My dad changed his name when he was about 20 (from James Roach to James Perry), not legally but by just assuming a new one, and I have his SS-5 with the assumed name. He listed his step-father on it instead of his real father. He was 20 years old and I doubt he went that long without a job. (Did they HAVE to have a SS number to work between 1937-1947 or was it voluntary?)

I would like to know if he had a previous SS number under his real name but I don't have a number and can't produce documentation of death because his death cert is under the assumed name...same reason I can't get a copy of his real birth cert (he also filed a delayed birth under his assumed name many years later in a different state than where he was actually born, after establishing his new identity with his new name, including Army records).

I have circumstantial evidence of his name change (various certificates, obituaries, cemetery records, newspaper legal notices) but I don't know if the SS Administration would accept that along with his death certificate under the assumed name to prove that it's him and he's dead.

I've been unable to find him or his mother in the 1930 census. She left him with his grandparents for a while but he's not with them in 1930.

Any advice or ideas?

Thanks.
Jo