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I've been suspicious that the "changed at Ellis Island" story may be more of an urban legend. My family was always told that was the case, and then we found rec
by rwhitman 13y ago
I've been suspicious that the "changed at Ellis Island" story may be more of an urban legend. My family was always told that was the case, and then we found records proving my great grandparents changed their name years after migrating to the US, and for some reason they had hid that information from my grand father his entire life. My theory is that it was a point of shame having lost the family name, so they chalked it up to lazy immigration people.
- thaumasiotes 13y agoMy family lore says that a Russian ancestor's name was mangled in immigration, and while he hadn't expected it he was pleased at having a different name. Doesn't seem like too much of a stretch to think that if he was pleased to get a new name he might have been willing to take the credit for changing it himself, but I've seen no documents either way.
- sentenza 13y agoRussian names are also much more likely to get mangled, as you'd have to do a very careful sound-by-sound transfer. You can't just go by the letters, because the vowels are pronounced differently if they are emphasized in the word.
- aestra 13y agoIn the history of my last name: We found records of the origins of my family in the US. Their name was not changed at first, except 10 years later the first letter "I" got inexplicably changed to a "J." Considering how close a capital I can look to a capital J when written hastily, I gotta believe it was a clerical error.