The Clerk Who Wasn't There
Everybody's family says the name got changed at Ellis Island, so we pulled the manifests, a 1913 court case and the archives to find out who actually held the pen.
Ruth and Danny · 24 min · 13 Oct 2026
Verified to the FactUnion StandardChecked 13 Oct 2026
About this episode
It's probably the best-known family legend in America. Great-grandpa steps off the boat, a tired official can't spell his name, and the family walks out with a new one. Ruth pulls the actual paperwork: passenger lists written up in Europe when the ticket was bought, inspectors who checked those lists instead of rewriting them, one strange exception in a New York Public Library post, and a Brooklyn man named Frederick Persky who went to federal court in 1913 to change his own record and was turned down. Danny defends the family version the whole way through.
The verdict is Better Than True. Usually the person who changed the name is in the family photos, not at the inspector's desk. We also cover where the paper trail of a name change is kept today. Historical immigration files are moving from USCIS to the National Archives, and comments on the proposed rule (docket USCIS-2026-0331) close October 20, 2026. Requests for transferred files go to archives.gov/research. This week's question for your parent: When did we start using our name, and who decided?
Hosted by Ruth and Danny, performed by synthetic voices. Verified to the FactUnion Standard. Supported by SagaSeal.
Fact sheet
Every fact used in this episode, with the source it was checked against. Download the fact sheet
196 of 196 recorded lines matched the checked script.
Ellis Island passenger manifests were created by steamship companies at the port of embarkation when tickets were purchased, not by officials at Ellis Island.
GovDocs to the Rescue! Debunking an Immigration Myth (Meszaros, DttP)Why Your Family Name Was Not Changed at Ellis Island (and One That Was) | The New York PubUsing Federal Documents to Dispel a Myth about Ellis Island
Federal regulations required passenger manifests to be typed or printed in English.
The Creation and Destruction of Ellis Island Immigration Manifests: Part 1 (NARA Prologue,The History of Ship Passenger Lists – Genealogy and Local History Blog
At Ellis Island, inspectors verified each arriving passenger's identity against the pre-existing manifest, and the station employed a large staff of interpreters.
Did Ellis Island Officials Really Change the Names of Immigrants? (Smithsonian)Immigrant Inspector - Ellis Island Part of Statue of Liberty National Monument (U.S. NatioWhy Your Family Name Was Not Changed at Ellis Island (and One That Was) | The New York Pub
Ellis Island inspectors could correct a manifest entry if persuaded there was an error, but they did not erase or entirely scratch out the original entry.
Why Your Family Name Was Not Changed at Ellis Island (and One That Was), NYPL, 2013Immigrant Name Changes | USCISEllis Island Officials Did Not Change Immigrants' Names
Original Ellis Island manifests contained notations in red and blue ink made by the inspectors who examined the passengers, but the paper originals were destroyed in 1948 and only microfilm survives.
The Creation and Destruction of Ellis Island Immigration Manifests: Part 2 (NARA Prologue,Unlocking Notation Codes on Alien Passenger Lists ©Manifest Markings - Name Column
USCIS states that immigrants often changed their own names after arrival, usually within the first five years, adjusting spelling or adopting new names as they became Americans, and that stories of names being changed by Ellis Island clerks are seldom supported by historical research.
Immigrant Name Changes (USCIS)Did Ellis Island Officials Really Change the Names of Immigrants?Why Your Family Name Was Not Changed at Ellis Island (and One That Was) | The New York Pub
Historians, NYPL, USCIS, the Smithsonian and JewishGen describe the Ellis Island name change as a myth.
The Ellis Island Name Change Myth (JewishGen)Why Your Family Name Was Not Changed at Ellis Island (and One That Was) | The New York PubDid Ellis Island Officials Really Change the Names of Immigrants?
In re Perkins, 204 F. 350 (S.D.N.Y. 1913), records that Frederick Persky was naturalized in 1898 under the name Persky.
The Federal Reporter, Volume 204, page 350 (UNT Digital Library)In re Perkins, 204 F. 350 (1913)In re Perkins, 204 F. 350 (S.D.N.Y. 1913). · Go Syfert
In 1912 Frederick Persky obtained a decree from the County Court of Kings County changing his name to Frederick Perkins.
The Federal Reporter, Volume 204, page 350 (UNT Digital Library)In re Perkins, 204 F. 350 (1913)In re Perkins, 204 F. 350 (S.D.N.Y. 1913). · Go Syfert
In 1913 Perkins petitioned the US District Court for the Southern District of New York to amend his naturalization record to his new name, and the court denied the petition.
The Federal Reporter, Volume 204, page 351 (UNT Digital Library)In re Perkins, 204 F. 350 (1913)In re Perkins, 204 F. 350 (S.D.N.Y. 1913). · Go Syfert
The Perkins opinion states: "I think the court is without power to do what is asked, in the absence of some statutory authority, such as is given, for instance, to courts of the state of New York in section 1251, Code of Civil Procedure. The prayer of the petition is denied."
In re Perkins, 204 F. 350 (S.D.N.Y. 1913)In re Perkins, 204 F. 350 (1913)The Federal Reporter with Key-Number Annotations, Volume 204: Cases Argued and Determined
The Perkins court reasoned that the record of his naturalization as Persky was accurate as of its date, and that he could prove his identity by producing the certificate of the court decree that changed his name.
In re Perkins, District Court, S.D. New York, 1913In re Perkins, 204 F. 350 (1913)In re Perkins, 204 F. 350 (S.D.N.Y. 1913). · Go Syfert
NYPL's 2013 post says a newspaper search found only one story from Ellis Island's years of operation about a name change there: a 1944 Washington Post column reporting that an inspector told Harry Zarief his name was too complicated and recorded it as Friedman. The name change the post features in its title is that of Frank Woodhull.
Why Your Family Name Was Not Changed at Ellis Island (and One That Was), NYPL, 2013No, Your Family's Name Was Not Changed At Ellis IslandWhy Your Family Name Was Not Changed at Ellis Island - Larimer County Genealogical Society
According to the NYPL post, Harry Zarief eventually changed his name back, and the post presents his case as an exception rather than a practice.
Why Your Family Name Was Not Changed at Ellis Island (and One That Was), NYPL, 2013Why Your Family Name Was Not Changed at Ellis Island (and One That Was) | The New York Pub
Historian Kirsten Fermaglich has written that the image of Ellis Island name changing did not take hold of the American imagination until the 1970s, while historians Marian Smith and Vincent Cannato have argued that Ellis Island officials did not forcibly change immigrants' names.
Jewish Americans changed their names, but not at Ellis Island (Times of Israel)Jewish Americans changed their names, but not at Ellis IslandJewish Americans changed their names, but not at Ellis Island - NYU Press
Popular magazines and books contained no descriptions of Ellis Island name changing between 1892 and 1920, and over the following four decades they did not typically describe officials changing immigrants' names.
Jewish Americans changed their names, but not at Ellis Island (Times of Israel)Jewish Americans changed their names, but not at Ellis Island | MSUToday | Michigan State Jewish Americans changed their names, but not at Ellis Island - NYU Press
In The Godfather Part II (1974), a silent young Vito Andolini arrives at Ellis Island, an official reads the tag on his clothing identifying him as Vito Andolini from Corleone, and records his name as Vito Corleone.
GovDocs to the Rescue! Debunking an Immigration Myth (Meszaros, DttP)The Godfather Part II TranscriptInspectors Did Not Change Names at Ellis Island | Sassy Jane Genealogy
The Godfather Part II is widely cited as the main catalyst that fixed the Ellis Island name-change story in the American imagination.
GovDocs to the Rescue! Debunking an Immigration Myth (Meszaros, DttP)Ellis Island SpecialJewish Americans changed their names, but not at Ellis Island
On August 21, 2026, DHS published a proposed rule (docket USCIS-2026-0331) to wind down the USCIS Genealogy Program as historical immigration files transfer to the legal custody of the National Archives, after which USCIS will no longer provide transferred series.
Federal Register: Genealogy Program Regulations To Clarify the Impact of Federal Records RUSCIS plans to wind down its Genealogy Program as historical immigration files move to theUSCIS Proposes Rule to Shift Genealogy Record Requests to NARA After Transfer
The public comment period on docket USCIS-2026-0331 closes on October 20, 2026.
Federal Register: Genealogy Program Regulations To Clarify the Impact of Federal Records RFederal Register, Volume 91 Issue 161 (Friday, August 21, 2026)USCIS plans to wind down its Genealogy Program as historical immigration files move to the
The Genealogy Program's records include Naturalization Certificate Files (C-Files) from September 27, 1906, to April 1, 1956, and Microfilmed Alien Registration Forms from August 1, 1940, to March 31, 1944.
Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 161 (August 21, 2026)8 CFR § 103.39 - Historical Records. | Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR) | USUSCIS
The program also covers Visa Files (July 1, 1924, to March 31, 1944), Registry Files (March 2, 1929, to March 31, 1944), and Alien Files numbered below 8 million with documents dated before May 1, 1951.
Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 161 (August 21, 2026)Historical Records Series Available From the Genealogy Program | USCIS8 CFR § 103.39 - Historical Records. | Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR) | US
Once records are transferred, researchers must request them directly from NARA, with request information at archives.gov/research, and USCIS will announce transfers on its genealogy website.
Federal Register: Genealogy Program Regulations To Clarify the Impact of Federal Records RGenealogy HomeUSCIS Proposes Rule to Shift Genealogy Record Requests to NARA After Transfer
Harald Welzer's 2002 study 'Opa war kein Nazi' analyzed 40 German families through 182 interviews and found 'cumulative heroization', with family stories growing more flattering across generations, in two-thirds of the families.
Grandpa Wasn't a Nazi (Welzer)H-Net ReviewsHarald Welzer, Sabine Moller und Karoline Tschuggnall: »Opa war kein Nazi«. Nationalsozial
In Welzer's study, Sieglinde Grubitsch's account of simply never bothering a Jewish family, whose father was her family's doctor, was retold by later generations as a story of rescuing Jews.
As of 9 October 2026, FamilySearch's Full-Text Search had 6,742 searchable, full-text transcribed image collections with over 2 billion results.
Genea-Musings: Added and Updated FamilySearch Record Collections, Week of 3 to 9 October 2
Independent testing of FamilySearch's Full-Text Search found roughly 85% accuracy on clean paragraph-style handwriting, falling to 25-45% on faded or overlapping documents.
Putting FamilySearch's Experimental Full-Text Search to the Test: A Case Study (They Had N
