Surnames
Páginas: 4 (864 palabras)
Publicado: 20 de enero de 2013
Evolution of surname distribution under gender-equality measurements
CSIC-UIB, Campus UIB, E-07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain(Dated: November 9, 2010)
We consider a model for the evolution of thesurnames distribution under a gender-equality measurement presently discussed in the Spanish parliament (the children take the surname of the father or the mother according to alphabetical order). Wequantify how this would bias the alphabetical distribution of surnames, and analyze its effect on the present distribution of the surnames in Spain.
INTRODUCTION
In Spain, as in many other countries,children usually inherit the surname of the father. As a consequence, the surname of the mother is lost in the children’s generation. Nowadays, in Spain, parents can agree upon whether it is themother’s or the father’s surname that is given to their children, but if parents do not reach an agreement,it will be the father’s surname the one inherited by the children. Due to gender-equality issues, anew law is under study which would imply that, if parents do not reach an agreement, or if no wish is expressed, the surname inherited by the children will be selected according to the alphabeticalorder of the parent’s two surnames.
People have immediately realized that this implies a bias on the surnames favoring those beginning by the first letters in the alphabet (A,B,. . . ) and could mean thedisappearance of surnames beginning by the last letters (. . . ,Y,Z). In this short note, we quantify the effect of this bias on the present distribution of surnames in Spain.
MODEL
As a first ordermodel that captures the essence of the process of surname inheritance we propose the following:
(i) Initially, a population of 2N individuals (N male and N female) is considered. Each individual has asurname chosen according to some prescribed distribution.
(ii) Males and females reproduce in random pairs in such a way that, on average, the total population remains constant.
(iii) With...
CSIC-UIB, Campus UIB, E-07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain(Dated: November 9, 2010)
We consider a model for the evolution of thesurnames distribution under a gender-equality measurement presently discussed in the Spanish parliament (the children take the surname of the father or the mother according to alphabetical order). Wequantify how this would bias the alphabetical distribution of surnames, and analyze its effect on the present distribution of the surnames in Spain.
INTRODUCTION
In Spain, as in many other countries,children usually inherit the surname of the father. As a consequence, the surname of the mother is lost in the children’s generation. Nowadays, in Spain, parents can agree upon whether it is themother’s or the father’s surname that is given to their children, but if parents do not reach an agreement,it will be the father’s surname the one inherited by the children. Due to gender-equality issues, anew law is under study which would imply that, if parents do not reach an agreement, or if no wish is expressed, the surname inherited by the children will be selected according to the alphabeticalorder of the parent’s two surnames.
People have immediately realized that this implies a bias on the surnames favoring those beginning by the first letters in the alphabet (A,B,. . . ) and could mean thedisappearance of surnames beginning by the last letters (. . . ,Y,Z). In this short note, we quantify the effect of this bias on the present distribution of surnames in Spain.
MODEL
As a first ordermodel that captures the essence of the process of surname inheritance we propose the following:
(i) Initially, a population of 2N individuals (N male and N female) is considered. Each individual has asurname chosen according to some prescribed distribution.
(ii) Males and females reproduce in random pairs in such a way that, on average, the total population remains constant.
(iii) With...
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