My question involves name change laws in the State of: California
I have been taking care of the daughter of my estranged sister since she turned 16 years old. Her bio father has never been around. She just turned 18 years old, and she has been accepted to a CSU and starting in fall. I had to order an official state birth certificate for her admissions as well as to get her a driver's license, and to my surprise, the vital records birth certificate came back with her father's full name listed in the child's name field as well as in the father's name field. No where on the official document does it reference her given name, so the only thing that is the same is her last name. All other "Child's Info" such as DOB, Gender, and Time of birth are correct and match the exact info on the hospital birth certificate. I also cross referenced her hospital issued birth certificate name, her social security card, her school records, etc... Everything is under her given name, not her "legal name". I can contact her mom if necessary, but I do not think that would be much help since my neice is an adult now legally now. Plus her mom is not very helpful period.
The man at the DMV suggested just ordering a new SSN card under the legal name on her official birth certificate, but I feel like doing that would be fraud no matter the intent behind it. They won't issue her a drivers license or ID card, the SSA won't give her a name change on her social security card without a court order, and I fear that she won't be able to attend the CSU this fall for the discrepancy of her identity. I read that she can possibly ask them to consider this her "common name" under the "usage method", but it is up to the entity and is generally more often declined due to its potential identity theft law issues... We are starting the court order process now anyway, but the time frame to completion may put us beyond her enrollment date for college. How can we get her given name and all of its records tied to her legal name in the interim? Is there anyway to get an AKA or alias for a person (rather than a business which is all i can find info for) registered as official along with the legal name? Does anyone have any suggestions in leiu of the court order potentially being granted?

