Authors: H.L. Mencken
The Italians, in the early days of their immigration to the United States, changed their names with some frequency, but with the advent of Mussolini and the rise of a new Italian national spirit this process was halted. The late
James E. March
, Republican leader of the Third Assembly District in New York, was originally
Antonio Maggio. Paul Kelly
, leader of the Longshoremen’s Union, was
Paolo Vaccarelli. Jim Flynn
, the only man who ever knocked out Jack Dempsey, was
Andrea Chiariglione
. One
Alessandro Smiraglia
has become
Sandy Smash, Francesco Napoli
is
Frank Knapp, Francesco Tomasini
is
Frank Thomas
, and
Luigi Zampariello
is
Louis Smith. Henry Woodhouse
, a gentleman once prominent in aeronautical affairs, came to the United States from Italy as Mario Terenzio
Enrico Casalegno
; his new surname is simply a translation of his old one. Other such translations are fairly common,
e.g., Little
for
Piccolo, White
for
Blanco, Whitehand
for
Blancamano
and
Pope
for
Pape
. Transliterations and clipped forms are also occasionally encountered,
e.g., Shellat
for
Scellato, Rondy
for
Rondinone, Bellows
for
Bello, Marinace
for
Marinaccio, Lowery
for
Lauria, Lance
for
Lanza
and
Silvy
for
Silvig
. There is an Italian
Galloway
in New York whose name was originally
Gallo
. The early Italians ran to Irish names for two reasons. The first was that they came into contact with the Irish in the Catholic churches, and not infrequently married Irish girls. The other was that most of the politicians and prizefighters of their admiration were Irishmen. Moreover, those who entered the prize-ring themselves soon found, like the Jews, that
Irish names drew larger houses. The Italian surnames, in the main, are not as difficult to Americans as those of the Greeks and Slavs; thus they have been under rather less pressure. But the long ones seem doomed to succumb. There is no reason why
Vitolo, Muccia
or
Guerci
should not survive, but there is hard sledding ahead for
Pietroluongo, Cicognani
and
Guglielminetti
.
43
In many cases the pronunciation of Italian names is changed. In particular, those ending with
e
tend to lose it, just as the analogous German names lose it. Thus, the surname of the celebrated Al
Capone
is commonly pronounced so that it rhymes with
zone
, and its bearer, I am informed, prefers it so. As for the Italian
a
, it is quickly Americanized, so that the first syllable of
Sacco
rhymes with
back
, and the first of
Vanzetti
with
can
.
The commoner Spanish names, like the commoner Italian names, seem to be easy for Americans, and hence they have been little changed.
Gomez, Garcia, Gonzalez, Castro, Valdez, Ruiz, Lopez, Sanchez
and the like have been taken in without resistance, and are usually pronounced, especially in the Southwest, with some approximation to correctness. There have been few translations, and even fewer attempts at transliteration.
44
Changes in other Latin names are much more frequent. The long Rumanian patronymics are quickly shortened in this country, and many of the more difficult shorter ones are supplanted by translated or transliterated forms,
e.g., Miller
for
Morariu, Jones
for
Ionescu, Patterson
for
Patrascu, Sage
for
Suciu
, and
Stanley
or
Stanton
for
Stănilă
.
45
In Bristol county, Mass., where Portuguese immigrants are numerous, they often change their names, but in most cases the changes are slight. Thus,
Luiz
becomes
Lewis, Pereira
becomes
Perry, Marques
becomes
Marks, Martins
becomes
Martin, Freitas
becomes
Frates, Correia
becomes
Corey
or
Curry, Jorge
becomes
George, Jordão
becomes
Jordan, Silva
becomes
Silver, Lourenço
becomes
Lawrence, Morais
becomes
Morris
, and
Terra
becomes
Terry
. Sometimes there is a translation,
e.g.
, from
Ferreira
to
Smith
, and now and then there is a curious transliteration,
e.g.
, from
Caranguejo
to
Crabtree
and from
Soares
to the German
Schwartz
.
46
It is not uncommon for the surviving Portuguese names to be pronounced in the American manner,
e.g., Lopes
for
Lopez, Nunes
for
Nunez
and
Alves
for
Alvez
, and for their bearers to yield to the American pronunciation.
47
But of all the Latin surnames, the French seem to fare the worst. In the early part of this chapter I have given examples of the radical changes some of them underwent in colonial days. The invasion of New England by French-Canadians has produced many more
— White
for
Le Blanc, Woods
for
Dubois, Drinkwater
for
Boileau, Larch
for
L’Archeveque, Larraby
for
La-Riviére, Shampoo
for
Archambault
, and so on.
48
A small colony of Hollanders including Flemings of French name settled in Boyle county, Kentucky, in the Nineteenth Century, and in a little while all its
Badeaus
were
Beddows
, its
La Rues
were plain
Rues
, its
De Bons
were
Debauns
, and its
Des Champses
were
Scomps
.
49
There was another slaughter, this time at the hands of the Spaniards, in the late Eighteenth Century. They were in control of the Mississippi from 1763 to 1800 and kept the public records. Thus the names of many French traders and settlers, coming up from Louisiana or down from Canada, were changed to accord with Spanish notions. In this way
Chouteau
became
Chotau
and
Choto
(and was later transformed by the invading Americans into
Shoto
). “The fine disregard for spelling,” says John Francis McDermott,
50
“may be illustrated by the name
Kiercereau
, which is also spelled
Kiercerau, Kiersereau, Kierserau, Kersereau, Kerserau, Kesserau, Kessereau, Kiergerau, Kiergereaux, Kiercereaux, Kiergero, Kergzo, Quircero, Guiercero
(this is probably an inaccuracy of copying),
Tiercero, Tiercerot, Tercero
.” Mr. McDermott says that French nomenclature was also considerably upset by the prevalence of
dit
names,
i.e.
, inherited nicknames, and by the confusion between estate-names and true surnames among certain of the immigrants from Canada.
The Hungarians, Armenians, Syrians and other newcomers to the
Republic have had to modify their more difficult patronymics like the rest. The first-named, who sometimes bear surnames analogous to the English
St. John
, often translate them,
e.g., Szentgyörgyi
becomes
Saint George
and
Szentpétery
becomes
Saint Peter
. Sometimes other names are translated,
e.g., Borbély
into
Barber, Papp
into
Priest, Péntek
into
Friday, Kovács
into
Smith, Mészáros
into
Butcher, Sebes
into
Speed, Kerekes
into
Wheeler
, and
Szabó
into
Taylor
; and sometimes they are transliterated,
e.g., Kállay
into
Kelly, Gyulay
into
July, Horvath
into
Howarth, Szüle
into
Sewell, Szemán
into
Seaman, Nyiri
into
Neary, Kayla
into
Kayler
, and
Makláry
into
McCleary
. When names are retained they are frequently changed in spelling. Thus
Bela
sometimes becomes
Behla, Köszegy
becomes
Koesegi, Köves
becomes
Koevesh
, and
Kiss
becomes
Kish
. The Hungarians, like the Chinese, always put the surname first, and this custom is kept up after their names have been Americanized. Thus,
Charley Braun
is always
Braun Charley
, and
Steve Takach
is
Takach Steve. Ilong Nagy
, wife of
Peter Kiss
, is either
Kiss Péterné Nagy Iolna
or
Kissné Nagy Ilona
.
51
A well-known Hungarian-American, Mr. L. Lázzló
Ecker-Rácz
, has got round the difficulty presented by
Rácz
by abbreviating his surname to
Ecker-R
.
52
The Syrians and Armenians frequently bear names that are even stranger to Americans than the Hungarian names, and so they have to make radical changes. Thus, the Syrian
Sharm’un
is changed to
Shannon, Hurayz
to
Harris, Musallem
to
Abraham, Muqabba’a
to
McKaba
, and
Abbud
to
Abbott. Khouri
, a common Syrian name, becomes
Khoury, Coury, Courey, Khuri, Koorey
or
Corey
. The Syrian
Haddad
, though it presents no phonological difficulties, is commonly translated into
Smith
, and
Ashshi
into
Cook
. Says Dr. Philip K. Hitti of Princeton:
“Did you not receive any aid from American sources?” asked I of the Maronite priest in Detroit who was showing me his newly built church, and priding himself on its being one of the finest Syrian church buildings in the
country. No sooner had his negative reply been made than my eyes caught
Edward A. Maynard
on the altar, and, asking for an explanation, the priest replied, “Oh, well, that is
Wadi’ Mu’auwad.
”
53
The Armenian names go the same route. Sometimes they are translated,
e.g., Tertzagian
into
Taylor, Ohanesian
or
Hovanesian
into
Johnson
, and
Hatzakordzian
into
Baker
; sometimes they are crudely transliterated,
e.g., Jamgotvhain
into
Jamison, Bedrosian
into
Peterson, Melkonian
into
Malcolm
, and
Heditzian
into
Hedison
; sometimes they are abbreviated,
e.g., Bozoian
into
Bozo, Karageozian
into
Kara, Dermenjian
into
Dermen, Mooradian
into
Moore
, and
Hampartzoomian
into
Hampar
; and sometimes they are subjected to even more brutal processes, as when
Garabedian
becomes
Charleston, Kizirboghosian
becomes
Curzon
, and
Khachadoorian
becomes
Hatch
.
54
But of all the immigrant peoples in the United States, the Jews seem to be the most willing to change their names. Once they have lost the faith of their fathers, a phenomenon almost inevitable in the first native-born generation, they shrink from all the disadvantages that go with their foreignness and their Jewishness,
55
and seek to conceal their origin, or, at all events, to avoid making it unnecessarily noticeable.
56
At the height of the immigration from Eastern Europe even the members of the first generation moved rapidly in that direction, though they commonly remained true to
the synagogue. How many of the Jews of New York now sport new names I don’t know, but it certainly must be a very large proportion of the whole number, and it may run to a full half. They follow all the patterns in vogue among the other newcomers to the country, and have added one of their own,
i.e.
, the prettification of their traditional names, whereby
Cohen
becomes
Cohn, Coyne, Conn, Cowan
, and even
Cain, Solomon
becomes
Salomon, Solmson
and
Salmon
, the names in
Rosen-
become
Rose
or
Ross
, and
Levy
becomes
Lewy, Levitt, Levay, Levoy, Levie, LeVie, Levene, Levien, Levin, Levine, Levey, Levvy, Levie
and
Lee
.
57
Like the Germans whose names they so often bear, they also seek refuge in translations more or less literal. Thus,
Blumenthal
is changed to
Blooming-dale, Reichman
to
Richman
, and
Schlachtfeld
to
Warfield
. One
Lobenstine
(i.e., Lobenstein) had his name changed to
Preston
during the war, and announced that this was “the English version” of his patronymic. A
Wolfsohn
similarly became a
Wilson
, though without attempting any such fantastic philological justification for the change, and a
Bernheimer
became a
Burton. Fielder
, a common name among the Russian Jews, often becomes
Harper
in New York; so does
Pikler
, which is Yiddish for
drummer. Stolar
, which is a Yiddish word borrowed from the Russian, signifying
carpenter
, is changed to
Carpenter. Lichtman
and
Lichtenstein
become
Chandler. Meilach
, which is Hebrew for
king
, becomes
King
, and so does
Meilachson. Sher
is changed into
Sherman, Michel
into
Mitchell, Rogowsky
into
Rogers, Rabinovitch
into
Robbins, Davidovitch
into
Davis, Moiseyev
into
Macy
or
Mason
, and
Jacobson, Jacobovitch
and
Jacobovsky
into
Jackson
. This last change proceeds by way of a transient change to
Jake
or
Jack
as a nickname.
Jacob
is always abbreviated to one or the other among the Russian and Polish Jews.
Yankelevitch
also becomes
Jackson
, for
Yankel
is Yiddish for
Jacob
.
58