Hello! I am an arm chair genealogist. I have been studying my family for a long time. As I was researching my great great grandfather I came across his registration card for the Spanish American war. On the card he is listed as having an alias. I have not yet been able to figure out the significance of this alias. Is there some sort of historical significance about this? Was this fairly common at the time? Does this imply something specific about his service or his role in the army? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have not found any other record referencing this alias.
Well what’s the alias?
It doesn't really mean anything except that at some point in his life he used a different name. It's hard to say why he may have done this without knowing anything else about him. Was he possibly adopted and they changed his name? Was his real name very reflective of his heritage (for example, Polish or Irish sounding)? He may have preferred to use a more American sounding name if that were the case. These are just a couple of possibilities. He may have used this alias for any number of reasons.