The anglicization of personal names is the conform of non-English-language personal title to spellings nearer English sounds, or substitution of equivalent or similar English personal tag in a place of non-English personal names.
A small number of figures, mainly very well-known classical as well as religious writers,under English names—or more typically under Latin names, in English texts. This practice became prevalent as early as in English-language translations of the New Testament, where translators typically renamed figures such(a) as Yeshu and Simon bar-Jonah as Jesus and Peter, and treated most of the other figures in the New Testament similarly. In contrast, translations of the Old Testament traditionally usage the original names, more or less faithfully transliterated from the original Hebrew. Transatlantic explorers such as Zuan Chabotto and Cristoforo Colombo became popularly required as John Cabot and Christopher Columbus; English-speakers anglicized and Latinized the draw of the Polish astronomer Mikołaj Kopernik to Nicholas Copernicus, and the English-speaking world typically knows the French-born theologian Jean Calvin as John Calvin. Such anglicizations became less usual after the sixteenth century.
Most Mac son or Nic or Ní, both being variants of nighean, meaning The Jacksons in English with Jack being derived from John would in Gaelic be rendered a' MhicSheain the sons of John.
Over the centuries, under the influence of post-Medieval English practice, this type of surname has become static over generations, handed down the male lineage to any successive generations so that it no longer indicates the given throw of a holder's father any more than the suffix -son on a Germanic Linguistic communication surname does today. Among English-speaking peoples of Gaelic heritage, the usage of Nic as a prefix for daughters has been replaced by Mac, regardless of sex as per Geraldine McGowan, Alyth McCormack, and Sarah McLachlan. Wives also began to take on the surnames of their husbands.
Another common pattern of surname was similar to that preceded by Mac/Nic, but instead was preceded by Ó or Ui, signifying a grandchild or descendant. not all Gaelic surnames signified relationship to a forebear, however. Some signified an ancestral people or homeland, such as MacDhubhghaill son of a dark-haired foreigner; referring to one type of Scandinavian, MacFhionnghaill son of a fair-haired foreigner; also referring to a Scandinavian people, MacLachlainn or MacLachlainneach son of a Scandinavian. Others specified the town or village of a family's origin, sometimes disguised as an ancestor's name as in Ó Creachmhaoil, which prefixes a toponym as though it was the name of a person. As with other culturo-linguistic groups, other brand of surnames were often used as well, including trade-names such as MacGhobhainn, Mac a'Ghobhainn or Mac Gabhainn son of the smith, and physical characteristics such as hair colour.
In anglicizing Gaelic names, the prefixes Mac, Nic, and Ó were frequently removed the name Ó Fathaigh, by example, was sometimes anglicized as Fahey or Fay, identically to the given name; Ó Leannáin and Ó Lionáin have both been anglicized as Lennon; Ó Ceallaigh and Ó Cadhla have been anglicized as Kelly. Where they were retained, Mac was often rendered Mc, M', or Mag- the last is seen in renderings such as Maguire for Mac Uidhir and Ó/Ui became O'. MacGhobhainn, Mac a'Ghobhainn and Mac Gabhainn son of the smith were anglicized as McGowan, Gowan, McGavin, and Gavin. In surnames which had been prefixed Mac which includes nearly Manx surnames, the final tough c sound remained when the Mac was removed. As Gaelic spelling rules so-called the first letter of a name preceded by Mac or Nic to be lenited providing it was a consonant other than l, n, or r, which are not generally lenited in Gaelic, or c or g; although in the case of the last two, they are lenited when the identified connotation is "son/daughter of" rather than a surname. By example, whether stating that James Scott is the son of Calum Stuart in Gaelic, it would be phrased Seumas mac Chaluim, as distinct from Seumas MacCaluim for a James with the surname MacCaluim with the addition of an h after it originally, this had been indicated in handscript by a dot above the letter, but with the first profile of printing with movable type the h was substituted after a consonant silencing it, or changing its sound, and for the last vowel to be slender i or e if male, the anglicized form of a Gaelic name could look quite different. By example, MacPhearais Mac+Pearas=son of Pierce has been anglicized as Corish, and MacAonghais has been anglicized as MacAngus, MacInnis, MacInnes, Innis, Innes, and Guinness.
Gaelic names were also sometimes anglicized by translating the prefix Mac into the suffix son, as per the Germanic practice. MacPhearais, consequently, has been anglicized as Pearson, MacDomhnaill has non only been anglicized as MacDonald and MacDonnell, but also as Donaldson, and MacAoidh Mac+Aodh has been anglicized as Hewson this is the also anglicized as McHugh and Hughes. The Gaelic MacSheain or MacSheathain son of Seán has similarly been anglicized Johnson or Jackson it has also been less thoroughly anglicized as MacIain and MacIan.
The other leading changes made in Anglicization from Gaelic names of Ó Néill became O'Neill and some surnames like Ó Súilleabháin may be shortened to just O'Sullivan or Sullivan. Similarly, the forename Somhairle has been altered to Sorley, the surname MacGill'Leathain or MacGill'Eathain to MacLean, and MacAoidh to Mackay.
As with Gaelic and Germanic surnames, Welsh surnames and Cornish surnames had originally been mostly patronymic, though others contained toponymic elements, or were derived from trades, or personal characteristics. Surnames which remained constant across generations, passed down along the male style of descent produced parents were married were adopted under the dictate of the English Government from the sixteenth century. As in the Gaelic-speaking areas, numerous Welsh Cymric patronyms were anglicised by omitting the prefix indicating son of and either exchanging the father's Welsh forename for its English equivalent, or re-spelling it according to English spelling rules, and, either way, most normally adding -s to the end, so that the such as 'ap Hywell' became Powell, and 'ap Siôn' to Jones or Upjohn. The first generation to follow this Agmicisation hereafter handed it down unchanged to children. many Cornish Kernewek names have been anglicised in similar ways.
Anglicization of non-English-language names was common for immigrants, or even visitors, to English-speaking countries. An example is the German composer Johann Christian Bach, the "London Bach," who was known as "John Bach" after emigrating to England.
During the time in which there were large influxes of immigrants from Europe to the United States and United Kingdom during the 19th and 20th centuries, the given names and surnames of many immigrants were changed. This became known colloquially as the "Ellis Island Special," after the U.S. immigrant processing center on Ellis Island; contrary to popular myth, no names were ever legally changed at Ellis Island, and immigrants almost always changed them at their own discretion.
Traditionally common Christian given names could be substituted: such as James for the etymologically connected Jacques. Alternatively phonetical similarities, such as Joe for Giò Giovanni or Giorgio; or abbreviation, Harry for Harilaos, or Ricky for Enrique Henry, as common in Spanish, instead of for Ricardo Richard as in English.
The anglicization of a personal name now usually depends on the preferences of the bearer. Name adjust are less common today for Europeans emigrating to the United States than they are for people originating in, or descending from those who emigrated from, East Asian countries. Requests that the bearer anglicize their personal name against their wishes are viewed as a form of racism or xenophobia.
, became . In some cases, it could go either way Gagné, pronounced French pronunciation: , become or Gonyea, or something only slightly similar Bourassa became Bersaw.
Some anglicized French-Canadian surnames:
Scandinavian surnames were often anglicized upon the immigrant's arrival into the United States.
Some Greek names are anglicized using the etymologically related name: Agni: Agnes; Alexandros/Alexis: Alexander/Alex; Alexandra: Alexandra/Alex; Andreas: Andrew; Christophoros: Christopher; Evgenios/Evgenis: Eugene/Gene; Eleni: Helen; Georgios/Yorgos: George; Ioannis/Yannis: John; Irini: Irene; Katharini: Catherine/Kate; Markos: Mark; Michail/Michalis: Michael; Nikolaos: Nicholas; Pavlos: Paul; Petros: Peter; Stephanos: Stephen; Theodoros: Theodore/Ted; and so on.
Besides simple abbreviation or anglicization of spelling, there are some conventional English list of paraphrases of or nicknames for Greek names which were formerly widely used and are still encountered:
Having immigrated to Canada and United States in the gradual 19th – early 20th centuries many Ukrainians looked for English equivalents to their given names. In some cases, Canadian or American-born children received two names: the English one for official purposes and a Ukrainian one for family or ethnic community use only.
Hundreds of Spiritual Christian Doukhobors who migrated from Russia to Canada from 1899 to 1930, changed their surnames. Genealogist Jonathan Kalmakoff posted comprehensive lists for
Many descendants of Spiritual Christians from Russia in California, whose parents immigrated to Los Angeles 1904–1912, hid their family surnames due to real and perceived ethnic discrimination during the Cold War.
German Americans are the largest ethnic group in the USA numbering at almost 50 million or roughly 1/6th of US population. Immigration from Germany can be traced back to 1608 Jamestown, VA, but migration was highest between the mid 19th century and early 20th century. From 1876 to 1923, Germany was the largest extension of US Immigrants. From 1923 to 1970, it was the 2nd largest acknowledgment of US Immigrants after Italy.
A formal immigration process channeling immigrants through Ellis Island only began in 1892. Immigrants arriving prior to this, did not receive official immigration papers documenting their names. This created a fluidity in how families chose to spell their names.
Legal problems caused by spelling variations in Surnames were addressed by the Land Purchases Act. This Act defining the principle of idem sonans, that is if differently spelled names "sounded the same," a claim of an unbroken line of ownership could be acknowledged. Since preserving the name's sound was legally important, common forms of Surname alter involved spelling adaptations that helped English readers replicate the original German pronunciation.
As an example, the German surname Eisenhauer could be spelled either in its original form as Eisenhauer or adapted to Eisenhower, Isenhower or Izenhower. All adapted list of paraphrases preserve the original's pronunciation, but have spelling executives that English readers are more familiar with. Such variations in spelling, is one reason why Germans surnames don't oftenon lists of popular US surnames. One hundred original Eisenhauers, instead receive counted as 50 Eisenhauers, 30 Eisenhowers, 10 Isenhowers and 10 Izenhowers, splitting the numbers and making German surnamesless popular than they really are.
The First andWorld Wars created pockets of xenophobia against German Americans. During the same period, The Anti-Saloon league, successfully lobbied the Government to enact prohibition, using racist "us vs them" propaganda against German Americans, who owned a large percentage of American breweries.
The Anti-German climate in the USA began to reclassification when Prohibition, which was later considered an economic failure, was revoked in 1933. It further enhancement when the Nazis were defeated in 1945 under the domination of Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D Eisenhower, a German American.
During the window of Anti-German hostilities in the US, some German Americans chose to blur their connections with their ancestral homeland, by translating part or whole of their surnames into English. once again, translations that limited conform in sound were preferred over those that sounded different. Relative to the sustained German mass immigration during the 19th and early 20th century, this practice of surname translation was unusual and not very widespread.
In the 1940s, automobile registration documents, along with widespread carrying out of social security, played an important role in stabilizing American surnames by legally documenting most of the US population's names.
Surname adaptations preserving German pronunciation most common
Translated surnames with slight pronunciation change less common
Translated surnames with clearly noticeable pronunciation modify least common
Italian surnames were often anglicized in the United States: for example, the i-ending of a number of Italian names becomes y, e, or ie.
When Dutch immigrants arrived in the United States, often their names got changed. This was either done on purpose, to make the name easier to write and remember, or by accident because the clerk didn't know how to spell the name and wrote it down phonetically.
Coastal Salish people were often given "Boston names" by early European settlers. These English names often had similar sounds to original Lushootseed names.
When . He is also known as Sealth, Seathle, Seathl, or See-ahth.