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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    8

    Post How Can a Foreign National Get a Middle Name

    Hello there! I'm currently here in Illinois on my student visa and I would like to get a middle name, just because I don't have one. Basically, I have a first name and a second name, but in the country where I came from people don't have middle names just because this thing doesn't exist there. So, I know that if a person, a foreigner, wants to change a name, firstly, he has to change it in his home country and then here in the U.S., but in my case it's technically not changing a name, I want to get just a middle name as an addition and I'm not sure if they even have forms for that in my country. I just know that if I show up in a place where they change names and say I want to get a middle name, they'll be like "What is it?". So, that's basically the question: Can I get a middle name here, in the U.S.? Thank you in advance.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    24,521

    Default Re: How Can a Foreigner Get a Middle Name

    Here in the US, for the most part you can use any name you want as long as you're not using it for fraudulent purposes. So if your name is Sarah Smith and you want to go by Sarah Jane Smith, there's nothing in the law that's going to stop you from doing so.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    8

    Default Re: How Can a Foreigner Get a Middle Name

    I apologize for the thread topic name, I have no idea how that happened. I guess I copy-pasted something and didn't even take a look at it.

    Thank you for the replies, but I have a follow-up question. So if I just suddenly start using a middle name, is it still going to be legal? I mean like putting it on papers. Plus I don't have it in my passport and if I put it on some kind of paper and then I'm being asked to show my ID or whatever and turns out that I don't really have a middle name or is it not a big deal?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    24,521

    Default Re: How Can a Foreigner Get a Middle Name

    There is no law that prohibits you from assigning yourself and using a middle name. In that sense yes, it will be legal.

    I'm not going to claim that it can't cause any kind of confusion or problems. For the most part it won't. There are going to be times when you have to use the name that appears on your ID exactly as is, but that applies to all of us. I use an abbreviation of my given name and don't use my middle name at all, but if I'm buying an airline ticket I have to use my full given name and my middle name because that is what's on my passport. But no one is going to throw you in jail or kick you out of the country if you, for non-official occasions, use a middle name that was not given to you at birth.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    8

    Default Re: How Can a Foreigner Get a Middle Name

    Thank you very much!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    OH10
    Posts
    17,019

    Default Re: How Can a Foreigner Get a Middle Name

    Until you gain legal permanent status in the US, if ever, all it will do is complicate your student visa activities.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    OH10
    Posts
    17,019

    Default Re: How Can a Foreign National Get a Middle Name

    How about instead of a middle name, you give yourself a nickname. My daughter goes by Raven. My cousin goes by JR.

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