Do You Think Your Family Name Was Changed On Ellis Island?
My grandfather's name was changed at Ellis Island. I have an English name now.
jerseyjack said:
This is one of the myths which is dismissed if you visit Ellis and get the tour. First of all, your name was entered in the ship's registry when you left England or the continent. It was spelled correctly there. Before you reached Ellis, the ship's arrival was anticipated by telegram through the transAtlantic cable. Immigration officials who spoke your language would be on hand to record your name, in your language as it had been entered on the ship's registry.
After this, you left the island. Upon reaching the mainland, the immigrant would decide to or be encouraged to change the family name. Since there were no records on the level of today's Social Security, tax id and so forth, it was easy to assume a new identity. ...but this did not happen on Ellis Island.
Much more likely after Ellis Island than at Ellis Island.
First names too. One family member on my husband's side came over pre-1900. In the 1900 census he reported himself as Heinrich. In 1910 Heinrich became Henry. He stayed Henry until, oddly enough, it changed to Edward in 1940. Back then DMV didn't have the six points rule, and most info was self reported (my great grandmother has TWO conflicting birth certificates because of self reporting) so people regularly changed their names without it being the big deal it is today.
My Italian grands came over and through Ellis Island and beyond. My heart aches for the immigrants these days.
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Same here! My father's family arrived in the 1880s. He told us the name had been O'Tierney and the O was dropped by officials when they got off the boat. He also told me we were descendants of Kings! I bought it!
This was pre-Ellis Island with many of the passengers unschooled. I have looked at a lot of ship passenger lists in my ancestry searches -- all handwritten and some hardly legible.