This was posted on another Rootsweb List and I thought some of us folks would find it of interest. Evelyn "Dear Baden-Wuerttemberg List Friends, I'd like to offer the following to possibly help answer the common genealogy research question, "How/Why Would My Ancestor's Surname Be Changed?" (or its variant, "DID My Ancestor's Surname Get Changed?") Whenever you research ANY resource for ancestral information, remember that the name versions or name spellings under which your ancestors appear in a given resource may *or may not* be those you are *expecting* to find. Some reasons: 1. Realize that even in *original European* records, the spelling or other features of a particular surname can vary considerably---it's actually rather rare to find a single, 'standardized' spelling of a surname, used consistently, in most records. Spelling and transcription, in particular, literally depend upon the language, literacy level, handwriting skill and good ear of the scribe (the person writing a record). Post-immigration, furthermore, the more *complex* the syllables in a NON-English name, the greater the chance of someone mangling it in English-speaking countries. :-) 2. Many family researchers don't realize that official documents or other records were NOT often personally written (or forms filled out) by their ancestors (especially once the ancestor had emigrated to a new country.) More often, a clerk or public official completed most paperwork, obtaining the information verbally from the person to whom the document pertained, or his interpreter (if any). (On many official records, the only portion actually *written* by the ancestor is the signature, and THAT only if the person was literate---remember that NOT *everyone* was!) For any particular name, you want to avoid assuming, "This is the way Grandpa spelled it on his naturalization [or whatever] form, so it must be the right way." Officials could have easily mangled the name by scribbling or mistyping it in haste, carelessness, or linguistic ignorance---and your ancestor *may or may not have* recognized/called attention to errors or variances. Some simply tolerated the misspelled or mis-rendered name form thereafter, or may have gone so far as to adopt it, out of convenience. 3. Contrary to popular belief, MANY immigrants to the United States who had name changes *DID NOT* HAVE THEM LEGALLY/OFFICIALLY CHANGED by a court. Since, in earlier eras, it was entirely possible simply to *use* a name one chose to establish an identity with that name, relatively few immigrants went to the expense and trouble of "legally" changing their names. (My maternal ancestors in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania changed their thoroughly Polish surname of BARANOWSKI to BROWN one day, in the course of a 1925 family wedding---my great-grandfather BARANOWSKI merely started *calling himself* and his sons BROWN, and his male descendants retain the name BROWN to this day. (You might never know from looking at the name BROWN that the bearers could have native-Polish origins.) *grin* 4. Many of what appear to be 'mistakes' in a name are actually NOT the result of an error. As has been mentioned, a significant number of immigrants modified their *own* names, or the spelling/pronunciation of those names, after settling in a new country. Contrary to the popular myth of foreign names being arbitrarily altered upon arrival "at Ellis Island," these changes were more often brought about by the *immigrant's* own needs, or preferences, over time. For example, some non-English names were simply too difficult to pronounce for English-speakers, and were quickly simplified. Others were altered by American employers who found it bothersome to address workers by unfamiliar, tongue-twisting European names. Many other immigrants sincerely wished to quickly "fit in" to the culture and social customs of their new land, and Anglicized or "Americanized" their names to facilitate the process. Some went so far as to transform their existing name forms into another language, evolving from "Karl RITTER" to "Charles KNIGHT" (the same names in German and English) or similar changes. * * * While *NOT EVERY* immigrant or family changed names (or had them altered by others), family researchers should prepare for the *possibility* that the names they have grown used to may bear little resemblance to the immigrant's 'original' name. You may want to sit down with pencil and paper, and try to imagine a few possible variations in the spelling or form of your surname of interest---e.g., SCHMIDT, SCHMITT, SCHMID, SCHMIED, (and their English counterparts SMITH, SMYTH and SMYTHE) can all be variants of the *same* name. Remember, even if (to your knowledge) your family has "always used" the same form of a name in the country in which they settled, that doesn't *guarantee* that the name was spelled or pronounced that way, or even *used,* at other times. Literally and figuratively, surnames are written in neither blood nor stone. Hope this helps! Wishing you success in your family research, Carla HELLER, Los Angeles, California USA mscarlah@earthlink.net List Co-Administrator, ROOTSWEB'S Baden-Wuerttemberg Mailing List