People’s names change all the time. One common myth is that immigrants arriving at Ellis Island in New York had their names changed by some uncaring immigration agent simply because of language barriers. And, hence, the family genealogist was forever cursed trying to untangle the mess of records with different spellings of the family surname.
Well, there are lots of reasons that folks change their names, and the Ellis Island myth is exactly that – a myth.
So why do folks change their names?
1.They may not like their birth name. Sometimes parents choose Christian names that defy logic or common sense.
2.They are trying to create a new identity. Maybe the immigrant father left a wife and family in the old country to marry again in America. Maybe the person was trying to evade a criminal past.
3. Maybe the person is seeking to adjust to a new gender and their Christian birth name is inappropriate for their new identity.
In the case of many Germans in North America, after WWI, it was not popular to have a German surname so a change could help. WWII may have been worse in terms of national prejudice for jobs and opportunities. This was true of other nationalities as well.
For the genealogist, tracking name changes over time is merely part of the job. Enjoy!