be many) name issues. Originally, she wrote Doe as a middle name, so his name appeared as "Garcia, Juan Doe." However, Doe is NOT actually a middle name, but is the surname he has used his whole life. We finally settled it by putting both last names in the surname place, so it's "Doe Garcia, Juan." She told me to check what's on his passport/social security card (he was a student on an F1 and has a SSN) and let her know if it needs to be changed.

The problem is, I think it's different on both documents. On his birth certificate and passport, his name appears with both last names. However, for simplicity's sake, when he applied for his ss card, he just put his name as Juan Doe b/c that really is the name he uses in everyday life.

I just want to be able to choose one way and be consistent from here on out, ie driver's license and other legal docs. I think he prefers just to go by Juan Doe in the U.S. as it's just easier. Can we drop the Garcia on the marriage certificate or should we be consistent with his birth certificate?

Any suggestions? Which agency would be the ultimate authority on this?

My Husband is from Nicaragua and we had a similar situation.

His name is Balvino Waldan Alvarez. When we fill out official documents this is what we use even though he goes by Waldan as a last name. When we got married he changed his name to Balvino Alvarez Waldan-Brown. He took my last name as well. When you fill anything out for USCIS make sure you use what is on his BC or passport. When we filed for AOS and used his married name we had no problems nor for SSN. Good Luck!

Thanks for the responses. It seems like there's a few different approaches outlined/advice, so I'm still not really sure what to do.

You said your husband changed his name when he got married. I think my SO is fine with changing his name officially to just use first name and dad's last name (esp. since it's already what's on his Social Sec. card). He doesn't want a hyphen or really to use the mother's last name at all. But, when and how does a person change their name?

And, in the meantime, can we actually apply for the marriage license with just his first name and dad's last name? Or will this be a problem b/c of the 2nd last name on the passport/birth certificate? The woman at the court house told me to see what's on his passport and social security card, but the problem is, they're different! Passport has (First Name/First Last Name/2nd Last Name) whereas ss has First Name/First Last Name.

Thanks!

We changed our names on the marriage certificate...then the SSN. You will submit this with your AOS and so on. You just need to be consistent with whatever you decide.

[Chelartie 0]

Thanks, everyone.

[Mayra&Robin 0]

I've seen similar topics on this, but I'm still not quite sure what to do. My fiance has two last names. The first is his father's last name (ie Doe) and his mother's last name (ie Garcia). So, his name as on his birth certificate would be Juan Doe Garcia.

I went to fill out the marriage license application today and came across the first (of what I assume will be many) name issues. Originally, she wrote Doe as a middle name, so his name appeared as "Garcia, Juan Doe." However, Doe is NOT actually a middle name, but is the surname he has used his whole life. We finally settled it by putting both last names in the surname place, so it's "Doe Garcia, Juan." She told me to check what's on his passport/social security card (he was a student on an F1 and has a SSN) and let her know if it needs to be changed.

The problem is, I think it's different on both documents. On his birth certificate and passport, his name appears with both last names. However, for simplicity's sake, when he applied for his ss card, he just put his name as Juan Doe b/c that really is the name he uses in everyday life.

I just want to be able to choose one way and be consistent from here on out, ie driver's license and other legal docs. I think he prefers just to go by Juan Doe in the U.S. as it's just easier. Can we drop the Garcia on the marriage certificate or should we be consistent with his birth certificate?

Any suggestions? Which agency would be the ultimate authority on this

My husband was wondering about the same, in the main part in which you have to write the name, he wrote his last name and where it says other names he wrote both of my names, and both of my surnames, and everything went just fine in that department...good luck!