Americans largely don't care. Most of us couldn't even find Ukraine or Portugal on a map.
Well, that's just pathetic. Most 8 years old could find these countries on a map here! And probably recognise the flags too. It's things like that that make European look down on Americans. Personally, I feel that a Westerner who can't find another Western country on a map is just a lower class, uneducated dimwit - what you Americans call rednecks, hillbillies or white trash, depending on the region. I hope you were talking about the average Joe and that it is not your case. I would assume that anybody who partakes in discussions about ancient migrations and modern haplogroup frequencies know at least their geography - American members included.
The only real second language is Spanish for dealing with Latinos.
I know that, but so what? You don't need to speak a language to know a handful of spelling rules. I don't speak Chinese or Turkish, but I know how to read (romanised) Chinese and Turkish names, because that's a basic skill in today's global society. I mean people from all over the world all the time, and not being able to pronounce their name is a source of embarrassment. From a practical point of view, how do you tell a taxi driver in Shanghai or Istanbul which street or hotel you are going to if you can't say it properly? One could show it on a piece of paper or on your phone, but it looks really bad, like someone who admits is has never learned to read... In academia especially, it would be extremely embarrassing to mention a historical figure, a fellow researcher, or a place name in a speech (lecture, conference, seminar, etc.) and not get the pronunciation right. Imagine a philosopher making a speech at an international symposium in Paris and mentioning an anecdote about Descartes studying at the University of Poitiers and he pronounces Descartes as "Dess-car-tess" instead of "Dè-carrt" and says "Poy-tiers" instead of "Pwa-tiay". They can say goodbye to their career. Nobody is going to take them seriously after that. It's fine if that person cannot pronounce the French guttural r (a physiological limitation), but it's not fine to pronounce the silent s, as it's a sign of poor education.
I'm not exactly certain how families who don't anglicize their name manage to change the pronunciation of it. Maybe it's due to accents. If it happened over generations, would you expect the children to tell their elders it needs to be changed now?
But it's so easy to change name in the US. Just fill out a form, send it and you're done. What takes time after is to change one's documents (bank account, social security, etc.).
I can say that in Louisiana, some obviously french words/names are anglicized on a case by case basis. Herbert can be Her-burt or ay-bear (almost always ay-bear). I frequently guess incorrectly and I suppose it's just something they learn on a case by case basis.
Herbert is not a common French name. It's actually more common in England and Wales. Anyway it would be pronounced ay
r-bear in French, not ay-bear. Why drop the r?
The only family groups that I know to keep a strong family identity with the old countries are the Scottish clans.
Yes, but they have names that are considered part of the English-speaking world, even if they are Celtic in origin. That doesn't count as foreign names in an English-speaking country.
Since getting into the genealogy hobby I have been asking people "where does that name come from" or "what does your last name mean." Almost nobody knows unless it's something as simple as Smith.
Yes, but you care about genealogy and genetics, which isn't the case of most Americans...
Example: A family named Fink who looks very German had no idea that it was a German name or that it meant Finch. Apparently it had never crossed their minds, and these aren't heathens but educated and well-kept people. I don't know how else to say that most Americans simply don't care. My own surname can be found in England, Scotland, and even Ireland but nobody in my family had any idea where our people came from. I think we had about six generations written down from an old-timer's family bible.
Ok, but what does that have to do with the pronunciation of surnames?
History knowledge in general is not much beyond "we sure kicked the Japs and Germans around in WW2." It's sad honestly. There are plenty of smart people but the main problem is they just don't care. Nevermind the ones who can barely read and drop out of school. As for learning spelling shifts of other languages - hahahahaha. Very few Americans could identify by sound any European language, except perhaps Spanish. Never expect this of Americans.
I don't know why it's so funny. If the school curriculum added just
one hour in the English language class to learn of to read foreign words and names, that would solve the problem for everyone. In one hour there is plenty of time to explain the few differences in spelling conventions between English and at least 10 major languages like French, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Turkish, Arabic, Hindi, Chinese and Japanese. Actually Hindi and Arabic are a bit superfluous as their romanisation is based on English and presents no particular difficulty to English speakers (other than sounds that don't exist in English, but that don't need to be taught).
Maybe it had to do with the fact that everybody came together to form a new culture in a higher risk environment. It was a "what have you got to show for yourself" type attitude rather than leaning on some sort of family pride. The early Scots-Irish people, for example, moved from Scotland to Northern Ireland for a hundred years. Then they came to Virginia. Their kids moved to North Carolina. Their kids took advantage of land grants in Georgia or Tennessee. Their kids moved on to Texas or Arkansas. Their kids or grand kids might have gone to Detroit for a job in the automobile factories. After attending school, their kids could end up in almost any state. I never heard a lot of stories about the past from old timers growing up. People constantly on the move attach less meaning to places.
The blue blooded families who have very solid family histories are more often the New England types who settled in Boston and stayed there for 13 generations. My family branch that goes back to Plymouth is very well documented going back to England in the 1500's.
We do have a high enough population to produce plenty of folks that do care. It currently is a tiny percentage and I'm hoping the ethnicity test fad will increase awareness.
Again, what does that have to do with pronunciation?