Is it possible someone could have come through Ellis Island in 1924 & NOT been through the inpection process?

I've been doing my genealogy for many years. More than likely,he came through and was inspected but the family name was misspelled or misinterpreted. Sometimes,when the person couldn't be understood,they gave them the name of what they think they heard or it was written down as a more "anglo" name. Very frustrating for those of us trying to do our family tree. My ancestors came over in the 1700's. While they didn't come through Ellis Island,they were listed on the ship list that they sailed on. Alot of their names were listed differently than even members of their own family on the same ship. Sometimes a typo of just one letter can change the entire name. One of my ancestors surname was Meyer,by the time they disembarked it became Moyer. I have two branches on my tree that I just can't get any further back than the early 1800's. I'm sure that is because the name was changed some where along the line.