Not to be a "topper," but you all might get a kick out of this story.


In 1989 I applied for a U.S.passport in Phoenix, AZwhere I was living at the 
time.  I went to the local Passport office and took my "birth certificate" with 
me.  At that office I was told that the "birth certificate" I had been carrying 
around all my life, which showed my middle name as Lucius, wasn't an actual 
official birth certificate at all, but a statement that my birth had been 
registered.  I was told that I needed to apply for an official copy of my birth 
certificate through the Virginia Vital Records department.  I did so, and soon 
an official copy of my birth certificate arrived in the mail.

You can imagine my surprise when I opened the envelope and found that my 
official birth certificate stated my middle name was Thomas, not Lucius, the 
name I had used all of my life.  I called Richmondto verify that that's what the 
record showed and they confirmed that the official record showed my middle name 
to be Thomas.
I really can't give any explanation of how this might actually have occurred 
beyond the following.  My parents (long deceased) named me for my two 
grandfathers, Allan Lee Phillips and Thomas Lucius Willey.  My grandfather 
Willey signed his name as T. Lucius Willey, and I understand that everyone 
called him Lucius.  Perhaps someone, I can't guess who, got confused and wrote 
Thomas instead of Lucius on the birth certificate application.
In any event, I have always used Lucius and think of it as my “real” name and 
plan to continue to use it.Allan Willey


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