Occasionally, a person will receive a Social Security card with the name misspelled, garbled or incomplete due to a keying error or a computer malfunction in the card printing process. If the application (Form SS-5) you completed to get your current card is still in the Social Security office, Social Security may be able to resolve your problem without you having to complete another application and resubmit your evidence.

You should return the incorrect card to the Social Security office. This way, the corrected card will not be counted against your yearly or lifetime replacement card limits. (A new law limits the number of replacement cards you can get to three replacement cards in a year and 10 during your lifetime. Corrections needed due to errors by Social Security, legal name changes and other exceptions do not count toward these limits. Individuals who can prove they need a card to prevent a significant hardship also may not be affected by these limits.)