Kyriakoulis Gumakos (Charles Gumas)

Immigrated to the USA on 28 August 1910

Name on Ship's Manifest: Kiriakos Gumakos

The transliteration of names from Greek to English, and the passage of many events in history and stages of life, has resulted in numerous variants of both first and last names (Kyriakoulis, Kiriakos, Charles, etc., and Gumakos, Gumacos, and Gumas).

Kyriakoulis (Charles) told of a humorous origin to the use of Gumas in the USA. In the early 1920s, he and a partner (Cousin ?name?) owned and operated The Eagle Candy Kitchen in Madison, NJ. They had an awning in front of the store and had commissioned a painter to decorate it with the store's name and proprietors. On the day the awning was being painted, Charles had errands to run that took him away from the store. Upon his return, he found the awning painted with "The Eagle Candy Kitchen, Proprietors ?name? and Charles Gumas." Turning to his partner he remarked, I know who ?name? is, but who is this guy "Gumas?" Turns out that the painter could not fit the name Gumakos on the awning, so he abbreviated it. The name stuck.