| Abstract: |
Using data on name distributions in 95 French departments observed from 1946
to 2002, we investigate spatial and social mechanisms behind the transmission
of parental preferences. Drawing inspiration from recent work on social
interactions, we develop a simple discrete choice model that predicts a linear
relationship between choices by agents in one location and the choices made in
neighbouring areas. We explain the shares of parents that give their children
Saint, Arabic, and American-type names. In a second exercise we examine the
effect of distance between locations on differences in name-type shares. In
our last exercise we consider dissimilarity in actual names rather than
name-types. Using Manhattan Distances as our metric, we find a steady and
substantial decline in the importance of geographic distance. Meanwhile,
differences in class and national origins have increasing explanatory power. |