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June -
Family Name Changes
I am so thankful you printed this article. When I started my family research I didn't have the correct name for either side of the family. My Dad's side, their family records were burned so the 'kids' remembered. What they remembered was the area/farm where their parents lived in Finland not the names. When you all got me one the right track, "Holy Cow." Finns often changed their names when they moved in Finland sometimes to a different family last name as in their mother's or grandmother's maiden name. Then, after arriving in the US, they changed and shorten the last name for whatever the reason probably to make it pronounceable. I am grateful for the changes because my grandfather's last name would not be pronounced even close and it would have been laughable to Americans. My Mother's side of the family the last name was changed the same ways but then got changed by a captain of the English merchant ship my grandfather worked on because the captain could not pronounce the Finn name. Our name is so common people doing research often claim my family as their own when they just haven't researched enough.
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