Chalachan Immigration
Gloria at Ellis Island pointing to my grandmother's name My friend Gloria, who goes to school in Philadelphia, was recently in New York and visited Ellis Island. My paternal grandmother, Mary Chalachan, came through there many years ago. Her name is recorded on the monument there, and Gloria was kind enough to take a picture. (Grandma’s name isn’t actually as big as it is in the picture – I’ve blown it up so you can see it.)
Comment by Patrick
That’s awesome!
Cheers,
P
Comment by donny
Is there a story behind the consonant shift in the surname?
Comment by Douglas
Not that I know of, Donny. The two Ch’s in Chalachan are pronounced as a slightly guttural H, an example of which I can’t think of at present. Perhaps when going through immigration it was easiest to write down the name with only H’s, but should more precisely be translated with Ch’s.
