Name Changes For Assimilation
- Leslie Ryan
- Jan 28
- 3 min read
If you've ever been the new kid in school you can relate to the stranger hoping to fit in, make friends, and do well - in other words, assimilate! Immigrants to the US may do name changes for assimilation now as they have for hundreds of years.
One of the oldest Genealogy myths has to be "Ellis Island changed their names." In fact, the names on the passenger lists on the ships bringing our immigrant ancestors were filled out by the ship's crew. More likely than not, our name changing ancestors did it for assimilation, either upon arrival or after settling in to their new home towns.
According to Pew Research the US is the top destination in the world for people leaving their native born country. Historically, discrimination has followed all of the major waves of immigration to the US. The first immigrants were from English speaking countries and those forced to migrate here as slaves. The Pilgrims in 1620 were immigrants escaping religious persecution, right?
The 2nd wave was in the mid 1800's due to the Irish Potato Famine, political instability in Germany, and Chinese immigration during the Gold Rush, who wee also escaping famine and poverty after the Opium Wars.
The third surge in immigrants happened between 1880 and 1914, when over 20 million people from Southern and Eastern Europe (Italians, Russians, Poles). Remember the film "Fiddler on the Roof?" Based on the real events happening in Russian in 1905.
After 1965 the 4th wave saw people coming from Asia (India, China), and Latin America. Over 70 million immigrants have arrived in the US since 1965 when the last Immigration Reform law was enacted. All of these people faced prejudice and discrimination upon their arrival.
Besides hate crimes, discrimination affected peoples' abilities to get jobs, buy or rent places to live, fair education, access to clubs, hotels, beaches, etc.
If you had an accent, that could be hard to lose, but you could make a better life for your children and their children by dropping the O from O'Brian and becoming a "Bryan," or changing your Italian name from "D'Amico" to "Defriend," or shortening your Russian name from "Belchikov" to "Beloff."
When searching for your immigrant families, remember to check the box in the searches to a "Sounds like" option. Look at the different names that may come up for similarities and make note to check those names as well.
Another helpful tool is to use a wildcard like the asterisk "*" in your search. If you are looking for a Belchikoff, enter "Belch*" or "Bel*" for example.
Unless you, my fellow Family Historians, are descended from Native Americans or First Citizens as they are referred to in our great neighbor to the north, Canada (estimated to be only 2% of our population), you come from immigrants too. Try to learn their stories. Why did they leave? How did they assimilate? Did they change their first or last names? Did they have to learn a new language? Change their career? Their religion? All of these things are clues to who you come from long ago.
I found a great YouTube video showing the historic patterns of immigration from Business Insider, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe79i1mu-mc
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If I can help you with your family's assimilation history, send me an email! I will be happy to review what you already know for free, and then advise you on a path to take.
Wishing you peace, especially during this Holocaust Memorial week,
Leslie Ryan
No compensation is received for any referrals or links herein.
No copyright infringement is intended.
For additional reading:
No Irish Need Apply
A Brief History of Civil Rights in the United States: Historical Overview - Immigration
A Brief History of U.S. Immigration Policy from the Colonial Period to the Present Day CATO Institute
