Dear Billy T and Somerville/Medford News Weekly Speakup Line,

Were Italian immigrants coming from Italy forced to “Americanize” their names when coming thru Ellis Island to avoid persecution.

Sincerely,
Tony, shortened from (To NY)

Billy’s Answer:

No, the widespread story that Italian immigrants (or any immigrants) were routinely forced to “Americanize” their names by Ellis Island officials to avoid persecution is a myth.

Here’s what actually happened:

Name Changes at Ellis Island

• Immigration officials at Ellis Island did not change immigrants’ names as a standard practice.

• They worked from the ship’s passenger manifest (created at the port of departure in Europe, usually by officials who spoke the immigrants’ language or had translators).

• Officials at Ellis Island compared the person in front of them to the name already written on the manifest. They rarely wrote down new names — they verified existing ones.

• Spelling errors or minor variations sometimes occurred (e.g., “De Luca” written as “Deluca” or “Giovanni” as “John” on later documents), but this was usually due to:

• Clerical mistakes

• Immigrants themselves giving simplified versions

• American clerks mishearing or miswriting phonetic names

• There was no official policy of forcing name changes for assimilation or to avoid persecution.

When and Why Names Were Actually Changed

Italian immigrants (especially southern Italians) often faced prejudice in the U.S., including discrimination, stereotypes as criminals, and anti-Catholic sentiment. Many voluntarily changed or Anglicized their names later — not at Ellis Island, but after arrival — for practical reasons:

• To get jobs (employers often rejected “foreign-sounding” names)

• To avoid discrimination in housing or social settings

• To help children fit in at school (e.g., Giuseppe → Joseph, Vincenzo → James/Vincent, Salvatore → Sam)

• Some Italian Americans in the early 20th century even encouraged name changes to appear less “ethnic.”

Famous Examples That Fuel the Myth

• The idea persists because many Italian Americans grew up hearing family stories like “Our name was changed at Ellis Island.”

• In reality, the original Italian name was usually preserved on the manifest, but later generations used an Americanized version in daily life, leading people to assume the change happened on arrival.

Evidence from Records

• Ellis Island manifests (available today on sites like Ancestry.com and the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation) almost always show the original European spelling.

• The National Archives and historians (including the Ellis Island museum itself) confirm: Immigration officials had no authority or interest in changing names.

In short:

Italian immigrants were not forced to Americanize their names at Ellis Island. Most name changes happened later, voluntarily, due to social pressure and the desire to assimilate — not because a clerk decided “Rossi” sounded too Italian.