The German word for carpenter (the worker) is Zimmermann. Zimmer means "room," as in Wohnzimmer (livingroom), and mann is man or person. Thus, the change was a simple German-English translation, rather than an arbitrary change. There used to be (and still is) tremendous pressure on immigrants (and the rest of us, too, of course) to conform to the mainline culture--in this case the use of English names. Why remain a "greenhorn" forever, when a simple translation of the name and learning to say We instead of Vee can make life more pleasant and prosperous? (Of course, I'm only saying this from the immigrant's point of view.) George C.