02/24/2025
THE MYTHS ABOUT SURNAMES
1. Names were NOT, NOT Changed at Ellis Island. Your ancestors generally knew how to spell their names. However some people….Not Ellis Island people…wanted to change their name to Americanize it. From Braun to Brown, from Schmit to Smith….
2. Some Family Feuds changes names. For example: brothers would get into a fight, so one brother would say “ I never want to be associated with that blankety blank brother ever again…next time the Census person came around, the name could have changed from Curtiss to Curtis….happened in my family.
Very good article in Family Tree Magazine for March/April 2025.
Let me know if I can help you with your family tree.