Gleaned from the Everton List with permission First the bad news: You don't necessarily have to go through a legal process to change your name, not in the United States. And that's exactly what many of our ancestors did. They changed their names -- either a little or a lot -- and went on with their lives. Maybe Schmidt became Smith, or Tomaso became Thomas, or Blanc became White. The change was made, the neighbors accepted it, and there it was. But many of those who did change their names did so "legally", that is, by going to court and petitioning for the change. If that was the case (no pun intended) for one of your ancestors, you should be able to find mention of it in the local court minutes, usually in a county or city court. The exact detail depended on the diligence of the court clerk, but the court minutes could include the former name and the new and improved version, the date of the change, the reason for the change, and the residence of the petitioner. In some cases the whole family would be mentioned, as a change of surname would affect all of them. The ninth edition of The Handy Book for Genealogists contains county-by-county information on the location and custody of court records, and many of them have been filmed by the Family History Library -- making them available through thousands of local Family History Centers. Resources: The Handy Book for Genealogists http://everton.com/evertonpublishersinc-67/mck-htdocs/order-handybook.html Family History Library/Family History Centers http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHL/frameset_library.asp