Scientists urge world to adopt rare surnames
August 31st, 2010 - 12:46 am ICT by IANSBerlin, Aug 30 (DPA) Two scientists have proposed a worldwide fight to push back common surnames, suggesting in a German academic journal that the custom of always naming children after their fathers must stop.
Harald Jockusch and Alexander Fuhrmann warned that rare surnames were dying out while too many Chinese were named Wang, too many English speakers were named Smith and too many Germans were named Mueller.
They proposed that husbands and wives be obliged to weigh up which of their two surnames was rarest and give the rarer one to their children. The two published a mathematical model showing what would then happen if common surnames were weeded out this way.
In the simplest scenario, after 50 years, the most common names might become only one fifth as common as now, they predicted.
Jockusch is a retired German biology professor. Fuhrmann is an Arizona physicist. The University of Bielefeld said Monday the proposal was aired in an English-language article in the July issue of a journal about names, Beitraege zur Namenforschung.
- Reading test for British kids to include 'non-words' - Feb 20, 2011
- Can't wait to shop? Blame your surname, says study - Jan 19, 2011
- Bilingual kids faster at switching tasks - Apr 04, 2012
- Hypertension drug could treat cocaine addiction - Jul 18, 2011
- No more 'chicken without sex life' in Beijing - Mar 14, 2012
- Courtney Fuhrmann: Arrested With Damon Evans - Jul 03, 2010
- Hitler's signed autobiography to go on sale - Apr 11, 2011
- Nobel Prize Winner Herta Mueller Portrays Life Behind Iron Curtain - Oct 09, 2009
- 24X7 news television is murdering the English language (Comment) - Jul 25, 2009
- Confessions of Nazi soldiers reveal their thirst for innocent people's blood - Apr 06, 2011
- Minimising fat with more exercise easy way to shed weight - May 07, 2012
- American gunned down in Yemen - Mar 18, 2012
- German, French scientists share 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine (Lead) - Oct 06, 2008
- Georgia Athletic Director Damon Evans Apologizes For DUI Arrest - Jul 02, 2010
- German, French scientists share Nobel Prize for Medicine - Oct 06, 2008
Tags: academic journal, alexander, berlin, biology professor, common names, english language, english speakers, germans, husbands and wives, mathematical model, mueller, physicist, professor fuhrmann, proposal, scientists, worldwide fight