Surname studies with genetics

Genetic studies of surnames are briefly reviewed. In particular, such DNA studies can sometimes provide clues to a surname's meaning. A few surnames are being found to include unusually large single families, which are far more populous than computer simulations for monogamous families predict, suggesting that they might best be explained by their getting off to a fast start through polygyny or concubines: Brehon Law in Ireland and medieval Welsh Law were relatively accepting of polygyny. The Plant surname in the Welsh Marches largely comprises an abnormally large single family and this favours the Welsh meaning '[many] children', though various other meanings for this surname have been suggested. The surnames Meates, Meats, Mates, Mate and Myatt in north Staffordshire and Ireland belong to a single family and appear to have derived from the female forename Maiot

Making a Name

Ever since Lucy Stone decided to retain her surname at marriage in 1855, women in America have tried to do the same. But their numbers were extremely low until the 1970s. The increased age at first marriage, rising numbers with professional degrees and Ph.D.'s, the diffusion of 'the Pill,' state legal decisions, and the acceptance of the appellation 'Ms.,' among other factors, spurred surname retention among married women in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This paper tracks the fraction of college graduate women who kept their surnames upon marriage and after childbirth and explores some of the correlates of surname retention. We use two decades of data from The New York Times and twenty years of information on the Harvard class of 1980. A time series on surname retention at marriage for college graduate women, gleaned from wedding announcements in The New York Times, shows a large increase from 1980 to 1984, a leveling off to 1998, and a possible subsequent increase. About 35 percent kept their surname at marriage in 2001, but fewer than 10 percent did in 1980. Among the women in the Harvard class of 1980, about 52 percent kept their surname at some time after marriage and only a small fraction of this group changed their surname after having children. The observable characteristics of importance in surname retention are those revealing that the bride had already 'made a name' for herself.

Large-scale diversity estimation through surname origin inference

The study of surnames as both linguistic and geographical markers of the past has proven valuable in several research fields spanning from biology and genetics to demography and social mobility. This article builds upon the existing literature to conceive and develop a surname origin classifier based on a data-driven typology. This enables us to explore a methodology to describe large-scale estimates of the relative diversity of social groups, especially when such data is scarcely available. We subsequently analyze the representativeness of surname origins for 15 socio-professional groups in France

Factors that affect career growth of women in the construction industry in South Africa

the change in South Africa, post the apartheid regime when the labour laws were amended and the law of equality instilled, women are still under-represented in the construction industry of South Africa, particularly in senior management positions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors affecting the career growth of female engineers in the construction industry of South Africa. The study was guided by the following objectives: to investigate if education influences women’s career advancement in the construction industry of South Africa, to establish the extent to which gender negatively impacts women’s career advancement in the construction industry of South Africa, to determine the rate at which women are promoted to senior leadership positions in the construction industry of South Africa, and to establish the extent to which the construction industry of South Africa goes to retain women within the industry. According to the study's findings, women in South Africa's construction industry have prospered from their qualifications (education). They stated that their education influenced their career path. The respondents believe that their gender does not prevent them from pursuing management positions. Women's retention in the construction industry is gradually improving. It was suggested that women be allowed more liberty in leadership roles so that they can perform to their full potential. Flexible working hours must be made available to women in order for them to be able to manage job and family obligations. This is not to say that women aren't capable; rather, it's a means of inspiring and recognising that, just as they are in the office, they are also leaders at home.Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Science, School of Environmental Sciences, 202

Regional surname affinity: a spatial network approach

OBJECTIVE We investigate surname affinities among areas of modern‐day China, by constructing a spatial network, and making community detection. It reports a geographical genealogy of the Chinese population that is result of population origins, historical migrations, and societal evolutions. MATERIALS AND METHODS We acquire data from the census records supplied by China's National Citizen Identity Information System, including the surname and regional information of 1.28 billion registered Chinese citizens. We propose a multilayer minimum spanning tree (MMST) to construct a spatial network based on the matrix of isonymic distances, which is often used to characterize the dissimilarity of surname structure among areas. We use the fast unfolding algorithm to detect network communities. RESULTS We obtain a 10‐layer MMST network of 362 prefecture nodes and 3,610 edges derived from the matrix of the Euclidean distances among these areas. These prefectures are divided into eight groups in the spatial network via community detection. We measure the partition by comparing the inter‐distances and intra‐distances of the communities and obtain meaningful regional ethnicity classification. DISCUSSION The visualization of the resulting communities on the map indicates that the prefectures in the same community are usually geographically adjacent. The formation of this partition is influenced by geographical factors, historic migrations, trade and economic factors, as well as isolation of culture and language. The MMST algorithm proves to be effective in geo‐genealogy and ethnicity classification for it retains essential information about surname affinity and highlights the geographical consanguinity of the population.National Natural Science Foundation of China, Grant/Award Numbers: 61773069, 71731002; National Social Science Foundation of China, Grant/Award Number: 14BSH024; Foundation of China of China Scholarships Council, Grant/Award Numbers: 201606045048, 201706040188, 201706040015; DOE, Grant/Award Number: DE-AC07-05Id14517; DTRA, Grant/Award Number: HDTRA1-14-1-0017; NSF, Grant/Award Numbers: CHE-1213217, CMMI-1125290, PHY-1505000 (61773069 - National Natural Science Foundation of China; 71731002 - National Natural Science Foundation of China; 14BSH024 - National Social Science Foundation of China; 201606045048 - Foundation of China of China Scholarships Council; 201706040188 - Foundation of China of China Scholarships Council; 201706040015 - Foundation of China of China Scholarships Council; DE-AC07-05Id14517 - DOE; HDTRA1-14-1-0017 - DTRA; CHE-1213217 - NSF; CMMI-1125290 - NSF; PHY-1505000 - NSF)Published versio

Modern merthods and a controversial surname: Plant

In the past few years, DNA testing has begun to contribute to our understanding. It is currently emerging more clearly which surnames are multi-origin, originating with many different forefathers, and which descend from a single male ancestor. As a case study, I shall describe the application of modern, multidisciplinary methods to the surname Plant, which has been ascribed a different meaning each time an authority has written about it. The recent emergence of a different view anout this name's origins has prompted a reassessment of its meaning

Evolution of surname distribution under gender-equality measurements

We consider a model for the evolution of the surnames 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). We quantify how this would bias the alphabetical distribution of surnames, and analyze its effect on the present distribution of the surnames in Spain

Does your surname affect the citability of your publications?

Prior investigations have offered contrasting results on a troubling question: whether the alphabetical ordering of bylines confers citation advantages on those authors whose surnames put them first in the list. The previous studies analyzed the surname effect at publication level, i.e. whether papers with the first author early in the alphabet trigger more citations than papers with a first author late in the alphabet. We adopt instead a different approach, by analyzing the surname effect on citability at the individual level, i.e. whether authors with alphabetically earlier surnames result as being more cited. Examining the question at both the overall and discipline levels, the analysis finds no evidence whatsoever that alphabetically earlier surnames gain advantage. The same lack of evidence occurs for the subpopulation of scientists with very high publication rates, where alphabetical advantage might gain more ground. The field of observation consists of 14,467 scientists in the sciences

The Surname Impossibility Theorem

The Surname Impossibility Theorem offers solace to anyone who has struggled in the quagmire of choosing a surname for a child. I posit that it is impossible to find a method for giving a child a surname that satisfies the important criteria of being traditional, aesthetically pleasing, ancestor-respecting, non-sexist, gender-neutral and non-heterosexist. My mathematical approach defines what those criteria would mean and analyzes different naming systems to conclude that no method could satisfy all criteria. In the same way that Arrow\u27s Impossibility Theorem proved that no voting method can satisfy all criteria for a fair election, I prove the impossibility of choosing a perfect surname