Why Does One Change His or Her Name?

There is a belief that officials at Ellis Island changed people's names. That is simply not true because the officials at Ellis Island were given passenger lists prepared at the point of departure. It was the immigrant himself or herself who made the name change. It was often an attempt to make the name more pronounceable or more English sounding.

Changing one's name is not only a phenomenon of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but it also occurs in the periods preceding and succeeding that time. I found many instances from the 17th century forward of names having been changed. In the 17th and 18th centuries, names were often spelled phonetically. So it was not unusual to find a person's name recorded differently from document to document. The phonetical spelling varied with the nationality of the person recording the event. So for example, I might find a resident of New Amsterdam recorded with a Dutch spelling of the name and that same individual as a resident of British New York with a different but similar spelling of the name.

As my family moved from New York City to other parts of the colony and to other colonies, the surnames was spelled in six if not more different ways. As people were themselves recording their name, they took on the various spellings of the name. In some cases, the individual simply gave into how others were writing his or her name. I have an Indian friend who changed his name because he got tired of people not being able to pronounce it or because when he was asked to spell it, the person just could not get it.

I have other friends who made a name change because they did not like the name that was given to them. You can find many instances in which a person chooses to use a middle name or just the initials because to that person it sounds better, more professional, or for whatever reason.

Interesting Connections - Where My Research Takes Me

While I was trying to find more information about Patrick Bowen Collins who married a distance cousin, I came across a book, "To Wire the World: Perry M. Collins and the North Pacific Telegraph Expedition." It was written by John B. Dwyer in 2001. Fortunately, I found it in the Sunnyvale Library and checked it out to read.

Perry McDonough Collins had a dream of building a telegraph system that connected the United States with Europe via Alaska and Russia. The book tells the story of his efforts to make this dream come true. In 1860, he wrote a book entitled "A Voyage Down the Amoor: with A Land Journey through Siberia and Incidental Notices of Manchooria, Kamschatka and Japan." Although his book was focused on the eastern part of the Russian Empire, it made me think about my husband's ancestors who were from eastern Russia.

Less than 40 years later, my husband's family begins to arrive in the United States. One of the stories I heard from his family was how the name was changed at Ellis Island. Actually, the story is rather compelling. My mother-in-law believes the name was changed because of confusion due to a language barrier between the immigration official and his great grandmother when she arrived along with his grandfather, his great uncle and his great aunt.

My husband's family name is Kline. The family seemed to believe that my husband's great grandmother was confused when the official asked for a surname that he was asking about the children. She supposedly answered with a question, "Eine Kleine?" from which the official recorded the name as Kline.

Based on his great aunt's naturalization papers, it appears that the family name was Moffs. However, I could not find any Russian name of Moffs. When I saw a copy of her application, I realized that she was young enough that she may not have known how to spell her family name when she came to America with her mother and brothers. She spelled the name phonetically from her childhood memory.

Further research, revealed that the family did not come through Ellis Island but entered at the Port of Boston. I do not know why the family chose a surname of Kline, but the census records around Boston from around the time the family arrived in the US include Claine, Clain and Kline as a spelling of the surname. Looking at the various census images that included the family, I was able to pinpoint the time in which my husband's grandfather arrived with his mother, brother and sister.

I ultimately found the image of the ship manifest that had the names of my husband's great grandmother, his grandfather, his great uncle and his great aunt. The name on the manifest was Mowsz.

My Ancestor's Name Was Changed at Ellis Island?

I can't tell you the number of people who have told me that their ancestor's name was changed at Ellis Island. It seems that many people believe that all immigrants came through Ellis Island in New York. Well, that is the first piece of misinformation. Immigrants arrived at several ports including Boston, Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Francisco, Baltimore, Seattle, and others.

Since immigrants entered the United States through many ports, how is it that so many people believe that it was the officials at Ellis Island that changed their relative's name? Simply folklore, urban legends, etc.! The truth is the immigrants changed their own name at some point after arriving in the United States. Neither the officials at Ellis Island nor officials at the other ports of debarkation were responsible for name changes. Go to the Ellis Island Website (www.ellisisland.org) to see examples of ship manifest lists that were presented to the officials at Ellis Island.

Changing one's name wasn't just a phenomena of the late 19th and early 20th century. It holds true today as well as the early history of our country. I have friends who are Indian, Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese who have Americanized their names.

While looking at many old records of the 17th and 18th centuries, I saw that the early Dutch and Huguenot people in New York changed their names too. Catryntje and Tryntje became Catherine, Jacobus became James, Aefje became Eva, etc. Even English sounding names were transformed. For example, Maritje became Maria/Mary and later Polly; Johanna to Hannah and later Anna; Sarah to Sally; etc.

It didn’t end with changing one’s given name. Even the surnames became more Anglicized. So why is it not conceivable that an immigrant in the later centuries and decades would not Americanize given names and surnames?