Since this thread is no longer just about place names, but also about people changing names, maybe someone can help me out with this. One of my son's great-grandfathers was named Ira Strouse. He immigrated to the US from Alsace-Lorraine. We think his name was probably Strauss or Straus originally (or maybe some other similar name). Has anyone got any idea what the chances are that my son's great-grandfather was actually named Strouse before he immigrated? Strouse is a pretty uncommon name, and we think it's probably an anglicized version of something else.