>I think the workers on Ellis Island often made up last names no, ship's manifests (prepared at the point of departure) have been a standard in the ocean-voyag

>I think the workers on Ellis Island often made up last names no, ship's manifests (prepared at the point of departure) have been a standard in the ocean-voyage game for a long long time, and those were the lists used by immigration, not handwritten lists based on what they heard. see here https://www.nypl.org/blog/2013/07/02/name-changes-ellis-island https://www.nypl.org/blog/2013/07/02/name-changes-ellis-isla...