Over 12 million immigrants came through Ellis Island from 1892-1954. Many of them had their names changed so they were more American. Except that did not happen. The inspectors who supposedly on their own changed names did not actually have the power or opportunity to do that. They did not write down the names since records were not kept of the entrants. They checked in immigrants by using the ship manifests. Before boarding the ships, the names were added to the ship’s records of who were passengers. Some immigrants changed their names at that point so they sounded more American. However, it was more likely that names were changed after entering New York City. Since there was no process to go through to change a name, immigrants would do it on their own. This changed in 1906. What the inspectors did was check the name given with the name on the manifest. Then he asked a set of questions to make sure the immigrant was not a troublemaker, lazy, or mentally or physically impaired. But still did not change names. Few immigrants were sent back because the shipping company was on the hook for any defective immigrants, so they were vetted before boarding.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/ask-smithsonian-did-ellis-island-officials-really-change-names-immigrants-180961544/
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