Consequences of changing my name

[dividebyzero]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MD

Issue: My birth certificate has an incorrectly spelled last name. It's not too big of a deal, it is missing 1 letter (where it should be a double letter), so I've decided not to make it too big of a deal. However, now that I'm older, I decided that when I eventually get married, and have children, that I should have the correctly spelled last name (out of principle... just think if your last name was incorrectly and legally misspelled). My question is: who do I need to talk to in order to have this corrected, how long does this take to fix, and how much of a hassle will it be to reflect this change? I understand that I would have to call my bank and credit cards, etc, but my biggest concern is that I served in the military. I am wondering how this will affect my VA benefits and my DD-214 (papers that indicate I have an honorable discharge, and as I was told is as important as my birth certificate). Any help is much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[justalayman]

(out of principle... just think if your last name was incorrectly and legally misspelled). !

My grandfather came from Europe. He had two brothers that also came across but at different times. Each of their names are spelled differently. One is spelled phonetically apparently after hearing it spoken. Another (my g-pa's) was spelled correctly and the third a kind of combination of the two yet we are all of the same relation than if they were all spelled identically. Many people who emigrated to the US has their names altered when registering.

Another person said it much more eloquently than I ever could:

“O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet...
‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What’s Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.”

but anyway, should you choose to make the correction: this is from your states website:

CORRECTIONS TO AN EXISTING BIRTH CERTIFICATE:
If there are errors on an existing birth certificate, call the Division of Vital Records for information on how to request corrections.

sorry I cannot give you any more information than that.

 

[racer72]

My middle name is misspelled the same way your last name is. It has never been an issue, even when obtaining a passport.