Quote:
Originally Posted by AGDee
That is what happened with my grandparents, Vincenzo and Ignazia. My grandfather stated his name as Vincenzo and could sign his name, but they said "We'll call you Jim". His name is correct on the ship's manifest. They made my grandmother "Nancy" and her first name is also correct on the ship's manifest. Her last name is the really crazy part though. Half the family is Tirrito and half is Tirrita. So, for family reunions, they made it Tirrit@. On the manifest from the ship, it's Eirrita so it took us a long time to find them. My uncle did some research with the Sons & Daughters of Sicily out of Chicago and settled the last name issue one and for all. It is Tiritto. There were no surnames of Tirrita in Sicily. I think it's a stretch to call it a lack of education when it is truly a language barrier. They didn't know how to spell in English when they first came, but they certainly knew how to spell in Italian. They are understandable errors but both of grandparents could write their names so I don't understand why they didn't just have people do that.
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I don't know why either. My family is from Italy too and they decided to change the spelling of my great grandparents' last name for the same reason. For some reason the "lack of education" comment irked me when I know it had nothing to do with that. Although I've noticed that people generally think those who are from other countries and can't speak english perfectly aren't intelligent so I guess it's not too surprising.