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Please call me John: Name choice and the assimilation of immigrants in the United States, 1900–1930

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  • Carneiro, Pedro
  • Lee, Sokbae
  • Reis, Hugo

Abstract

The majority of immigrants to the United States at the beginning of the 20th century adopted American first names. In this paper we study the economic determinants of name choice, by relating the propensity of immigrants to carry an American first name to the local concentration of their compatriots and local labor market conditions. We find that high concentrations of immigrants of a given nationality discouraged members of that nationality from taking American names, in particular for more recent arrivals. In contrast, labor market conditions for immigrants do not seem to be associated with more frequent name changes among immigrants.

Suggested Citation

  • Carneiro, Pedro & Lee, Sokbae & Reis, Hugo, 2020. "Please call me John: Name choice and the assimilation of immigrants in the United States, 1900–1930," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:62:y:2020:i:c:s0927537119301149
    DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2019.101778
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    Cited by:

    1. Torsten Santavirta & Jan Stuhler, 2024. "Name-Based Estimators of Intergenerational Mobility," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 134(663), pages 2982-3016.
    2. Timothy J. Hatton & Zachary Ward, 2024. "International Migration in the Atlantic Economy 1850–1940," Springer Books, in: Claude Diebolt & Michael Haupert (ed.), Handbook of Cliometrics, edition 3, pages 507-535, Springer.
    3. Ran Abramitzky & Leah Boustan, 2017. "Immigration in American Economic History," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 55(4), pages 1311-1345, December.
    4. Fouka, Vasiliki & Mazumder, Soumyajit & Tabellini, Marco, 2021. "From Immigrants to Americans: Race and Assimilation during the Great Migration," IZA Discussion Papers 14371, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Tabellini, Marco & Fouka, Vasiliki & Mazumder, Soumyajit, 2020. "From Immigrants to Americans: Race and Assimilation during the Great Migration," CEPR Discussion Papers 14396, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Shamsuddin,Mrittika & Acosta,Pablo Ariel & Battaglin Schwengber,Rovane & Fix,Jedediah Rooney & Pirani,Nikolas, 2021. "Integration of Venezuelan Refugees and Migrants in Brazil," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9605, The World Bank.
    7. Leonardo Monasterio, 2017. "Surnames and ancestry in Brazil," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(5), pages 1-15, May.
    8. Mazumder, Soumyajit, 2019. "From Immigrants to Americans: Race and Assimilation during the Great Migration," OSF Preprints eka5y, Center for Open Science.
    9. Santiago Pérez, 2019. "Southern (American) Hospitality: Italians in Argentina and the US during the Age of Mass Migration," NBER Working Papers 26127, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. 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.
    11. Alexander, Rohan & Ward, Zachary, 2018. "Age at Arrival and Assimilation During the Age of Mass Migration," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 78(3), pages 904-937, September.
    12. Zhenxiang Chen & Xiaoguang Fan, 2022. "Intention and Perceived Control: International Migrants’ Assimilation in China," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 2075-2100, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Americanization; Culture; First name; Identity; Immigration JEL classification Code; J15; N32;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • N32 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-

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