Correct that names were never changed at Ellis Island.  The name at Ellis Island was the name that was used when the ticket was purchased.  Some errors could possibly have occurred at
the time of purchase, especially if the individual was transliterating from the Russian Cyrillic alphabet.  However,  you can legally change your name when you are naturalized.  That is why some of the naturalization documents ask for an alternate or previous name.  It is therefore important to check all of the naturalization documents.  As noted, there are often misspellings in the census records, as the census taker writes down the name as the family member relates it verbally.

Avivah Pinski




7a.  Re: Anglesized Names #poland #general
From: Hank Lobbenberg
Date: Mon, 01 Jun 2020 10:43:32 EDT
Alex, Nobody had their names changed at Ellis Island despite what some think. Either your ancestors changed it themselves or a census taker guessed incorrectly at the spelling of the surname. This happened to a couple of my family members.
Lobbenberg to Lobenberg.
Good luck,
Hank Lobbenberg

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Avivah R. Z. Pinski ,  near Philadelphia, USA