Travel documents with inconsistent names, including your passport, driver’s license, Real ID, airline ticket, and other bookings and travel documents, could derail your entire journey.
Paraphrasing Shakespeare, “A name by any other name” suggests that a label doesn’t change the essence of who we are. While that may be true, in the U.S. like other countries, what name we use on our travel documents can cause us trouble if the name on our passport, birth certificate, driver’s license, etc., is inconsistent.
If you’re traveling internationally and the name on your airline ticket and your passport don’t match, you’ll not be able to board your flight. If you’re traveling internationally and renting a car, but your name on your driver’s license and your passport don’t match, you might not be able to rent the car. That happened to a friend of mine last year in France. His wife matched, so she became the exclusive driver. These are just two examples of trouble you might have if your name differs on your travel documents and your travel IDs.
The key to ensuring your travel documents are accepted is name consistency.
For years, there was considerable leeway permitted for names on identification documents. My driver’s license didn’t match my passport until I changed it in 2001. Once changed, my birth certificate, social security card, driver’s license, and passport all matched. My name on my Global Entry membership also matched. To obtain a Real ID driver’s license for domestic air travel and entrance to U.S. military bases, the process was relatively straightforward. While I was at the PennDOT office getting my Real ID, others with mismatched identifications were turned away.
At the airport, if your name on your ticket and your identification don’t match you may not be permitted to fly or be required to pay a large fee to correct the mistake.
On a recent flight, a ticket mismatch with a passenger’s passport used as their Real ID caused them to be refused at the ticket counter when they tried to check their luggage. It turned out that the passenger’s driver’s license (not a Real ID license) omitted his middle initial. He made his reservation with his middle initial. His passport included his middle initial.
It’s not uncommon that driver’s licenses’ names and passport names don’t match. While states have required proof of age since at least when I got my Pennsylvania learner’s permit, they typically didn’t require exact matching of birth names and driver’s license names, until the Real ID law was put in place. On the other hand, most people’s names on birth certificates and passports match, unless their name was changed.
In the end, the airline allowed the passenger to correct their name to match their ticket name to their passport for a $200 fee.
For those who have legally changed their name, they must change all their travel IDs to match their new name.
For various IDs use the same name as on your birth certificate, including for your Social Security account. There are exceptions, of course. A spouse sometimes desires to legally change their name due to their marriage. If so, they need to change their name across the board on all travel IDs. If one legally changes their name for any reason, then their travel documents must reflect that change. If someone changed their name due to marriage and were divorced and specified, via the divorce, that they were reverting to their pre-marital name, then they must change their travel IDs to the changed name.
When your underlying travel documents show your birth name or current legal name, change all travel ID/documents.
When a traveler’s underlying documents show their birth name or current legal name, to avoid travel problems each traveler should ensure that their name is used on all of their travel documents. This includes, but is not necessarily limited to:
- Passport
- Passport Card
- State Real ID Driver’s license or non-driver’s identification
- Trusted Traveler Program account name
- Department of Defense ID
- Permanent Resident Card (Green Card)
If your travel documents use more than one name, to align them with the same name you’re going to need documentation. If you were born in the United States, you’ll need an official copy of your birth certificate from the state where you were born, bearing the state’s raised seal. Hospital or midwifery birth certificates aren’t acceptable for obtaining or changing these documents. If you’re a naturalized U.S. citizen or permanent resident, you’ll need your naturalization certificate or green card. You will also need an original Social Security Card. If your Social Security Card already matches your birth certificate, naturalization certificate, or Green Card, that’s helpful; however, you’ll need to update it if you’ve legally changed your name.
If you have changed your name, you’ll need legal documentation of that change. Documents that you might need according to circumstances are your marriage certificate, divorce decree or name change court order.
If you’ve changed your name and have full legal documentation of the change, go to the agencies necessary to change all your travel IDs/documents to show that name.
Once you have these documents, you’ll need to go to the various agencies that can change your name for your passport and passport card, driver’s license or non-driver’s ID, trusted traveler membership, etc. Don’t expect them to change your various identifications quickly. If you need to change your Social Security account name, I’d start there. At this point in time, you’ll need to go to a local Social Security office to accomplish the change. Changing your Social Security account name to your real name is important.
Do you use a somewhat different name in your everyday life? Make sure when traveling you use the legal name on your travel IDs/documents.
Please note, for many people this means that your travel identification documents may not have the name you use every day. My travel documents use my full middle name, not just an initial. I don’t always use that name in my daily life, as it’s very formal, so when I use my name for travel, domestically or internationally, I’m careful to remember to use my full name for everything.
Once you have your travel documents in order, all using the same name to identify you, when making reservations of any kind, travelers should match all of their bookings to their ID name. It’s not just bookings that you must be careful about with your name. For example, many countries now require an electronic visa, customs forms, etc. For my trip to Australia and New Zealand last year I had to file documentation electronically.. I was careful to use the name that matched my passport.
To avoid derailing your journeys by documentation mistakes, ensure that all IDs and travel documents use the identical name. Then use that name on every reservation and booking as well as all government document applications. Use your official name consistently for everything on your trip. This will ensure that something as small as a middle initial doesn’t derail the trip of your dreams.
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After many years working in corporate America as a chemical engineer, executive and eventually CFO of a multinational manufacturer, Ned founded a tech consulting company and later restarted NSL Photography, his photography business. Before entering the corporate world, Ned worked as a Public Health Engineer for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. As a well known corporate, travel and wildlife photographer, Ned travels the world writing about travel and photography, as well as running photography workshops, seminars and photowalks. Visit Ned’s Photography Blog and Galleries.
