Name Change

[Grado]

Was it common for people from Ireland to change their names when they immigrated to north America? My GG Grandfather changed both his first and last name upon his arrival in Canada. Was there a reason for this?

[aghadowey]

Hard to answer the question except in general terms without knowing which name he used in Ireland and the one he used after leaving Ireland.
It's quite common to find variations of a surname used in the new country (especially if the person wasn't literate) and sometimes a middle name was used instead of the first name.

[Grado]

Thanks for the reply aghadowey my GG Grandfathers family was from Carrick-on-Shannon Leitrim his name in Ireland was Muleary or Mulleary he was John Muleary, but when he moved to Canada he changed his name to Bernard O’Leary.