Mom blames labor meds for making hilarious typo on daughter’s birth certificate

It was a big moment for 15-year-old Gabrielle Mayor when she was about to receive her learner’s permit at the DMV. Se waited her whole life for that moment, but little did she know a hilarious family secret would be uncovered the same day. “My mom and I were at the DMV picking up my learner’s permit,” Mayor, now 24, tells TODAY. “I can’t even explain how excited I was to be able to drive. When her name was called out, she ran to the counter only to face the truth. “The guy asks for my social security number and I give it to him. He puts it in the computer, and he's like, ‘I’m not seeing a Gabrielle Mayor,” she recalls. 

Confused, Mayor repeated and cross-checked her information, hoping the issue would be resolved, but her name was nowhere to be found in the system. “Then he goes, ‘I do have a Babrielle Mayor,’” she says. Her mother, Ellyn, dramatically gasped upon realizing what had happened. That was when Mayor found out about the typo on her birth certificate. While being pregnant with Mayor, her mother, who was 10 days past her due date, ingested a cocktail of medications that resulted in the misspelling. “I was shaking so badly that my G must have looked like a B,” says Ellyn. “After I got the birth certificate in the mail, I immediately fixed it, but for some reason, I didn’t think about the social security card until I took Gabby for her learner's permit."

Mayor laughed the whole situation off, did everything she could, and had her learner’s permit two weeks later. “I was really upset at the moment, but now it’s my fun fact,” she says. According to NY Post, Mayor did not leave how to drive that way but surely lived a lie for the past 15 years. “To this day, all my friends call me ‘Babby’ or ‘Babs’–even strangers who have heard this story will just immediately start referring to me as Babs,” she explained. The video Mayor shared on Tiktok about her parents telling the truth about the typo on her birth certificate struck a chord with many people.

"My name was Aslhey instead of Ashley for 20 years 😭, said @ashlleytorres. "My social security card had “Laureen” as my middle name 💀," wrote @daniellelwoods. "One of my middle names was meant to be Isabelle but my mum forgot how to spell it and was in a rush, so now it’s “Isoble,” added @Madlew22. "My mom forgot how to spell Brianna thanks to the epidural and now my middle name is Brieanne. it took me 12 years to learn how to spell it," said @Anakin21242. Many people in the comments tried to make Mayor feel better which was hysterical. "I would insist on being called Babs and wearing scarves and costume jewelry daily. If the parents have a problem, tell them they made you a Babs," commented @Nicole_slaw. 

"So sorry about that baby," joked @ges_what. Mayor said that she was surprised by the responses she had received. “Here I was thinking this whole name fiasco was such an insane experience, could have only happened to me,” she explained. “After posting the video, I realized that sharing this story had brought together a whole community of people who had a similar story!” She added, “I think none of us really realized that we weren’t alone in our wild fake name journeys.”