Ellis Island Special

An Ellis Island Special is a family name that is perceived or labeled, incorrectly, as having been anglicized or otherwise altered by immigration officials at the Ellis Island immigration station when a family reached the United States, typically from Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In popular lore, some family lore, and literary fiction, certain family names are thought to have been shortened by immigration officials for ease of pronunciation and/or record-keeping, or simply due to lack of understanding of the true name—even though the name changes were made by the immigrants themselves at other times.

Among the surnames that are thought of as being "Ellis Island Specials" are many that were viewed as more identifiably Jewish, resulting in last names that were not identifiably so. Also, Germanic- and Yiddish-derived names originally spelled with an Eszett (spoken with an s sound but written ß) have been ascribed to family names like Straub (given the similarity with the letter B), which might have been said originally as Strauss in the Old World.

The phrase "Ellis Island Special" has also been adopted by some food vendors and applied to sandwiches, among other foods.