Analysis of Marital Structure in Massachusetts Using Repeating Pairs of Surnames

Analysis of surnames from marriages is now a well-established method in the study of marital and genetic structure. Traditional methods of partitioning inbreeding into random nonrandom components rely on the total number of isonymous marriages. Because this number is often low, standard errors of inbreeding estimates tend to be high. Lasker and Kalan (1985) devised a method that circumvents this problem by focusing on the total number of repeating pairs (RP) to assess patterens of subdivision within a population. The RP [(RP-RP,)/RP,] is positively associated with population size and exogamy rate. These results indicate a tendency for greater relative subdivision in larger, more exogamous populations. One possible reason for the increased subdivision is preferential marriage by social class, although adequate data are not available for a test of this hypothesis