S. Lieberson, Eleanor O. Bell
Nov 1, 1992
Citations
10
Influential Citations
214
Citations
Quality indicators
Journal
American Journal of Sociology
Abstract
Data on births in New York State between 1973 and 1985 are used to analy gender differences in naming patterns. In a relatively rigorous way, the authors infer how seemingly idiosyncratic expressions of tastes in names are in general affected by underlying cultural themes. For example, the results suggest that long-standing stereotyped role assignments still have a subtle but major effect on the naming process. Two major parental characteristics-education and race-modify these general patterns. In turn, taste differences in subpopulations reveal their general esthetics dispositions. The authors present these results as the first large-scale systematic comparison of educational differences in naming patterns in the United States.