Richard, Catching up, and I didn't see Howard's question.
> Here in England I also know people whose names are clearly > anglicised versions of German names given to their families at the time in question. And the most prominent may be Mountbatten, the former Battenbergs who changed the name in WWI. But then Windsor isn't an anglicization but a pure change from Saxe-Coburg ( I think that was it). But I'm tempted into an old joke. In the States there are many who have made their names more pronouncable in American English. So -- the new immigrant with a name full of consecutive vowels goes to the judge and asks to have his name changed to Murphy. Then six months later he is back asking the judge to change it to Smith. The judge asks why he wants the new change. "So, when people ask 'what was your name before it was Smith' ". Best, Jon
