Barbara Dee: Hi. My name is Barbara Dee. The name Dee is actually from my husband's family. They came from Ireland, from the west coast, County Clare, during the Potato Famine in Ireland. Originally, the name Dee had many vowels in it. It was probably ten letters long, and it had an apostrophe. I think it was originally pronounced O-day. But over time, it became shortened to Dee.

My own family came from Russia and England. My dad's dad came from Russia, and his name when he came to Ellis Island was actually Kadish with a K. At Ellis Island, they said, "No, we're giving you a new name. From now on, your name is going to be Cohen." C-O-H-E-N. After that, that was my father's name. That always struck me as so strange, that some official at Ellis Island could just stamp your passport and give you a new name, and that was it.