Name shock: Allan Shuker is surprised at the number of loyalty and bank cards he still has that have the wrong name on them.

A Timaru man wasn't who he thought he was - and didn't find out until he was 27.

Allan Shuker had grown up believing his Christian name was spelt Alan. So all his documentation from School Certificate to bank accounts to business cards and property ownership were in that name.

He got the shock of his life when he had to produce his birth certificate to register his marriage and discovered he wasn't Alan after all, he was actually Allan (with two 'l's - ll).

After overcoming the identity crisis, he asked his mum why she had taught him to spell his name with one l.

Her response: "It's your father's fault, he didn't look properly when he registered it."

The now-named, Allan, decided he had used the moniker, Alan, for so long without a problem, he was loathe to change any documentation and continued as before. The only exception was using his newfound name for his first passport – just in case.

It wasn't until 2003 his names became a problem.

"It all came unstuck at Frankfurt Airport. We were just leaving Germany when passport security noticed my passport and ticket had different spellings."

His ticket was Alan and his passport Allan. The Germans were adamant he would not be allowed out of the country until they received a satisfactory explanation.

"I managed to convince them it was a printing error on the ticket."

During the trip home he felt "pretty perturbed" by the incident and took it as a valuable lesson.

Since then he has been progressively changing every document, credit card and loyalty card as they come up.

"It's been a right royal pain."

He is still taken aback when another card pops up in his old name.

The day South Canterbury Herald interviewed Allan he discovered his Placemakers' loyalty card was in the incorrect name. There's still other cards such as coffee, video and library ones to go.

He wonders if it will ever end.

It has never occurred to him to use both identities for fraudulent use but says he was shocked that so many businesses and organisations took his word for the new name change without checking identification. "Everyone has been really accepting."

His advice to other people with names that could be easily spelt different ways is "check your birth certificate".

Does anyone else have any interesting stories around their birth names? We would love to hear about them – email Esther at the address above.