While this book covers an interesting topic, and the reader learns a lot about why Jews changed their names during certain decades, overall it was a dry read. It was like reading a research paper that kept repeating the same things over and over again. A magazine article or long newspaper story would better suit a general public reader.

Interesting look at the causes and effects of Jewish name changing

I enjoyed this book. Author Kirsten Fermaglich wrote a thorough analysis of Jewish name changing in New York City (NYC) over the past few decades. The book encompasses more than just name changing; it is a look at the lives of the NYC Jewish community over time and the factors underlying name changing. Although I generally don’t like books like this that focus on one geographic area, in this case, I feel that the book is generally applicable to heavily-immigrant Jewish communities elsewhere. Fermaglich gives lots of specific examples of name changing and my one quibble with the book is that sometimes there were too many or too in depth. Nonetheless, it's a good book and I recommend it for anyone interested in Jewish history.

Having first read about Jews changing their surnames in a newspaper article as it pertained to Jews trying to move into select neighborhoods in my city years ago, I thought this book might be an interesting read. And I wasn't disappointed.  I know all about name changes having changed my too ethnic first name to a more acceptable English one! People change there names for all sorts of reasons.  I'm not Jewish, but had ancestors who were and have read of surnames being changed over the centuries as Jews moved from place to place. I'd always imagined it was to assimilate, much as Germans did (and likely still do) when moving to say, Mexico! A book can likely be written about that, too and perhaps will in the future!  I enjoyed the book, but it could have been edited down a bit. it would have been interesting to read how families actually keep track of their own genealogies as they moved from place to place w=changing their names. It's sad, too, that anyone would need to change their names in order to hide who they were. It did help them in the long run, I'm guessing, at least in the U.S.  Interesting read.

Great history of name changing within the Jewish community. I will use this in my Jewish history class for sure.

Not scholarly/academic enough. Too much anecdotal evidence. Repetitive.

I am disappointed because I thought this title had a lot of promise.

I had high hopes for this book, but it fell a bit short of my expectations. While the first chapter was interesting, there was a huge amount of repetition throughout the book. I feel like the book could have been about 100 pages shorter or would have been better if it had followed families throughout their name change process and seen how it changed their lives.

I also feel that the book could have improved with a stronger editor as the strings of information seem to not be completely connected. Expanding on the discrimination of the 1940s through 60s would have also increased my interested in this book. 

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair review via Netgalley.com

I have read many books about the history of the Jewish people in Europe, but never even considered the challenges Jewish people faced in the US.  This book is chock-full of information regarding first and second generation Jewish people in the New York; the who, what, when, where and why of their surname changes.  It is built from hundreds of court records and other historical records.  I enjoyed the book overall, but I don't feel like it's intended for the casual reader.  The book organization of the book is hard to follow and I often felt like I was hearing the same information over and over again.  A challenging read, but worth the tidbits of interesting information for those interested in the subject.

I truly enjoyed this book!  It is a well done study of Jewish name changes, with a focus on the Jews of New York City. Not only is it filled with anecdotal information, but also explanations of why this phenomenon occurred. 

It is carefully researched and explains the pressures of anti-semitism during various periods in recent history.   There are the obvious and the subtle, all explained with clarity and at a high interest level. 

This will make a wonderful addition to any seminar on Jewish American studies. Thanks NETGALLEY, loved the opportunity to read this and look forward to sharing with friends and colleagues.