why were so many Gaetanos renamed Thomas here in the US?

[timo]

I see a lot of men called Gaetano (Thomas) so-and-so when searching the internet. What is the origin of this association? When they arrived at Ellis Island were Gaetanos instructed to use the name Thomas instead? Is it known how Thomas got to be such a common substitute?

[Eleven]

Probably for the same reason/reasons Vincenzo is James.

I often wondered if it had to do with the sound of the name. vincenzo-chenzo-CHENZ sounds like James?

Gaetano- when pronounced by Italians..sort of sounds like guy-tahn. Tahn sounds like Tom?

That is all I was ever able to come up with.

Nobody instructed anyone on their names on Ellis Island. No names were changed. These people had travel documents/passports with their names on them. If errors/changes were made, they were either made on the document/passport or by someone misreading a document/passport. These "changed on Ellis Island" stories are just not true.

[Squigy]

How about this one; Angelo to Charlie. My great granduncle was born Angelo, but he went by Charlie. He had three cousins named Angelo (all after their grandfather) who all went by Charlie, too.

[timo]

The sounds-like theory is plausible but I don't find it a really compelling explanation all by itself. My grandfather, one of these Gaetano-Thomases, somehow had the impression that Thomas was the American translation of the name, not merely a convenient soundalike. Google, BTW, was for a while translating Gaetano as "Gary".

[ForzaItaliaPgh]

I know my Great Grandma and her sister both got their "American" names in Catholic school. One was Rosaria (it's like pulling teeth finding out info, so I don't know which) and they went by "Rose" and "Sara" thanks to the nuns at their school - or so the story goes.

[Eleven]

My uncle was born Carmine and goes by charlie. So did his cousins with the same name. I thought that was odd.

My mothers name changed in school. The teacher was trying to figure out what to use for Giovannina. Johanna, Jennie, Jean. Somehow, Jennie was selected. A woman that I know had a mother named Giovannina, also. She went by Jean.

But this Gaetano/Vincenzo to Thomas/James..is all over the place. Its not just in one family. If its not from a sound alike. I would love to know how this name change came about for so many of them.

[Squigy]

My uncle was born Carmine and goes by charlie. So did his cousins with the same name. I thought that was odd.

My mothers name changed in school. The teacher was trying to figure out what to use for Giovannina. Johanna, Jennie, Jean. Somehow, Jennie was selected. A woman that I know had a mother named Giovannina, also. She went by Jean.

But this Gaetano/Vincenzo to Thomas/James..is all over the place. Its not just in one family. If its not from a sound alike. I would love to know how this name change came about for so many of them.

My g-g-grandmother's name was Giovannina, and she went by Jennie, too. She had a niece named Joan, and two granchildren named Joanne and Jeanne after her.

Oh, here's another one, an uncle of mine was named Gennaro, and when he went to school the teacher had no idea what he was saying, and she said "Oh, all Italians names are Tony, so we'll just call you Tony" He used that name for the rest of his life.

[Eleven]

LOL Maybe thats why there were so many Tonys..lol

[Ccali327]

I know this is WAY behind, but I found a viable answer. So, on the James thing. I consistently hear the phonetic "Chehnz" or "Chenzeen" being used as the description. My grandma Vincenzina, was "Jane" as well.

Thomas is actually more interesting. The Italian Philosopher Gaetanus was named Tommaso De Vio or Thomas Cajetan (Thomas of Gaeta). So, I believe this is where Thomas comes from.

[JManis]

I have been trying to figure out why my father was always called Thomas even though he was called Gaetano at birth. (I did not know until finding this site that other Gaetano's were called Thomas.) Gaetano is on his birth certificate. He thought Thomas was the English for Gaetano but I know that is not true because there is the name Tommaso in Italian. My father was born in CT to Sicilian parents. He was born in 1922 and died in 2020. I am working on applying for Italian citizenship through my Sicilian grandfather and I need to get my father's death certificate amended to read also known as AKA Gaetano because on his marriage certificate and his death certificate he was Thomas with no mention of Gaetano. Last night while watching an Italian series called Inspector Ricciardi a man introduced himself as Gaetano but he added - you can call me Tano. I thought that was very interesting. The nickname Tano was for Gaetano and perhaps people thought Tommy was close to Tano? Or maybe this is farfetched?