Mrs. Fisher Reagan

My great grandparents came over to America from a small town in Italy. They moved to a small ghetto in New Jersey with other Italian immigrants.  This new "home" was not the only change my ancestors had to get used to. My great grandmother was eventually raising three kids on her own in a foreign country with very little money. She finally found a job as a pre-school teacher, and began her job as Mrs. Pesce  (pronounced Pe' che). This was the last name my grandfather was born with. My great grandmother's preschool students struggled with the pronunciation of her name. She decided that it was probably best to "americanize" their last name, making it easier for her students and all other Americans that were now a part of her life. They changed their last name to "Fisher", taking the literal meaning of their last name in Italian-fish- and translating it into English. (My ancestors real name of "Pesce" most likely reflected their occupation in Italy. )

It is very cool to hear these stories of how our names have developed into what they are now, but it is also a little sad. I was never very fond of my mother's maiden name of Fisher because I always appreciated the name my family came to America with. As a family, we refuse to forget our Italian roots and continue to have Pesce family reunions, and always use our little fish symbol; however to Americans, the name Fisher shows no sign of origin, culture or ethnicity. Kind of a bummer. No one would be able to guess my heritage by mother's maiden name, yet it is a heritage I take pride in. 

Even with my Irish name- Angela and I actually had the same Irish sir name of O'Regan, but our ancestors changed this name to Regan and Reagan. (We could be related for all we know!) Just as Angela and her family take so much pride in the original name our ancestors came here, my family takes pride in our Irish and Italian heritage and the names that represent us for they tell a story and explain who we are.