You are called Archer cos your ancestors were archers, oh yeah?

Question:

You are called Archer cos your ancestors were archers, oh yeah?

My ancestors arrived at Ellis Island, NY and the immigration'officer said 'I have to record your name' and my ancestor said 'It's Zliestefavitch'. The officer said 'Yeah? Well that sounds like Saunders to me' and, I have discovered, is how we got our family name.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Genealogists know that the stories of immigration officers changing/simplifying surnames is NOT accurate. For those who believe this to be true, please read the sites cited below.

It is one of those myths that took on a life of its own. It is simply not correct. See -
"They Changed our Name at Ellis Island"
http://www.genealogy.com/genealogy/88_do...

"Changing Immigrant Names"
http://149.101.23.2/graphics/aboutus/his...

"American Names / Declaring Independence" by Marian L. Smith, INS Historian (Marion probably knows more about U.S. Immigration Naturalization Records - their locations, types, etc. than anyone else.)
http://149.101.23.2/graphics/aboutus/his...

And please, immigrants did not change the information on the manifest anymore than the inspector changed their names at Ellis Island. It was all written down in advance and merely checked off upon their arrival. The manifests listed the same language groups together, as required by the U.S. government, they were lined up according to their manifest order and place in lines with an appropriate interpreter. If a destination was changed, it would only appear on the detained list. If a name was changed, it was done by the immigrant or his parents or siblings-- or suggested by a teacher or employer.
http://www.jewishwebindex.com/emigration...

Names were rarely changed intentionally at Ellis Island. The majority of passengers were detailed on the ship's manifest before the vessel left the port of departure. The purser or ship's officer was familiar with the name and ethnicity of the many passengers who typically used the port, and the ship visited the port several times each year. The captain and the medical officer swore affidavits to the accuracy of each group of lists, with 1 to 30 people in a group. On arrival in the port of New York, the U. S. inspectors boarded each vessel and examined the manifest and tickets of all classes of passengers. For those passengers taken to Ellis Island, immigration officials reviewed the questions and answers with each person. The inspectors developed systems to prevent the misspelling of names. To handle difficult names, interpreters were on hand who could understand more than 30 languages from Albanian to Yiddish . . . A few immigrants requested a name change, as a new beginning. However, historical records and individual testimonies indicate that most name changes occurred during the naturalization process, not at Ellis Island. — from Ellis Island and the Making of America, by Jayare Roberts, A.G., M.L.S., Genealogical Journal, Volume 23, Numbers 2 and 3, 1995, pp. 79-80.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/lesson8...