Anglicisation of names
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The anglicisation of personal names is the change of non-English-language personal names to spellings nearer English sounds, or substitution of equivalent or similar English personal names in the place of non-English personal names.
Anglicisation of personal names
Classical, Medieval and Renaissance figures
A small number of figures, mainly very well-known classical and religious writers, appear under English names—or more typically under Latin names, in English texts. This practice became prevalent as early as in English-language translations of the
Non-English-language areas of Great Britain and Ireland
Most
Over the centuries, under the influence of post-
Another common pattern of surname was similar to that preceded by Mac/Nic, but instead was preceded by Ó or Ui, signifying a grandchild or descendant. Not all Gaelic surnames signified relationship to a forebear, however. Some signified an ancestral people or homeland, such as MacDhubhghaill (son of a dark-haired foreigner; referring to one type of Scandinavian), MacFhionnghaill (son of a fair-haired foreigner; also referring to a Scandinavian people), MacLachlainn or MacLachlainneach (son of a Scandinavian). Others indicated the town or village of a family's origin, sometimes disguised as an ancestor's name as in
In anglicizing Gaelic names, the prefixes Mac, Nic, and Ó were frequently removed (the name Ó Fathaigh, by example, was sometimes anglicized as Fahey or Fay, identically to the given name; Ó Leannáin and Ó Lionáin have both been anglicized as Lennon; Ó Ceallaigh and Ó Cadhla have been anglicized as Kelly). Where they were retained, Mac was often rendered Mc, M', or Mag- (the last is seen in renderings such as Maguire for Mac Uidhir) and Ó/Ui became O'. MacGhobhainn, Mac a'Ghobhainn and Mac Gabhainn (son of the smith) were anglicized as McGowan, Gowan, McGavin, and Gavin. In surnames which had been prefixed Mac (which includes most Manx surnames), the final hard c sound remained when the Mac was removed. As Gaelic spelling rules required the first letter of a name preceded by Mac or Nic to be lenited (providing it was a consonant other than l, n, or r, which are not generally lenited in Gaelic, or c or g; although in the case of the last two, they are lenited when the intended connotation is "son/daughter of" rather than a surname. By example, if stating that James (Scott) is the son of Calum (Stuart) in Gaelic, it would be phrased Seumas mac Chaluim, as distinct from Seumas MacCaluim for a James with the surname MacCaluim) with the addition of an h after it (originally, this had been indicated in handscript by a dot above the letter, but with the introduction of printing with movable type the h was substituted) after a consonant (silencing it, or changing its sound), and for the last vowel to be slender (i or e) if male, the anglicized form of a Gaelic name could look quite different. By example, MacPhearais (Mac+Pearas=son of Pierce) has been anglicized as Corish, and MacAonghais has been anglicized as MacAngus, MacInnis, MacInnes, Innis, Innes, and Guinness.[1]
As with Gaelic and Germanic surnames,
Immigration to English-speaking countries
Anglicisation of non-English-language names was common for immigrants, or even visitors, to English-speaking countries. An example is the German composer Johann Christian Bach, the "London Bach", who was known as "John Bach" after emigrating to England.[3]
During the time in which there were large influxes of immigrants from Europe to the United States and United Kingdom during the 19th and 20th centuries, the given names and surnames of many immigrants were changed. This became known colloquially as the "Ellis Island Special", after the U.S. immigrant processing center on Ellis Island; contrary to popular myth, no names were ever legally changed at Ellis Island, and immigrants almost always changed them at their own discretion.
Traditionally common Christian given names could be substituted: such as James for the etymologically connected Jacques. Alternatively phonetical similarities, such as Joe for Giò (Giovanni or Giorgio); or abbreviation, Harry for Harilaos, or Ricky for Enrique (Henry), as common in Spanish, instead of for (Ricardo) Richard as in English.
The anglicisation of a personal name now usually depends on the preferences of the bearer. Name changes are less common today for Europeans emigrating to the United States than they are for people originating in, or descending from those who emigrated from,
French surnames
Greek given names
Some Greek names are anglicized using the etymologically related name: Agni: Agnes; Alexandros/Alexis: Alexander/Alex; Alexandra: Alexandra/Alex; Andreas: Andrew; Christophoros: Christopher; Evgenios/Evgenis: Eugene/Gene; Eleni: Helen; Georgios/Yorgos: George; Ioannis/Yannis: John; Irini: Irene; Katharini: Catherine/Kate; Markos: Mark; Michail/Michalis: Michael; Nikolaos: Nicholas; Pavlos: Paul; Petros: Peter; Stephanos: Stephen; Theodoros: Theodore/Ted; and so on.
Besides simple abbreviation or anglicisation of spelling, there are some conventional English versions of or nicknames for Greek names which were formerly widely used and are still encountered:[10][11][12]
- Anestis: Ernest
- Alexandros: Alexander, Alex
- Apostolos: Paul
- Aristotelis: Aristotle
- Anastasia: Ana, Stasi, Stacey
- Andreas: Andrew
- Angeliki: Angela, Angel
- Athanasios: Thomas, Tom, Athan, Nathan
- Christos: Chris
- Demosthenes: Dick
- Despina: Dessi, Tessi, Tess
- Dimitrios/Dimi: James, Jim, Jimmy, Demi
- Dionysios: Dennis, Dean
- Haralambos: Harry, Bob
- Harilaos: Charles, Harry
- Eleftherios/Lefteris: Terence, Terry
- Eleftheria: Elli, Terrie
- Eleni: Helen, Elaine
- Evgenia: Eugenia
- Gavriil: Gabriel, Gabe
- Georgios/ Yiorgos: George
- Ilias: Louie, Elias, Lou, Louis
- Konstantinos/Kostas: Gus, Charles, Dean, Constantine
- Leonidas: Leo
- Maria: Mary, Marie
- Michail: Michael, Mike
- Michaella: Michelle
- Nikolaos: Nicholas, Nick
- Panayiotis: Peter, Pete (cf. Petros)
- Pavlos: Paul
- Stavros: Steve
- Vasilios: William, Bill; (etymologically correct but not preferred: Basil)
Hundreds of
- Alberta (1935–1975) Archived 2017-12-08 at the Wayback Machine[13]
- British Columbia Archived 2020-12-01 at the Wayback Machine (1936–1975)[14]
- Saskatchewan (1917–1975) Archived 2019-08-19 at the Wayback Machine[15]
Russian surnames
Many descendants of
- Androff, Veronin: Andrews
- Butchinoff: Baker
- Baklanov: Bakly
- Bolderoff: Bolder
- Pivovaroff: Brewer
- Chernikoff: Cherney
- Arinin, Orloff: Eagles
- Carpoff: Karp
- Chernabieff: Sharon
- Chickenoff, Chickinoff: Chick
- Corneyff: Corney
- Domansky: Domane
- Egnatoff: Egnatu
- Elinov: Eleen
- Fetesoff: Martin
- Fettesoff, Fettisoff: Fettis
- Galitzen: Riley
- Goulokin: Golf
- Gvozdiff: Niles
- Hallivichoff, Golovachev: Hall
- Kalpakoff: Kalp
- Kashirsky: Kash
- Kasimoff: Kazy
- Kisseloff, Kesseloff: Kissell
- Klubnikin: Klubnik
- Konovaloff: Conway
- Kotoff: Kott
- Krasilnikoff: Krase
- Kriakin: Emerald
- Kuznetsoff: Cousins
- Laschenco: Lashin
- Ledieav: Liege
- Mackshanoff: Maxwell
- Melnikoff: Melnick
- Moiseve: Mosser
- Plujnkoff: Pluss
- Popoff: Preston
- Rudometkin: Remmy
- Rudometkin: Ruddy
- Semenisheff: Samoff
- Slivkoff: Martin
- Syapin: Seaking
- Tikhunov: Saber
- Tolmasoff: Thomas, Tolmas
- Urane: Durain
- Uren: Wren
- Varonin: Johnson
- Volkoff: Wolf
German surnames
German Americans are the largest ethnic group in the USA numbering at almost 50 million or roughly 1/6th of US population.[17] Immigration from Germany can be traced back to 1608 (Jamestown, VA), but migration was highest between the mid 19th century and early 20th century.[18] From 1876 to 1923, Germany was the largest source of US Immigrants.[19] From 1923 to 1970, it was the 2nd largest source of US Immigrants after Italy.[20]
A formal immigration process channeling immigrants through Ellis Island only began in 1892.[21] Immigrants arriving prior to this, did not receive official immigration papers documenting their names. This created a fluidity in how families chose to spell their names.[22]
Legal problems caused by spelling variations in Surnames were addressed by the Land Purchases Act. This Act established the principle of idem sonans, that is if differently spelled names "sounded the same," a claim of an unbroken line of ownership could be acknowledged.[23] Since preserving the name's sound was legally important, common forms of Surname changes involved spelling adaptations that helped English readers replicate the original German pronunciation.[24]
The First and Second World Wars created pockets of xenophobia against German Americans. During the same period, The Anti-Saloon league, successfully lobbied the Government to enact prohibition, using racist "us vs them" propaganda against German Americans, who owned a large percentage of American breweries.[25]
During the window of Anti-German hostilities in the US, some German Americans chose to blur their connections with their ancestral homeland, by translating part or whole of their surnames into English. Once again, translations that limited change in sound were preferred over those that sounded different.[26] Relative to the sustained German mass immigration during the 19th and early 20th century, this practice of surname translation was unusual and not very widespread.[27]
In the 1940s, automobile registration documents, along with widespread implementation of social security,[28] played an important role in stabilizing American surnames by legally documenting most of the US population's names.[29]
Italian surnames
Italian surnames were often anglicized in the United States: for example, the i-ending of a number of Italian names becomes y, e, or ie.[30]
- Amici: Ameche
- Barbieri: Barber
- Bevilacqua: Drinkwater
- Bianco: White
- Bonfiglio: Bonfield
- Borgnino: Borgnine
- Brucceleri: Brooklier
- Canadeo: Kennedy
- Castiglia: Costello
- Cestaro: Chester
- Cilibrizzi: Celebrezze
- Cipulli: Cipully
- Cucco, Cuoco: Cook
- DeCesare: Chase
- Mercante: Merchant
- Morillo: Morill
- Pace: Pace same spelling different pronunciation
- Perri: Perry
- Piccolo: Little
- Rossellini: Russell
- Rossi: Ross
- Sangiovanni: St. John
- Saraceni: Sarazen
- Scalice, Scalise: Scalise, Scalish
- Scornavacca, Scornavacco: Scarnavack
- Tolliver, Toliver
- Trafficante: Traficant
- Valentino: Valentine
- Vinciguerra: Winwar
Dutch surnames
When Dutch immigrants arrived in the United States, often their names got changed. This was either done on purpose, to make the name easier to write and remember, or by accident because the clerk didn't know how to spell the name and wrote it down phonetically.[31][32]
- Aalderink: Aaldering, Aldering
- Buiel: Boyle
- Damkot: Damcott
- de Jong: Dejong, DeYoung
- Dijkstra: Dykstra
- Filips: Philips
- Gerritsen: Garrison
- Glieuwen: Glewen
- Goudswaard: Houseworth
- Hoed: Hood
- Janszoon, Janssens: Johnson
- Kempink: Camping
- Konings: King
- Kuiper: Cooper
- Langstraat: Longstreet
- Meester: Master
- Nieuwenhuis, Nijenhuis: Newhouse
- Piek: Pike
- Pieterszoon, Pieters: Peterson, Peters
- Smid: Smith
- Spaak: Spock
- Van Cruijningen: Cunningham
- Veenhuis: Feenhouse
- Welhuis, Welhuizen: Wellhouse, Willhouse
- Zutphen: Sutphin
Colonization by English-speaking countries
North America
Coastal Salish
When
See also
Notes
- ISBN 1871901286.
- ^ Frederick Wilgar Boal, J. Neville H. Douglas, Jenitha A. E. Orr Integration and division: geographical perspectives on the ... Northern Ireland 1982 – Page 42 "Substantial assimilation in the form of the anglicisation of personal names, language, religion, or the adoption of new agricultural practices, house forms, and other aspects of British material culture could only be anticipated in the lowland"
- ^ Eric Siblin The Cello Suites: J. S. Bach, Pablo Casals, and the Search for a ... 2011 – Page 234 "Known as the "London Bach," he travelled to Italy, converted to Roman Catholicism, and enjoyed celebrity status in England, going by the name John Bach. Only fourteen years old when Bach died, Johann Christian apparently occupied a ..."
- ^ EXCLUSIVE: Laney College's Phuc Bui says teacher Matthew Hubbard asked her to 'anglicize' her name
- ^ Evacie, Angela and Epp, Henry, 'What's The History Of French Canadian Immigration Into Vermont?', Vermont Public, May 4, 2018.
- ^ Provencher, Jean, 'Quebec surnames that have become very strange', October 15, 2014.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Jean-Claude Corbeil. Historical origin of the linguistic situation in Quebec. In: Langue française, n°31, 1976. Le Français au Québec, edited by Jean-Claude Corbeil and Louis Guilbert. p.p. 6-19.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Anglicized French Surnames, Projet GenWeb du Québec
- ^ Surnames French-Canadian: Variants, Dit, Anglicization, etc., American-French Genealogical Society.
- ^ Mencken, all editions, passim
- ^ Greek Personal Names (revised and updated by Anastasia Parianou, 2007 ed.), Central Intelligence Agency, 1 June 1962[permanent dead link]
- ^ Greek Boston, "Greek Name Day Calendar"
- ^ Kalmakoff, Jonathan. "Changes of Name of Persons of Doukhobor Ancestry in Alberta, 1935–1975" (PDF). Doukhobor Genealogy Website. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 December 2017. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
- ^ Kalmakoff, Jonathan. "Changes of Name of Persons of Doukhobor Ancestry in British Columbia, 1936–1975" (PDF). Doukhobor Genealogy Website. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
- ^ Kalmakoff, Jonathan. "Changes of Name of Persons of Doukhobor Ancestry in Saskatchewan, 1917–1975" (PDF). Doukhobor Genealogy Website. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2019. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
- ^ Conovaloff, Andrei. "Taxonomy of 3 Spiritual Christian groups: Molokane, Pryguny and Dukh-i-zhizniki – books, fellowship, holidays, prophets and songs". Spiritual Christians Around the World. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
- ^ Spector, Liz O'Connor, Gus Lubin, Dina. "The Largest Ancestry Groups In The United States". Business Insider. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Chronology : The Germans in America (European Reading Room, Library of Congress)". www.loc.gov. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
- ^ "Chronology : The Germans in America (European Reading Room, Library of Congress)". www.loc.gov. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
- ^ "How America's Source of Immigrants Has Changed Over Time". Pew Research Center. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
- ^ "Ellis Island | History, Facts, & Museum". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
- ^ Menchen, Henry Louis (1919). The American Language. p. 483.
- ^ "Title News" (PDF). American Title Association. XXXIV: 6. July 1955.
- ^ Barker, Howard F. Types of German Surname Changes in America (PDF). p. 26.
- ^ "World War I played key role in passage of Prohibition". The Mob Museum. 2018-11-09. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
- ^ Barker, Howard F (1935). How the American Changes His Name. p. 102.
- ^ Haugen, Einar (1953). The Norwegian language in America. p. 204.
- ^ "Social Security History". www.ssa.gov. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
- ISBN 9780307813442.
- ISBN 0806311878
- ^ "English versions of Dutch last names", by Yvette Hoitink, dutchgenealogy.nl, 15 May 2005.
- ^ "Making Sense Of Your Dutch Surname" Archived 2017-07-10 at the Wayback Machine, dutchancestrycoach.com, 27 June 2010.
- ^ Dougherty, Phil (October 5, 2007). "Comeford, James Purcell (1833–1909)". HistoryLink. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
- OCLC 81457448. Retrieved March 18, 2017 – via Google Books.
- OCLC 10086413. Retrieved April 10, 2017 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Chief Seattle (Seattle, Chief Noah [born si?al, 178?–1866])". Retrieved 2018-10-06.
Bibliography
- H. L. Mencken, The American Language, 2nd edition, 1921, Chapter X, part 2. full text
- H. L. Mencken, The American Language, 4th edition, 1936, pp. 510–525.
- H. L. Mencken, The American Language, Supplement Two, 1948, pp. 516–525.