Table 2

Effects of name scores of oldest child on number of children born to mothers from all available census years, 1850–1940

185018601870188019001910192019301940
Fertility Score (of name) 0.115***
(0.012) 
0.123***
(0.010) 
0.206***
(0.009) 
0.220***
(0.009) 
0.258***
(0.011) 
0.252***
(0.011) 
0.216***
(0.012) 
0.222***
(0.013) 
0.273***
(0.013) 
Urban (vs. rural) −0.308***
(0.023) 
−0.265***
(0.018) 
−0.336***
(0.016) 
−0.321***
(0.016) 
−0.294***
(0.014) 
−0.354***
(0.014) 
−0.411***
(0.013) 
−0.425***
(0.012) 
−0.365***
(0.011) 
Occupational Income Score (of father in 1,000s of 1950 $) −0.017***
(0.001) 
−0.018***
(0.001) 
−0.017***
(0.001) 
−0.018***
(0.001) 
−0.018***
(0.001) 
−0.021***
(0.0005) 
−0.019***
(0.0005) 
−0.019***
(0.0005) 
−0.017***
(0.0004) 
N 223,323 223,323 223,323 223,323 223,323 223,323 223,323 223,323 223,323 
R2 .473 .471 .462 .451 .461 .465 .453 .444 .456 
Adjusted R2 .339 .334 .322 .305 .279 .284 .254 .224 .187 
185018601870188019001910192019301940
Fertility Score (of name) 0.115***
(0.012) 
0.123***
(0.010) 
0.206***
(0.009) 
0.220***
(0.009) 
0.258***
(0.011) 
0.252***
(0.011) 
0.216***
(0.012) 
0.222***
(0.013) 
0.273***
(0.013) 
Urban (vs. rural) −0.308***
(0.023) 
−0.265***
(0.018) 
−0.336***
(0.016) 
−0.321***
(0.016) 
−0.294***
(0.014) 
−0.354***
(0.014) 
−0.411***
(0.013) 
−0.425***
(0.012) 
−0.365***
(0.011) 
Occupational Income Score (of father in 1,000s of 1950 $) −0.017***
(0.001) 
−0.018***
(0.001) 
−0.017***
(0.001) 
−0.018***
(0.001) 
−0.018***
(0.001) 
−0.021***
(0.0005) 
−0.019***
(0.0005) 
−0.019***
(0.0005) 
−0.017***
(0.0004) 
N 223,323 223,323 223,323 223,323 223,323 223,323 223,323 223,323 223,323 
R2 .473 .471 .462 .451 .461 .465 .453 .444 .456 
Adjusted R2 .339 .334 .322 .305 .279 .284 .254 .224 .187 

Notes: All models include last name fixed effects. Samples are based on full-count census files with sizes equalized to match the 1850 sample to enhance comparability of coefficients over time. Training sample sizes are not exactly the same, because names with <30 occurrences in the training sample are removed. Standard errors are shown in parentheses. All models include age and geography controls.

***p < .001

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