Why my family's surname change?

Question

My great-grandparents immigrated in 1910. Sometime between 1917 and the 1930 census their last name changed. Does anyone have an idea why? Obviously it wasn't changed when they got off the boat. Could this have to do with becoming Naturalized?

Answer 1

1) They got tired of being mis-spelled or mis-pronounced.

2) They wanted to seem more American.

3) They didn't change, but the census enumerator had been drinking, so he recorded what he heard. The true spelling didn't make it through the fumes.

4) They used a letter that we don't have in English.

5) None of the above

The mists of time obscure many a fact.

Answer 2

I'd guess they either translated their surname into the English equivalent or choose a name that sounded like their old name but was easier to spell and pronounce, or choose a new name altogether. During the naturalization process would be a good time to change the names ~ have you tracked down those papers to see what name they used?

Answer 3

WWI happened. By the end of the war, there were countries that it wasn't good to be associated with. To change the perception that you weren't "American", people changed their names. It helped them get ahead in life and get into occupations that might have been withheld from them if they were seen as "foreigners". That's how a Moravian Jew in Austria converted to Catholicism so that he wouldn't have to declare "Hebrew" on his passport and moved to Boston where he became an accountant named Fred Kerry. He knew that to get ahead in America, he had to be something common. So he appeared to be an Irish Catholic in defiance of everything his family was. His grandson became a US Senator and no one ever guessed he wasn't part of the old Irish-Catholic machine in Boston. It wasn't until Sen. John Kerry ran for president that the whole story came out. I'll bet your family thought much like Kerry's family thought.

If you want to find out more, you can request the INS documents on your family from the National Archives. It will tell you when they changed their name and where their family originated. Check it out at http://www.archives.gov

Answer 4

Sometimes people changed their names to "Americanize" it.  Schmidt would be changed to "Smith."  This was common around World War One when there was anti-German sentiment.  Others because of how difficult it was for Americans to spell. Complex Italian names were changed like "Martinelli" would become "Martin."

No one made you change your name but it was a way of fitting in.