In my grandfather's case the reason given was that his real name was
unpronounceable, and that when in 1889 the "immigration officer" asked him
to spell his name he could not and gave his wife's maiden name Silverstein
instead. His brothers, arriving later, also took that name.
His real name which appeared in three different Hebrew spellings was
Chrzan, which in Polish means 'horseradish.' I was told one of his
brothers who also had a wife with the surname Silverstein, changed it
because he didn't like the real name. Since so many people tell stories of
men using their wife's name, this casts doubt upon the reasons given by my
grandfather as told by the family.

Paul Silverstone

Marla Waltman Daschko wrote: