forenames (first names)

[PhiPsiRuss]

Before you accuse people of flunking English, why don't you re-read what you wrote. Ever hear of a paragraph?

[Erik P Conard]

you sound like an interesting person

[kddani]

Geez, Erik, can't you even take a day off for Christmas?

[Tom Earp]

And?

[hoosier]

At my high school, the asst. principal was Bill Anthis.

Altho born William Anthis, he said Bill Anthis at the Army induction center, and figured it would be easier to change his name than get the Army to correct something.

[honeychile]

Originally posted by hoosier
At my high school, the asst. principal was Bill Anthis.

Altho born William Anthis, he said Bill Anthis at the Army induction center, and figured it would be easier to change his name than get the Army to correct something.

My brother, Calvin, went through his entire stint in the service as "Clavin".

My poor uncle, killed in action, was John Wesley Theodore Roosevelt Keaton. His body came back as "Wesley John Keaton".

Yeah, the Army knows what it's doing!

[Rudey]

The wonderful government workers that work in immigration still do this. Half of my family ended up with a different spelling of the name. And my favorite part? The fact that they messed up on my birthday. When anyone figures out how to correct your birthday, let me know.

-Rudey

Originally posted by AGDee
Don't forget about the immigration officers at Ellis Island who changed a lot of people's names! My maternal grandmother was Ignazia Tirrito. When her family came to the US in the early 1900's, some of them became Territos and some became Territas. Nobody in our current generations were ever sure which was correct. For family reunions, the newsletters/info packets were like this Territ@ to encompass both the 'a's and the 'o's. They changed her first name to Nancy. When the Ellis Island site came online, I was bound and determined to find their manifest, which became quite a challenge. My Uncle Salvatore had the same intent and also had a hard time finding my maternal grandmother's family on the site. He ended up in touch with someone from the Son's and Daughter's of Sicily out of Chicago and found out then that the correct spelling was Tirrito. We have since found a website that has all the surnames of everybody who lived in the small town in Sicily that they are from and confirmed this. On the Ellis Island site though, some of them are listed as Eirrito! They were tough to find. Similar things happened with my paternal grandfather's family. He went from Vincenzo to Jim at immigration. Some of his family is DiFranco, some are DeFranco. DiFranco is correct. It definitely makes the genealogy difficult. In following Italian tradition, the first born son is to be named after the paternal grandfather and the second born son is to be named after the maternal grandfather. So, I have a cousin Jim (named after my paternal grandfather) and my brother Vince (named after the SAME paternal grandfather).

[carnation]

I was thinking of Greek mispronunciations--our daughter's friend was getting ready to rush awhile back and she said she would love to join "Zee-ta Tow Ayl-pha". Mispronounced every word. She ended up pledging another one but I always wondered if she went to the Zeta parties and pronounced their name that way.

I should've corrected her but she was with a group of her friends and I didn't know how to do it and not humiliate her--

[texas*princess]

Originally posted by PhiPsiRuss
What does this have to do with Greek Life?

I was also thinking the same thing

At any rate, I don't think names or whatever "should" be pronounced a certain way. Different cultures/people pronounce things differently.

[honeychile]

Originally posted by Rudey
The wonderful government workers that work in immigration still do this. Half of my family ended up with a different spelling of the name. And my favorite part? The fact that they messed up on my birthday. When anyone figures out how to correct your birthday, let me know.

-Rudey

I can help you here!

1) Most names were NOT bastardized at Ellis Island; families would try to Americanize them on their own. That's how you get several spellings of the same family's last name.

2) Other times, mothers with illegitimate children would take the chance to change their name & status of their babies.

3) To change your own, it would depend on which state you live in. There's a depository for every birth certificate in each state (for births after 1900); contact them and tell your situation. You'll probably need at least one other person to prove what do you truly were born, and possibly a document such as a religious one, your rabbi, or whomever.

[33girl]

Originally posted by NebraskaDelt
My Pike friend spells his name Shon. What region does this spelling come from?

Boneheadia?

[OPhiARen3]

Originally posted by hoosier
At my high school, the asst. principal was Bill Anthis.

Altho born William Anthis, he said Bill Anthis at the Army induction center, and figured it would be easier to change his name than get the Army to correct something.

The military decided to try to "correct" the spelling of my brother's name on his Selective Service stuff. Even after he sent it back to try to fix it, they still didn't get it. You'd think they'd have access to his birth certificate or something ...

[AGDee]

Originally posted by honeychile
I can help you here!

1) Most names were NOT bastardized at Ellis Island; families would try to Americanize them on their own. That's how you get several spellings of the same family's last name.

In my family's case, it was the workers. My nono said "Vincenzo" and they said "We'll call you Jim". Ditto with my nana who said "Ignazia" and ended up Nancy.

[RedRoseSAI]

Originally posted by carnation
I was thinking of Greek mispronunciations--our daughter's friend was getting ready to rush awhile back and she said she would love to join "Zee-ta Tow Ayl-pha". Mispronounced every word.

Actually, in British English, "Zeta" is pronounced with a long e, as is "Beta". She was being international without knowing it.

[RedRoseSAI]

Originally posted by Erik P Conard
the X in old Spanish was "sh" a sound no longer extant today in Spanish.

In various parts of Spain, an "x" is often pronounced as "sh". If you want to go to a champagne bar in Barcelona, you ask for the nearest "sham-pan-yera", not a "zam-pan-yera".

How is a Spanish X pronounced?