Names on passport vs names on reservation

[jdb in AZ]

Our DDIL kept her maiden name on her passport but her cruise was booked under her married name. Our travel agent caught it and insisted that the surnames had to match. That's reasonable, of course, but it was close to the sail date by then so it wasn't cheap to change the cruise documents.

 

[kiford]

I take your point that there are names without nicknames available. I've certainly always gone by, and been introduced as, my first name. But I was responding to your idea that parents shouldn't give formal names to children. I think that's profoundly unfair and unrealistic. Names and conventions evolve with people's lives, and honoring relatives can be culturally important. Filling out forms can be an inconvenience (never once has a form truly accommodated my names) but is not actually a big deal or any kind of real problem.

Totally agree. We shouldn't judge why people use different names or why parents give them formal names or names that they won't use on a daily basis. DH and all his siblings have German first names and Hungarian middle names (mother was German, father Hungarian). DH and all his siblings went by their middle names for years until DH got tired of people making fun of it so he switched to using his first name once he reached university. I've always known him by his first name, his family uses his middle name, some of his friends who he went to high school AND university with use his middle name and everyone else he has met since university uses his first name. One of his brothers uses a shortened form of his middle name but just with family and uses his first name everywhere else. One brother continues to use his middle name and his sister uses something we think she made up because she hates both. My father hates his first name (it is a family tradition) so has never used it and the shortened version of his middle name is quite common where he is from and it is rare that someone uses the full version of that particular name. I have a colleague who uses a name that is an expansion of her initials and has done so since she was able to speak. No one expected that when she was named!

I'm not sure that picking a name that is easy to use on a passport or for when you need ID is a sufficiently good rationale for the choice especially if selected over things that are considered more important such as cultural needs, common ethnic practices, honouring a family member, tradition or just preference. BTW - I use my first name, unshortened, and I only use my middle name when forced to because of ID needs. Easy, simple and convenient. But I don't expect everyone else to do it that way.

 

[Jasper&Bowie]

My driver's license and passport don't match because I have a hyphen in my first name. It is printed on my passport but I was not able to have it on my license. Some forms allow me to enter the hyphen and some don't. When the form won't allow the hyphen, some people run the two names together and others put a space between. Lots of fun when you need two forms of ID that match.

 

[StarSeven7]

My driver's license and passport don't match because I have a hyphen in my first name. It is printed on my passport but I was not able to have it on my license. Some forms allow me to enter the hyphen and some don't. When the form won't allow the hyphen, some people run the two names together and others put a space between. Lots of fun when you need two forms of ID that match.

Have you actually had any issues with that? My maiden name is Dutch and sometimes there is a space in it and sometimes not but I’ve never had an issue with it at all.

 

[Jasper&Bowie]

Have you actually had any issues with that? My maiden name is Dutch and sometimes there is a space in it and sometimes not but I’ve never had an issue with it at all.

Only once and when I showed both ID and explained, they were good.

 

[BartmanLA]

With all the responses the OP failed to mention if the name differences were due to marriage (maiden name) or adoption or fostering a child or some version of differences that crop up in co-habitation or common law marriages etc.. I suspect that might be the case and not variations of first or middle names on the appropriate documents.

 

[FigmentSpark]

With all the responses the OP failed to mention if the name differences were due to marriage (maiden name) or adoption or fostering a child or some version of differences that crop up in co-habitation or common law marriages etc.. I suspect that might be the case and not variations of first or middle names on the appropriate documents.

Those are very good points. In my case, it really is do I bother to phone and add the middle names or not. You bring up cases where there not only could be a real mix-up, but cases where there may even be questions on whether they can travel (foster care).

 

[Mark D.]

In my case, it really is, do I bother to phone and add the middle names or not

I've had similar situations. My license and passport both have my full name, but some airlines and cruise lines either don't have a place to enter a middle name, or just allow an initial. I've called each time and added it with no problem. I just tell them my id has my full middle name, but wasn't able to add it on the reservation. Some people seem to think it would be okay with just first and last name but with my luck, I would be the person that runs into an issue. It's less hassle to just call and add it than to worry about it causing a problem. Or actually having a problem.

 

[ironz]

I'm formally an Elizabeth and have always gone by one of the many, many nicknames for Elizabeth. For travel, my travel documents--cruise/airline reservations, etc are under Elizabeth, which matches all of my IDs (DL, passport).

ON the cruise, we very often have the servers ask on the first night if there is another name we would like to go by, and they will write it down and remember. I sometimes don't bother, because it doesn't hurt me for them to call me Elizabeth. On one cruise, though, I had on a shirt themed from "UP" that said "I'm his Ellie" to my husband's "I'm her Carl," so the server called me Ellie the whole cruise. I agreed to it, of course, because it was cute, not far from Elizabeth, and didn't bother me.
I suppose if you hate your given name or are never used to going by it, then by all means, let your servers and room host know you prefer to be called something different.
(Since I also use Elizabeth professionally, I answer to either)