Name Changes

[Jwmann2]

Where can someone find the origin of name changes? Could someone come over from Italia in the 1800s and just say "Im John Smith". Or did name changes have to take place with naturalization or at ellis island? thanks alot.

[Italysearcher]

Many changes were simply the clerk's translation of very elaborate handwriting. For example, Iafrate was transcribed several times in Ellis Island as Jafraty or Jafrate.

[PeterTimber]

Are uyou talking about the name changes in the ships manifest or in the typed in internet pages of www.ellisisland.org???

I do know that German lloyd ships were heaviuly involved in the immigrant trade from Italy to the USA and English White star lines as well. Since these manifest were prepared in Italy based upon italian passport or other travel documents it is likely that some of the names transcribed by "foreigners" (germans or english manifest preparers) were miswritten or copied incorrectly but that the only names changes that took place in NY at Ellisisland were not the result of US Immigration officers but from the manifests prepared in Italy. When you go to www.ellisisland,.org you see errors but those are from the preparers for the internet that mistyped names. =Peter=

[bonval]

Also remember many of the immigrants themselves could not read or write - then they would speak a dialect - and perhaps the person filling out paperwork was not as familiar with that particular dialect - they would write a name as they "heard" it being spoken - so that is how one family member may have one spelling while another coming later shows a differing spelling of the same name. And in acutality many times that is also what happened as people would register the birth of a baby or sign for marriages - if they did not write themselves, they depended on the Sindaco or other ufficiale signing the paperwork!

[ursulamezza]

Misspellings are common everywhere for all the reasons cited above but I spent years trying to trace my great grandmother's family based on my grandfather's birth certificate which listed her maiden name as Macari. It made sense because the godparents were both Macari, but it turned out her name was actually Cerifice!

[stevenmac]

Misspellings are common everywhere for all the reasons cited above but I spent years trying to trace my great grandmother's family based on my grandfather's birth certificate which listed her maiden name as Macari. It made sense because the godparents were both Macari, but it turned out her name was actually Cerifice!

I'm looking for as much info as I can on my family name.

Any idea of which Macari?

Thanks

[ursulamezza]

I'll check my grandfather's birth certificate tonight and get back to you with the names.

Ursula

[ursulamezza]

Hi Steven

I've attached my grandfather's baptismal certificate (sorry, in my earlier post I mistakenly said birth certificate - his birth was never registered).

The name of his godmother is Julia Macari, but the godfather's first name is very difficult to make out. Maybe you'll be able to make something of it.

The information was copied from the church's baptismal register in 1959, so it's possible that the name on the original record is much clearer. I could try and get access to it, but it may take me a while to find the time to do it.

Out of interest I checked the 1901 census for Belfast to see if it would provide a clue, but could find no record of any Macaris, but they may well not have been here at that time (my own family was in Scotland at that point. I tried to check the Scottish census for the same year, but have forgotten my password! Will remember tomorrow!).

Let me know if you think there's a connection with your own branch of the Macaris.

[queen_lioness81]

My family's last name was Iafrate but I was told in Ellis Island the clerks changed it to Yafrate. However, I found great-grandfather's name under the correct spelling Iafrate...finally. I don't know when the name change took place now. But I'd suggest trying multiple spellings. Ellis Island's website is super easy w/ the different spelling options it gives though.