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In the name of the father? Fertility, religion and child naming in the demographic transition

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  • Connor, Dylan

Abstract

This article shows that parents reveal information about their fertility behavior through how they name their children. I arrive at this finding from detailed examination of the net fertility of 130,000 married couples in Ireland circa 1910, a country known for its historically high fertility rate. After stringently accounting for the occupation, religion and location of couples, I find higher fertility rates among couples who chose distinctly Catholic names and traditional names for their children, with the latter being particularly important. Exposure to towns and cities lowered net fertility and weakened preferences for traditional and Catholic names. Cumulatively, these findings highlight the role of traditional rural norms over explicitly religious influences in driving high fertility rates in Ireland. The impact of towns and cities in reducing net fertility suggests that Ireland’s sluggish urbanization was a key factor in its high historical fertility rate.

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  • Connor, Dylan, 2021. "In the name of the father? Fertility, religion and child naming in the demographic transition," SocArXiv jndqu, Center for Open Science.
  • Handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:jndqu
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/jndqu
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    Cited by:

    1. Pozzi, Lucia & Scalone, Francesco & Raftakis, Michail & Kennedy, Liam, 2024. "Religious affiliation and child mortality in Ireland: A country-wide analysis based on the 1911 census," QUCEH Working Paper Series 24-03, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's University Centre for Economic History.
    2. Fernihough, Alan & Colvin, Chris & McLaughlin, Eoin, 2024. "Mind Your Language: Explaining the Retreat of the Irish Language Frontier," CEPR Discussion Papers 19300, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Clara E. Piano, 2022. "The family and the state: a public choice perspective," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 35(3), pages 383-405, September.

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