An Origin of the SSN and Detailed Explanation on Every Digit.
What does our Social Security Number (SSN) mean? It is one of the few constants in life. It never changes unless you enter the witness protection program, victim of domestic violence, or been a victim of identity theft. Those are some of the legal ways, a person will change their SSN. Sometimes people try and “disappear” into society for various reasons and they buy a new social security number on the black market. Or they scour a cemetery, steal that dead person’s identity and then apply for a duplicate SSN card. The SSN is one number that all of us know by heart. We need it on a daily basis to prove our identity. Banks require it to open an account. DMV wants one before it will issue a driver’s license. Doctors and hospitals need it for billing. Try to live one week without it, I bet you, you can’t.
Origin of the Social Security Number
The United States government started issuing SSNs in 1936 for the sole purpose of archiving worker’s lifetime earnings as reported by the Social Security Administration (SSA) article, “The Story of the Social Security Number.” The worker’s contributions into the Social Security system were tracked so future benefits could be issued. Since it’s inception, 450 million SSNs have been issued and as of 2008, virtually every legal resident of the USA possessed one. No one thinks about the beginning of something, but this issuance in 1936 was a major project. No computers around, not everyone was literate or even spoke English. The results of the campaign to register everyone was truly astounding. Even using today’s technology it would require coordination and billions of dollars and millions of labor hours. We can’t even get a health care system in place, imagine today’s bureaucracy trying to start a Social Security Program, never would happen. The issuance and compliance project was so successful that they registered 35 million people in the first eight months.
Social Security Number decoder
Every group of digits has a meaning. Each SSN is 9 digits in length. It is a XXX-XX-XXXX configuration.
- The first three digits are the area number.
- The next two digits are the group number.
- The final four digits are the serial number.
**The SSA has two sets of rules regarding the SSN issuance rules, before 1972 and after, so bear with me if you see redundancies as I want to be clear for the older people in the audience.
Area Number
This is the geographical area where the application was made to get a social security number. You must remember that back in the day, there wasn’t a standardized zip code for each city. The zip code only came out in 1963, before that time, postal zone numbers were used. Prior to 1972, the Area Number was the State you physically resided or worked, since the SSA handed specific sets of numbers to state field offices for distribution. So, prior to 1972, those numbers signified that state. Since 1972, the SSA has issued the Area Number by the mailing adrress of the applicant even if it differed from the residence. Those Area Numbers assigned were assigned with the lowest to the highest starting in the Northeast and going West. So, people who live on the East Coast will have the lowest area numbers and people who live on The West Coast will have the highest area numbers.
Group Number
These Group Numbers a way to categorize the Area Numbers into smaller blocks for administrative and filing purposes. It increases the amount of people that can have the 123 Area Number to 10,000 without duplicating it. “00” is the only two digit group number not used. The others are assigned by a odd/even alternating rotation, group numbers issued first consist of the odd numbers from 01 through 09, and then even numbers from 10 through 98.
Serial Number
Now that we have been identified by the state or region, the Serial Number is the actual person. This number is issued sequentially and runs consecutively from 0001 to 9999.
Steve Morse Social Security Number Decoder
There is a SSN decoder program that allows you to pick the Area Numbers and the Group Numbers and it will tell you when the SSSN was issued and in what state. It is domained by Steve Morse and you can find it here at SteveMorse.com. It works great, I put mine in and boom, right on the money. So I decided to try another. Any guess whose I tried?
Is that really Barack Obama’s SSN?
Name – OBAMA, BARACK
Gender – Male
Street Address – 5046 S GREENWOOD AVE
City, State, Zip – CHICAGO IL 60615-2806
Probable Current Address – Yes
Social Security – 042-68-xxxx
Date Record Verified – Jun 05 – Nov 05
This is public knowledge from his own autobiography so don’t get crazy here. That’s a verification from the Social Security Administration that President Obama used to refute the allegation that he wasn’t a U.S. Citizen.
Little problem with this information
The Social security number was issued in Connecticut in 1976-1977. Put it into the decoder and see for yourself. He said he was born in Hawaii and lived in Chicago. I’m confused, why would he have a SSN from Connecticut? At that time, and since 1972, the SSA used mailing addresses to issue the SSN Area Numbers but the question remains, since President Obama has zero connection to the State of Connecticut, why was a mailing address from Connecticut used? Only explanation I can think of that could be a contributing factor would be Yale University and the infamous “Skull and Bones.” Now that is a serious topic for another article and must leave you dangling from the cliff. I will NEVER write about them for fear of retaliation and to be honest I really don’t care about the New World Order. I’m an existentialist. If you are brave or suicidal, it could make for a great book.
JibbJabber 