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Originally Posted by gunnut
It was a common practice during the early days of immigrantion that the customs official just "assign" a name to new immigrants if he finds the current name to be too difficult for him to pronounce.
I read on IMDB that the actress Winona Ryder was born Winona Horowitz. But that's not her real family name. Her realy family name was Tomchin (sounds Russian). The family got Horowitz upon entering the United States because they traveled with another family named Horowitz. The customs official just called them "Horowitz."
Winona Ryder - Biography |
A friend of mine's grandparents were Horowitz, but they got to choose, basically, at Ellis Island and that they chose Marine because they thought it sounded patriotic.