Yes- Last name was originally Bales. Technically- they were southerners, but joined the union army and changed the family name to Beals for protection of family.

If you mean ancestors, yes they did. It started out Dubhceann to Duigenan to Dignan, Dignum, and Digman(that's me). It's Irish and we are decendant of King Mileasias through Nil of the Nine Hostages. We had to flee after the English invaded to Holland and then to America. Acourding to my uncle, the family historian, we are third in line for the thrown of Ireland and possibly Spain too.

actually yes...back in the, i believe 17th century, our original ancestors names were Warring but they dropped one r and it became Waring...i've traced my geneology and its really really amazing...

Oh my goodness has my sur name changed over the years...Let's see... Boudreiaux, Boudereault, Boudriaux, Boudereaux, Boudrault, Boudreot, Boudros, Boudret, Bouderet, Boudreaux, Boudreau, and finally, Boudrot I guess they just could never make up their minds....LOL

Yes. but no one in my family can pronounce it. haha

My dad's grandma and her husband were slaves at one time, and their original last name was buckhaulter, but was changed to Bates years later. I'm still trying to get more information.

I have no control over my descendants but my ancestors have always had the same names as far as I know. They are all of French origin and what they were before that I don't know. My mother's maiden name may have been from Spain but I'm not sure.

The idiots at Ellis Island chopped half of it off because it was not a regular sounding American name. Now I cannot trace my roots because no one living now knows what the original name really was. I don't know if my last name is the first or last part of my last name. Plus in Central Europe, thanks to WWII, I'm sure even more records have been destroyed. What a shame.

My great-grandfather changed their last name to sound less German during the first World War. It's amazing the number of reasons why some of our ancestors changed their names. -- http://www.familypulse.org

yes my grandfather and grandmother came to america in the late 1930's from italy they changed their last name to cutting and I dont know what is was before and I dont know how to find out.

I think you mean ancestors. Descendants "descend" from you, so are your children and grandchildren. Ancestors go before you. Any genealogist knows that NO surname has passed unchanged from generation to generation. Most people were illiterate and relied on officials to write down their names. If your ancestor had a strong accent, and the official was from another area, you can turn up with some very strange variants eg Schofield (one of my ancestral names) turns up as: Scofield, Scholefield, Scoffield, Scoffel, Scovile and up to 100 other variants. Another of mine, Bytheway turns up as Bidey in some records. Originally, our ancestors had one name only. In the early middle ages, nobility began assuming the names of their seats as identification. eg Bugelin, who came from the city of Dives-sur-mer in Normandy, called himself Bugelin de Dives (of Dives). His eldest son had the right to use "de Dives" as an identifier, but the younger sons might have used the name of the manor they were granted in England. If the manor was (eg) Renwick, then younger son, Hugh became Hugh de Renwick. So their "surname" would differ from their father's. Only the eldest son would retain their father's "surname". If, however, Hugh de Renwick married an heiress and moved onto her lands, or if he acquired a manor of his own, which was (eg) at Moorebank, he might change his name to Hugh de Moorebank. Very confusing, as Hugh would start off as a de Dive, would then be a de Renwick and finally a de Moorebank. It would be several centuries before this settled down and "surnames" became fixed. It took even longer for the common people. Most of them, if they had to assume a "surname" took a variation of their father's name eg Will son of John, became Will Johnson, or Will Johns, or Will John, or even (in Wales) Will Jones. Or he might have had a job that singled him out, such as a tanner. So he could become Will Tanner. Or he might have a distinguishing feature such as stinginess so be called Will Pennyfather, or a physical characteristic, such as dark skin, which might mean he was Will Black or Will Moore. He could, at varying parts of his life, use any of these. Movement from one country to another also meant that names changed. The many immigrants arriving in the USA or Australia often had some official decide the name was too difficult. eg Reuben Abramowicz might find his name changed to Reuben Abrams.

No, my surname has stayed the same all the way back to 1578, probably because it's English. There are different ways of spelling it, but my family tree always used the same spelling.

Well,they had shortened it. It is German and it was 9 or more letters in length originally and when it was shortened it became only 8 letters. I have heard some relatives say they saw the name on a german train station another say that it was a city.

Yes. It was Americanized when they got here.