A Nebraskan finally landed a Social Security number for his 2-year-old daughter, Unakite Thirteen Hotel, although the battle to change her name is still in the works.

She was given a Social Security number Wednesday after her father, Jason Kilburn, met with Social Security Administration officials in Omaha.

“I am just so relieved that we finally have this part of the puzzle in place,” Mr. Kilburn told NBC News.

Now he wants her name to be Caroline Elizabeth Kilburn.

The toddler was born in Iowa and given a computer-generated name upon birth, as well as a birth certificate document usable only by the government. Caroline spent more than a year in foster care in Nebraska since her mother, who had a history of drug use and homelessness, was unable to take care of her, according to The New York Times.

“It kills me that I wasn’t able to be there when she was born because it wouldn’t have happened like it did,” Mr. Kilburn told Omaha’s WOWT.

Mr. Kilburn, 49, and the girl’s mother dated briefly, though they weren’t together at the time of the birth.

Though he was able to secure parental rights following a DNA test, the toddler wasn’t given a Social Security number or a birth certificate usable by people outside the government and Mr. Kilburn couldn’t secure Medicaid access or daycare services. The $700 cost of a recent doctor’s visit, for example, deterred him from seeking further care for Caroline.

“Three or four weeks ago, she was sick. 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 said.

Though having an ID number will help smooth over other matters, Mr. Kilburn and his legal representatives are still working to get her name changed and to secure a proper birth certificate.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.