Were names changed at Ellis Island?

No; inspectors worked from the manifest the shipping line wrote, usually with an interpreter. The spelling on the manifest is the purser's. Families changed their own names later, in America.

What does the number next to a name mean?

Usually a cross-reference: a later record of naturalization or a Board of Special Inquiry file. A verification stamp with a date and number was added when the passenger later applied for citizenship.

Record columns

Reading a passenger manifest, column by column

A passenger manifest is a long double-page form filled in by the shipping line before sailing and checked at the port. From 1907 it runs to nearly thirty columns, and two of them — the nearest relative left behind and the person the passenger was going to join — are often the only record of a parent's name and a village. The handwriting is a purser's, in whatever language he thought in, spelling names by ear.

Date: 1892–1924 (Ellis Island forms; earlier lists are shorter)
Columns: 23
Handwriting: Clerks' hands of every nationality, ruled columns, names split across lines. Manifests are read a column at a time: run down the surname column first, then match the row.

The columns in order

The 23 columns of the Passenger manifest in the order they are printed, and what the clerk wrote in each.
#	Column	What it holds
1	Line no.	The printed line number; cite it with the sheet number when you record the source.
2	Family name	The surname as the purser or clerk heard it, often in the spelling of the port of departure.
3	Given name	First name, sometimes with a diminutive; infants may be "Infant" with no name.
4	Age	Age at last birthday, as given by whoever answered the door. Infants in fractions ("2/12" is two months). Treat every age as within five years.
5	Sex	M or F.
6	Married or single	M or S on the manifest; a child is S.
7	Calling or occupation	The passenger's trade as told to the purser: laborer, servant, farmer, tailor, housewife.
8	Able to read and write	Yes / No, sometimes in two cells: read, write.
9	Nationality	The country of citizenship, which after 1918 may differ from the birthplace.
10	Race or people	Immigration lists classify by "race or people" (Hebrew, Polish, German, Irish), separate from nationality.
11	Last residence	The town or country the passenger last lived in, often more precise than the birthplace.
12	Nearest relative in country of origin	Name, relationship and address of a relative left behind — frequently the only record of a parent's name and village.
13	Final destination	City and state the passenger was travelling to.
14	Passage paid by	Self, a relative (named), an employer.
15	Money in possession	Dollars carried; "$50" or the amount; "yes" on older forms.
16	Previously in US	Yes or No; if yes, when and where.
17	Going to join	Name, relationship and address of the person in America the passenger was going to — husband, brother, cousin, friend.
18	Height	Feet and inches.
19	Complexion	Fair, dark, medium, ruddy.
20	Hair	Hair colour.
21	Eyes	Eye colour.
22	Marks of identification	Scars, tattoos, pock marks, or "none".
23	Place of birth	Town and country on later manifests; earlier lists give only the country.

What to watch for on this form

Nearest relative in country of origin: name, relationship and address — read it for the village even when the birthplace column says only the country.
Going to join: the American relative and address; the street address can be found in a city directory.
Race or people is an ethnic classification (Hebrew, Polish, German, Croatian), separate from nationality; it is where a Polish family from Russia is finally called Polish.
Later pages or a second sheet carry the physical description: height, complexion, hair, eyes, marks, place of birth.
A name struck through with "S.I." or a number was held for special inquiry, not refused.

Abbreviations and marks

do / " / „ — ditto — the same as the line above
Hd — head of household
Wf — wife
Dau — daughter
S-in-L — son-in-law
Bdr — boarder
Svt — servant
Na / Pa / Al — naturalized / first papers / alien
O / R — home owned / rented
F / M — free of mortgage / mortgaged
W / B / Mu — white / black / mulatto in the color column
S / M / W / D — single / married / widowed / divorced
x, / , 1 — a tick in a yes/no column
2/12 — two months old
Pa, O, Va, Ind, Ky — state abbreviations in the birthplace column

Rows to CSV

Type one person per line with cells separated by a tab or a |, in the column order above. Blank cells may be left empty; write [illegible] where you cannot read. The CSV is built by the same code the app uses for its export.

Rows

Questions

Were names changed at Ellis Island?: No; inspectors worked from the manifest the shipping line wrote, usually with an interpreter. The spelling on the manifest is the purser's. Families changed their own names later, in America.
What does the number next to a name mean?: Usually a cross-reference: a later record of naturalization or a Board of Special Inquiry file. A verification stamp with a date and number was added when the passenger later applied for citizenship.

About this page

Column lists follow the printed schedule or register form; descriptions are in our own words from the National Archives' census instructions to enumerators, the FamilySearch Research Wiki and the usual parish-register handbooks. This is the same column list Cursive Lens reads the page against; a test in the app fails if the two ever disagree. Last reviewed 2026-10-17.