SOME STATISTICS ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF SU RNAMES

The list of French surnames has bren compiled from the INSEE file of b irths registered during two periods: 1891-1915 and 1916-1940. Statisti cs on the total number of surnames. on the proportion that are represe nted by a single birth and on the number of surnames for 100 births, a re given by department for tbe two periods considered and distinguish the communes where fewer than 800 births were registered over 25 years . These statistics by department are compared with immigration rates, consanguinity rates and the mean number of children per family. Lastly , a list of the most common surnames is given, distinguishing those pr esent everywhere and those with marked regional variations. There were approximately 450,000 surnames in France at the end of the nineteenth century, and for 100 surnames that disappeared in the course of this period, almost 180 new surnames appeared in the first half of the twen tieth century.