--- title: "Hospital Named Abandoned Baby “Unakite Thirteen Hotel”" description: "Due to a hazy bureaucratic screwup, a newborn girl was given a truly bizarre name: \"Unakite Thirteen Hotel.\"" date: "2025-03-02" modified: "2025-03-02" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/hospital-named-abandoned-baby-unakite-thirteen-hotel" categories: - "Developments" - "Health & Medicine" tags: - "health insurance" - "names" - "social security" --- # Hospital Named Abandoned Baby “Unakite Thirteen Hotel” ![Due to a hazy bureaucratic screwup, a newborn girl was given a truly bizarre name: "Unakite Thirteen Hotel."]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* A woman who had been struggling with homelessness and drug abuse gave birth to a baby daughter in November 2022, and with the help of a friend, arranged for the newborn to be taken to a hospital. As the [*New York Times* reports](), due to a hazy bureaucratic screwup, the girl was given a truly bizarre name: "Unakite Thirteen Hotel." According to the girl's father, Jason Kilburn, the name appeared to have had a bizarre origin story. "I was told it was a computer-generated name," he [told *NBC News*]() after contacting the hospital where his daughter was born. Worse yet, Kilburn — who has since been confirmed be the girl's biological father and was given custody — has tried for years to change his daughter's unusual legal name, which has persisted to this day. And it's not just her name — Kilburn has struggled to get his daughter a Social Security number since her birth certificate was labeled "for government use only." As a result, Caroline — Unakite Thirteen Hotel's given name — can't get health insurance and child care, among other services, the *NYT* reports. Kilburn's lawyer Joshua Livingston blamed a "circuitous, bureaucratic loop" in an interview with *NBC*. It's a precarious situation. "Three or four weeks ago, she was sick," Kilburn told *NBC*. "She had a fever and she was throwing up, and I had to weigh my options about what I was going to do." "It really sucks to sit here and watch her suffer when there’s health care out there that I can’t get because of this," he added. Surprisingly, nonsensical placeholder names are commonplace in the US healthcare system, as the *NYT* found. The names are usually abandoned quickly once custody is confirmed by a parent or guardian. Kilburn's lawyer has since voiced optimism that Caroline could finally get her name changed and receive a Social Security number. Media coverage could also help put pressure on the government to jump into action. The good news is that two-year-old Caroline has been completely oblivious to the bureaucratic nightmare unfolding. "She’s a joy to be around," Kilburn told *NBC News*. "She doesn’t show signs of any trauma from any of this." **More on names:** *[Your Facial Features Gradually Change to Go With Your Name, Researchers Find]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()