Is it true that a lot of American families changed their German surnames to British surnames?

Question

for instance, Schmidt became Smith, Baumann to Bowman, Becker to Baker etc.

What was the reason for this change?

Answer 1

May people did that to become Americanized and it's in no way just a German thing. I knew a girl who's last name changed from Mueller to Miller though (yes, they were German). Even someone in my own family did it. My moms side is Slovak and one of our great uncles changed his last name from Emrísčák to Emerson. It's just easier to pronounce, spell and you blend in more.

I know some Slovak names were changed to the American version of the word. 'Molitorís' is the equlivant of 'Miller', 'Mačo' is 'Michaels' and 'Demčak' or 'Bednar' is the same as 'Cooper' or 'Tubman'.

Answer 2

It did indeed happen, and there were several reasons for the change. Some people came to the U.S. and simply wanted to fit in, so they changed their names. Others came through ports of entry like Ellis Island, where the officials weren't familiar with German (or many other languages, for that matter), and purposely or inadvertently changed an immigrants name on the spot. Still others changed their names during the First and Second World Wars, to avoid the stigma of being associated in any way with the enemy.

Answer 3

Yes it is true. Not just Germans but most ethnic groups that could not be readily identified by their physical appearance. ie: Black, Asian,dark Hispanic. They also did not want to teach their children their native language because they wanted them to be "American". Assimilation was the order of the day. Even today you will find that some Hispanics became white after one or two generations.

Answer 4

Germans always have a desire to blend in and do as the romans do when in rome. another reason was to distance themselves from the Kaiser wilhelm and of course Hitler .He was an Austrian himself.

Answer 5

I changed mine but that's because of marriage.. HA HA HA It is an interesting question, though. I don't know of any personally.

Answer 6

may be the collaboration