English-Language Names and Their Equivalents in Other Languages

Immigrants often changed their names to sound more “American,” which can hamper your search for US records. If you’re lucky, your ancestor simply started using an English form of his or her given name. Keep in mind that just as in the United States, names in other languages come in multiple forms—common versions for eight popular names are listed here. Also, transliteration from your kin’s native language might result in varied English spellings. Download a long chart listing given names with diminutives in 11 languages from rootsweb.ancestry.com/~scoconee/names.html.