The family of two-year-old Unakite Thirteen Hotel did not select her name. Neither did any human. She was born in 2022 in a house in Nebraska and relinquished by her birth mother, who does not have a current relationship with the birth father. The infant was then taken to a hospital, where she was issued a certificate of live birth instead of a birth certificate, with the randomly computer-generated name of Unakite Thirteen Hotel.
The normal procedure is to file a certificate of live birth with the state, which then issues a birth certificate. But that didn't happen in this case. The girl's father, Jason Kilburn, found out about her, and filed for custody. Meanwhile, without a birth certificate, she couldn't get a Social Security number, and therefore could not be registered at a daycare nor could she get health insurance. And she couldn't change her name, either.
Her father named her Caroline Elizabeth Kilburn, and had to go to court to get her a birth certificate. When it was finally issued, Caroline's name was still Unakite Thirteen Hotel. But the state didn't follow through with getting her a Social Security number. Only after the story made national news this week was a Social Security number issued for Caroline ...in the name Unakite Thirteen Hotel. Kilburn is relieved that the number proves his daughter exists, and will seek a legal name change.
Unakite is a kind of granite, pictured above. The comments at Metafilter make it clear that unidentified hospital patients are often classified by random words to avoid confusing them with other patients, but that does not explain how so many people dropped the ball with Caroline.
(Image credit: Tom Harpel)
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for a computer generated name it is good one.
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This is a bunch of crap that I find highly upsetting. There was no human involvement anywhere in a position to question the process? Or maybe just to care?
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