The week 9 topic for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is Changing Names.
You may have a story or two in your family about how “their last name was changed/shortened by the Ellis Island worker that couldn’t understand what they were saying”. Although that probably happened to some people, many times it didn’t happen that way! Most likely it was done by the immigrants themselves trying to fit in, or tired of spelling their name or hearing people mispronounce it!
My maternal family last name was Posłuszny. That little line through the “ł” sounds like “whoosh”. The majority of misspellings I see is “Poslushney”.
Two of the five Posłuszny brothers, Joseph and Charles, changed their name to Post some time during the 1920s. John used Post for business purposes as a restaurant owner, but used Posłuszny in his personal life.
Frank, poor Frank, who spent decades in an insane asylum, remained Posłuszny for his lifetime as did my grandfather Konrad’s family. I recall hearing that my Aunt Judy wished her dad had changed their name because she got so tired of spelling her last name to people!
It's All About Family 
My father’s family ended up changing their last name because abuse it was spelled differently on every kids birth certificate….
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