> had so much difficulty with the Polish, etc., Jewish names, that they began arbitrarily assigning names that were more understandable to them.

This is true, and in addition, I was told by an aquaintance of mine, Peter Katzenellenbogen, that his name stemmed from an emigrant ancestor who was a political refugee, wishing to hide his identity. The immigration officials on Ellis Island were, apparently, not aware that they were admitting Mr Cat's-elbow.

Incidently, an academic friend of mine claims that it is his (my friend's) ambition to find someone called Ossenfeffer - he already knows a couple who share the name of Gilly. His intention is to get all four to publish jointly.