Your family name did not come from a mistake at Ellis Island

So how did Jensen become Johnson, Koenigsberger become Kingsley, and Mlodzianowski become Murphy?

Travelers at Ellis Island
(Image credit: (Lewis W Hine/Getty Images))

When my great-grandfather Yuroslav Hieronymous O'Kagan vaan de Schulevitzberg arrived at Ellis Island in 1909 he didn't speak much English. He was 17 and hoping to make his fortune quickly and bring the rest of his family over from the old country. He knew he would be asked a number of questions at arrival about his occupation, his health status, his living arrangements, etc., and he was prepared. As he approached the immigration officer, the first American he had ever met, the answers tumbled out in a nervous jumble, "Work factory! No coff-coff! Tooths very good! Go to Chicago! Buy house! Big house!"

The officer shook his head, laughed, and asked, "Name?"

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Arika Okrent

Arika Okrent is editor-at-large at TheWeek.com and a frequent contributor to Mental Floss. She is the author of In the Land of Invented Languages, a history of the attempt to build a better language. She holds a doctorate in linguistics and a first-level certification in Klingon. Follow her on Twitter.