When I was growing up in Newark's old Third
Ward in the 20s and 30s, it was a melting pot for thousands of immigrants
from Eastern European countries, facing a daily struggle to keep
their families fed and clothed.
Limited in earning power by their lack of work and language skills,
they saw their hopes for advancement and upward mobility would be
through their children and monitored their school attendance and
urged good scholarship.
As a rule, most of their children completed high school. Afterward,
some went to normal school and became teachers, or attended college
and found employment in business and commerce. Others became doctors,
lawyers and accountants1.
A scant few became involved in political affairs, and one even made
it as a two-term mayor of Newark. A small handful eventually made
it in the Hollywood film industry as actors, writers, directors,
and producers. One even became head of MGM Studios.
As their children -- the generation between the two World Wars
-- my generation, began to succeed, I became aware of an interesting
phenomenon" quite a few began Americanizing their ethnic-sounding
family names2.
I have made no attempt to formally catalog these family-name changes,
but in consultation with others from the old neighborhood have been
able to come up with this selection of examples:
Abramowitz to Arno
Apter to Ames
Becher to Baker
Berkowitz to Berk
Chadakowitz to Chase
Eichenzweig to Branch
Gradenwitz to Grydon
Greenspan to Greene
Greenstein to Greene
Guritsky to Garrett
Hershkowitz to Hersh
Kessler to Kent
Kornbluth to Kay
Levitch to Lewis
Lichtman to Layton
Lifschitz to Larson
Lipnitsky to Lipton
Lomachinsky to Loman
Lowenstein to Lowe
Orlansky to Orleans
Perlmutter to Perl
Pieriskier to Pierce
Portnoy to Taylor
Rabinowitz to Robbins
Rappaport to Pratt
Regenstriech to Regan
Reizman to Rice
Rosenblatt to Ross
Rosenbloom to Ross
Rosenkrantz to Ross
Schachter to Rathel
Shimkowitz to Shaw
Talkowsky to Talkow
Talkowsky to Taylor
Tolchinsky to Tollin
Torchinsky to Torine
Venetsky to Venet
Walerstein to Waldor
Warshawsky to Warner
Winarsky to Van
Yanowitz to Yanney
Zaragatzky to Zarra
Zozosky to Joseph
If any of you reading this are from my old Newark neighborhood
and know of any other family name changes among friends, neighbors,
or relatives, let me know and I will revise this list accordingly.
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