Dad Of Unakite Thirteen Hotel Seeks A Proper Name For His Daughter

VALLEY, NE — A toddler born in 2022 and given the nonsensical, computer-generated name of Unakite Thirteen Hotel in foster care finally has a Social Security number, but still doesn’t have a proper name.

Her father, Jason Kilburn, 49, who lives in Valley, Nebraska, just outside of Omaha, has been struggling for two years to give his daughter, who he calls Caroline Elizabeth, a legal existence,

Caroline was born in a home in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Nov. 5, 2022, to a woman who struggled with homelessness and drug addiction and wasn’t in a position to care for a baby, The New York Times reported.

A friend arranged to have the infant taken to a hospital, but she was somehow transferred to the custody of the Nebraska state social services agency without a legal birth certificate or Social Security number. The unusual name was intended to be temporary.

Kilburn and the baby’s mother had dated but weren’t together when the baby was born, and he didn’t find out until later there was a chance Caroline was his child. After he took a DNA test that confirmed the child was his biological daughter, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services relinquished custody to Kilburn.

The name on her birth certificate still Unakite Thirteen Hotel. Two years of bureaucratic entanglement that followed when Kilburn tried to change her name and obtain a Social Security number that would make his daughter eligible for Medicaid, day care and other services seemed to be coming to an end Wednesday.

Kilburn left a meeting at the Social Security Administration office in Omaha Wednesday with assurances that Caroline’s Social Security card would be coming in the mail soon, NBC News reported.

“I am just so relieved that we finally have this part of the puzzle in place,” Kilburn said in an email to the network. “I am absolutely overwhelmed by the outpouring of support for myself and Caroline and grateful for the support of each governmental agency that reached out to assist in finally resolving this part of the problem.”

There’s still that matter of his daughter’s name. Because Christine Elizabeth, the name Kilburn gave her, doesn’t exist on any official documents, the Social Security number was issued to Unakite Thirteen Hotel.

Kilburn’s attorney, Joshua Livingston told NBC that getting a proper birth certificate for Caroline will be easier now that she has a Social Security number.

“Getting it under ‘Unakite’ is obviously not the most desirable way to go about it, but having that number under any name at this point is such a victory,” Livingston told the network. “There’s mechanisms in place to change names.”

Despite all the difficulties, Kilburn said the journey has been worth it.

“What they say about the terrible twos is true,” he told The New York Times. “But I wouldn’t change a single day I have with her.”