Did your ancestors change their last name upon coming to North America?

Question

Or did they change it at any time while residing in North America?

Answer 1

My family's name was changed after arriving. My great-grandfather came her at the age of 9 with his 18 year old sister. Neither of them was literate. Whomever filled out their paperwork in Bremen couldn't understand their thick Polish accents and misspelled the family name. The two only used it for the first few months they were here. His sister used that spelling on her marriage license (she came here to marry her boyfriend). By the next record I can find on them (the 1884 Michigan state census), the current spelling was in use. It's actually closer to the original spelling, though still far from what was on their Castle Clinton records.

Answer 2

My maiden name had been changed, yes, but not when they came to America. It was sometime in the late 1800s when my paternal great-grandpa got into an arguement with his brother and split from the family and then just changed the spelling of the last name.

And then my paternal Grandma's people had their last name changed...they're Cherokee, and their name was changed to a more "caucasian" sounding version, unfortunately. =( That was done sometime in the late 1800s also.

It's actually very common that back in the "old days", last names were either changed altogether, or the spelling was changed, or they were altered in some other way.

Answer 3

In the 1800's, most people were illiterate, so spelling was not a big issue. I think most of the changes are not deliberate, as people today think. Going to a county clerk, for instance, Mr Fillingham says his name as he knows it, but it gets written in the record as the clerk heard it... Fillingim. Or Fillingame. All of these persons were biologically related, but alternate spellings are found in the records.
There isn't any one point in time that the changes were "solid".
Another line was originally Dauphinais, and it evolved to Dolphay.
Others did choose to change. Many immigrants were subject to stigma and hostility. To minimize that, some went to whichever authority was available, and "claimed" an Americanized version.
Too many people overlook valid records, which really do apply to their research, because they get hung up on "correct" spelling. Or they miss records, because they don't even consider alternate ways that it could show up.

Answer 4

The use of surnames was not standardized at the time many came to North America, further, neither were spellings. Most surnames got more standardized in the 19th century, spelling definitely 20th century -- and that depends upon whether your schooling was US or Brit/Canada -- not to mention french canadian. Handwriting styles changed over time also.

The tales of names being changed at for instance Castle Garden and Ellis Island US immigrant ports are mostly untrue, since the names are as they appeared on the ships' passenger lists which were written up at european and other ports of departure.

Those aren't nearly as odd as some of the spellings that census enumerators came up with.

Answer 5

Yep.
My Grandfather immigrated from Italy in 1902.
He entered the country with the last name "Fagnani".

But, like many immigrants, he was eager to assimilate into American life. So, he changed his last name to "Jones."

Many immigrants were illiterate, and officials at Ellis Island
had to spell their last names phonetically. This sometimes
effects the pronunciation of their names.

There was no "conspiracy" on the part of Ellis Island officials
to Americanize the names. More often immigrants changed or shortened their names themselves.

Answer 6

I just had to answer this question because I am currently in the process of trying to figure out what exactly my name was changed from. My paternal grandfather's father and brother came over to America together and dropped the first half of our last name, leaving it to just "Dahl."

My grandfather passed away two years ago and I've started researching it realizing he might have been one of the last people left who knew what it used to be. wish me luck! :)

Answer 7

The story goes that our last name spelling was changed, not by our ancestors but by the officials at Ellis Island.

Answer 8

no longer constantly. some surnames flow national limitations. additionally even whilst a surname comes from a definite national foundation, your ancestor with that call could no longer have come from that united states of america. you may comprehend something. you have 2 mom and father, 4 grandparents, 8 large grandparents and sixteen large large grandparents. once you come again on your large large grandparents, your surname is barely a million/sixteenth of what you're. truthfully in case you flow back to ten generations, you're probable quickly descended from over 1000 persons. in case you flow back 20 generations you would be quickly descended from over a million persons and your ancestry probable is going back that a strategies interior the final melennium sometime. It pyramids as you flow back. Now, I say"probable" via fact as you flow back there's a sturdy probability that distant cousins married. Your 10x large grandfather in one kinfolk line could be your 7x large grandfather in yet another and your 11 large granduncle in stil yet another line. additionally it pyramids as you come back down out of your 20xgreat grandfather. you come back from an extremely huge kinfolk. additionally no longer all and sundry with the comparable surname even those of the comparable national foundation are unavoidably proper or shares ancestors.

Answer 9

Mine changed thiers by like 3 letters in the last name.. it spread out in the USA and the names eventaully changed over time

Answer 10

The story goes that my great-great-great-grandfather was running from conscription into the German army. He stowed away on a boat, and upon reaching Galveston, Texas gave a false name. To further complicate the story, all of this revelation came as a deathbed confession to his children and grandchildren…he never told his real name.

Is it true, or is it a genealogy myth about our family? We are still trying to find out for ourselves…