did the workers at Ellis Island change your ancestors name it's
an American myth truth is they almost certainly did not join me today on the
ancestral findings podcast and I'll give you some reasons why
they changed our name at Ellis Island actually no they didn't this is a prevailing myth in genealogy
research and many beginning genealogists still believe it but the truth is your family's last
name was almost certainly not changed at Ellis Island that's just not how the island operated
when admitting immigrants into this country those who took the names of incoming immigrants
were very careful to record surnames correctly so how did the myth of the Ellis Island name
change get started and why do so many people still believe it today here's what you need
to know about Ellis Island and the recording of incoming immigrant names Ellis Island operated
as the nation's main immigrant processing center between 1892 and 1954 during this time more than
12 million people came to the United States through the island lots of people have it in
their family lore that the family surname was changed to a more anglicized version at Ellis
Island because immigrant processors couldn't spell the immigrants last name or understand it when
the immigrant told them yet this myth has been disproven dozens if not hundreds of times in a
lot of different resources anyone who is familiar with genealogy will know this is a myth but if
you're just beginning you might still believe it the myth is just not true and this is why
one of the first of several reasons names were not changed at Ellis Island is that the people doing
the intake processing of immigrants did not write down the names the names came from ship manifests
that were originated in the nations where the ships departed for the United States the names
were far more likely to be recorded correctly with their correct spelling in or near the immigrants
country of origin when immigrants arrived at Ellis Island they had those manifests in front of them
immigrants would line up to be processed and then the processors usually attended by interpreters
would look up the correct name on the manifest the intake processors also asked questions based
on the manifests and using interpreters except for people from english-speaking countries made
sure they had the correct person their goal was to ensure the person they were talking to was the
same person they believed was listed under that name on the manifest once a person was verified
as the correct person on the manifest they were checked off the manifest and admitted
usually into the country the manifest served as checklist for the processors and eliminated the
need for them to write down any names this meant there was no chance of them spelling a name wrong
or changing it because they didn't understand its pronunciation if the Ellis Island employees
changed anything about a name on a manifest they usually corrected a misspelling indicated to them
by the immigrant through their interpreter names were never scratched out and new anglicized ones
written above them in their place the only time names ever really changed at Ellis Island is if
the immigrant decided to change their name to fit in with the American Society or the local
community to which they were moving sometimes they change their name before even getting on the ship
to come to America there was no requirement to immigrants to use their real last name
when coming to America they could give themselves anything they liked as long as the name they gave
matched up with the answers they gave according to their profile on the ship's manifest they were
good to enter the nation and use the name they chose they could even give their new name when
they were being processed into the country as long as they could be identified with someone
on the ship's manifest they could also start using a name once they enter the country after
they got by the Ellis Island intake employees but Ellis Island workers did not change names
for immigrants there were some incidents where people even change their gender when
they entered the United States this was usually women pretending to be men because of the better
work opportunities available to men most of the people who did this were never discovered
those who were perhaps because of getting medical treatment or being involved in a row
enik relationship were not required to go back to using their birth name or their actual gender once
they were in the United States they were free to be whoever they decided they wish to be the
few who were discovered made news headlines for a while then disappeared back into American history
sometimes using their original identity sometimes continuing to use the new one they gave themselves
upon arrival in this nation the rules for the use of names at Ellis Island and subsequent residents
in the United States were that liberal if you have always been told that your family's surname
was changed at Ellis Island it is crucial as a genealogist to look further into the
story look up birth and marriage records for your immigrant ancestor in their country of origin and
compare them to the way their name is spelled on their Ellis Island intake form as well as on the
ship manifest of the ship that brought them to the United States if there is a discrepancy especially
if the name looks anglicized look deeper into the story to find out why checking additional
Ellis Island records and old newspaper records in the United States regarding your ancestor
may give you a better idea of why the name is different if your ancestors name is the
same on the Ellis Island Records ships manifest and old country records as the name you use now
then you can be reasonably certain that was always your family's name most of the time this is what
you will find and that the name change story is just a fairy tale even if the name is different
you can be reasonably sure your ancestors changed it and not the people who worked at Ellis Island
yeah
do you have an ancestor who is in prison you should've ate their prison records in
the next episode of the ancestral findings podcast I'll tell you why as well as where
to look for these records to learn more about genealogy and sign up for our weekly giveaway
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