The genetic structure of English villages: surname diversity changes between 1976 and 1997

Objective: To examine the change in the coefficient of relationship by ison ymy (R-i) over a 21-year period. Research design: R-i was calculated from the surnames of males in the regis ters of electors for 15 villages near Oxford in 1976 and again in 1997. The within-residence component reflected the number of adult men of the same s urname resident at the same address while the between-resident component of R-i was calculated by counting only one name of any surname at each addres s listed in the registers. Results: R-i tended to decrease during the 21-year-period in 14 of the 15 v illages and the between-resident component of R-i also tended to decrease i n 14 of the villages. The within-residence component decreased in a statist ically non-significant proportion (11 of the 15 villages). Conclusions: This study, in keeping with some but not all other surveys, sh owed that there was a tendency for random isonymy to decline in the 20th ce ntury. The reduction in the between-residence component can be accounted fo r by migration into the villages.