I've used the earliest name for someone I am researching who immigrated to the US from Russia, (I will probably not get his birth name). I've assumed that a ship manifest spelling would be closer to his 'real' spelling than US census records, but my problem is the Ellis Island record of 'alien passengers to the US' has one spelling and a manifest in Germain (he left Europe from hamburg) had another. Obviously, both were written by a clerk, not his signature, and as a Russian, both could have language barriers. Any advice out there? I'd appreciate any thoughts.

Not sure if it's necessary or helpful, but one link is http://search.ancestry.com/iexec?htx=View&r=an&dbid=...

Ellis Island is 9th name down on http://www.ellisisland.org/search/shipManifest.asp?order_num...

It's entirely normal in genealogy to search through a whole variety of names. I presume the one you're looking for is SCHURPIN? You won't want to overlook SHURPIN, CHURPIN, CHERPIN, CHIRPEN, SCHIRPEN... well, you get the idea. I would use the name that he used during his life, and then add alternate spellings.