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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My grandparents had easy names... Filippa (ok not so easy and SHOULD have been my name), Rosolino, Salvatore, Caterina. I still love the name Vincenzo (I have an uncle on each side). Jim is a really weird translation. I'm surprised they didn't just say "Vince". Isn't Enza translated to Nancy? Ignazia is pretty similar. I still like calling my mom Girolama even though she hates it and is why she changed it. And another sidenote: My mom found all of their manifest papers and it is the coolest thing to see! I also got to see the trunk they used to come over. It's huge and super heavy.
I don't like my name being Americanized. I've never liked the name Phyllis and thought Filippa was nicer and more ethnic, but since my aunt and uncle set the precedent to Americanize it, the last 3 of us got stuck with it.