IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0201774.html

Ethnicity estimation using family naming practices

Author

Listed:
  • Jens Kandt
  • Paul A Longley

Abstract

This paper examines the association between given and family names and self-ascribed ethnicity as classified by the 2011 Census of Population for England and Wales. Using Census data in an innovative way under the new Office for National Statistics (ONS) Secure Research Service (SRS; previously the ONS Virtual Microdata Laboratory, VML), we investigate how bearers of a full range of given and family names assigned themselves to 2011 Census categories, using a names classification tool previously described in this journal. Based on these results, we develop a follow-up ethnicity estimation tool and describe how the tool may be used to observe changing relations between naming practices and ethnic identities as a facet of social integration and cosmopolitanism in an increasingly diverse society.

Suggested Citation

  • Jens Kandt & Paul A Longley, 2018. "Ethnicity estimation using family naming practices," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(8), pages 1-24, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0201774
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0201774
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0201774
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0201774&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0201774?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pablo Mateos & Paul A Longley & David O'Sullivan, 2011. "Ethnicity and Population Structure in Personal Naming Networks," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(9), pages 1-12, September.
    2. Hicken, Margaret T. & Kravitz-Wirtz, Nicole & Durkee, Myles & Jackson, James S., 2018. "Racial inequalities in health: Framing future research," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 11-18.
    3. Leonardo Monasterio, 2017. "Surnames and ancestry in Brazil," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(5), pages 1-15, May.
    4. Ran Abramitzky & Leah Platt Boustan & Katherine Eriksson, 2016. "Cultural Assimilation during the Age of Mass Migration," NBER Working Papers 22381, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Cummins, Neil, 2024. "Ethnic wealth inequality in England and Wales, 1858–2018," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    2. Kai On Wong & Osmar R Zaïane & Faith G Davis & Yutaka Yasui, 2020. "A machine learning approach to predict ethnicity using personal name and census location in Canada," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-16, November.
    3. Bose, Paul, 2021. "Political (self-)selection and competition: Evidence from U.S. Congressional elections," VfS Annual Conference 2021 (Virtual Conference): Climate Economics 242377, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    4. repec:ehl:wpaper:124681 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Cummins, Neil, 2024. "Ethnic wealth inequality in England and Wales, 1858-2018," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 124681, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xu, Dafeng, 2019. "Surname-based ethnicity and ethnic segregation in the early twentieth century U.S," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 1-19.
    2. Lansley, Guy & Longley, Paul, 2016. "Deriving age and gender from forenames for consumer analytics," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 271-278.
    3. Kai On Wong & Osmar R Zaïane & Faith G Davis & Yutaka Yasui, 2020. "A machine learning approach to predict ethnicity using personal name and census location in Canada," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-16, November.
    4. Chen, Shuo & Xie, Bin, 2024. "Institutional discrimination and assimilation: Evidence from the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    5. Mosi Adesina Ifatunji & Yanica Faustin & Wendy Lee & Deshira Wallace, 2022. "Black Nativity and Health Disparities: A Research Paradigm for Understanding the Social Determinants of Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-40, July.
    6. Sylvestre, Paul & Castleden, Heather & Denis, Jeff & Martin, Debbie & Bombay, Amy, 2019. "The tools at their fingertips: How settler colonial geographies shape medical educators’ strategies for grappling with Anti-Indigenous racism," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 237(C), pages 1-1.
    7. Daniel Lopes & Geraldo Silva Filho & Leonardo Monasterio, 2025. "From past to present: ancestry and student achievement in Brazil," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 68(1), pages 165-212, January.
    8. repec:plo:pone00:0194296 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Anuli Njoku & Marcelin Joseph & Rochelle Felix, 2021. "Changing the Narrative: Structural Barriers and Racial and Ethnic Inequities in COVID-19 Vaccination," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-14, September.
    10. Stefano Breschi & Francesco Lissoni & Gianluca Tarasconi, 2014. "Inventor Data for Research on Migration and Innovation: A Survey and a Pilot," WIPO Economic Research Working Papers 17, World Intellectual Property Organization - Economics and Statistics Division.
    11. Christina Diaz & Jennifer Lee, 2023. "Segmented assimilation and mobility among men in the early 20th century," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 48(5), pages 107-152.
    12. Francesco Giavazzi & Ivan Petkov & Fabio Schiantarelli, 2019. "Culture: persistence and evolution," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 117-154, June.
    13. Jeanet Sinding Bentzen & Nina Boberg-Fazlić & Paul Sharp & Christian Volmar Skovsgaard & Christian Vedel, 2024. "Assimilate for God: The Impact of Religious Divisions on Danish American Communities," Working Papers 0253, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    14. Fernihough, Alan & Henderson, Stuart, 2025. "Protestantism and human capital: Evidence from early 20th century Ireland," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    15. Efird, Caroline R. & Lightfoot, Alexandra F., 2020. "Missing Mayberry: How whiteness shapes perceptions of health among white Americans in a rural Southern community," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 253(C).
    16. Muhammad Adnan & Paul Longley, 2013. "Featured Graphic. Tweets by Different Ethnic Groups in Greater London," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(7), pages 1524-1527, July.
    17. Berkes, Enrico & Coluccia, Davide Maria & Dossi, Gaia & Squicciarini, Mara, 2023. "Dealing With Adversity: Religiosity or Science? Evidence From the Great Influenza Pandemic," CEPR Discussion Papers 18008, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    18. Nikoloz Kudashvili & Philipp Lergetporer, 2019. "Do Minorities Misrepresent Their Ethnicity to Avoid Discrimination?," CESifo Working Paper Series 7861, CESifo.
    19. Gregory Sharp & Richard M Carpiano, 2023. "Neighborhood social organization exposures and racial/ethnic disparities in hypertension risk in Los Angeles," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(3), pages 1-18, March.
    20. Štěpán Jurajda & Dejan Kovač, 2021. "Names and behavior in a war," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 34(1), pages 1-33, January.
    21. Clemens, Michael A. & Pritchett, Lant, 2019. "The new economic case for migration restrictions: An assessment," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 153-164.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0201774. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.