re: Went down the ancestry rabbit hole: Why would someone change spelling of last name?

New a girl whose last name was Frangaki. She said that her grandfather (several generations back) was a sailor in the Greek navy. He went to shore while they were at port, and bought some really trendy trousers. When he got back to the ship...everyone on the crew started calling him "Frangaki"...which meant "Fancy Pants"...so he changed his surname to Fancy Pants.

Don't know if it is true...only know that is the story she told me. From that point forward, I referred to her as Fancy Pants...because, why wouldn't I?