"You're Not from Around Here:" Regional Naming and Life Outcomes

Area of Science:

• Socioeconomic History
• Migration Studies
• Sociology

Background:

• The Great Migration saw millions of African Americans and others move from the rural South to the urban North and Midwest.
• Understanding the socioeconomic impacts of regional discrimination during this period is crucial for historical context.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the socioeconomic consequences of perceived Southern origins during the early 20th-century U.S. Great Migration.
• To determine if individuals perceived as Southern fared worse in education, occupation, and income in the North and Midwest.
• To analyze variations in these effects across racial and regional groups.

Main Methods:

• Utilized linked data from the 1920 and 1940 U.S. Censuses.
• Compared life outcomes of approximately 500,000 pairs of brothers.
• Used first names to infer perceived regional (Southern) origins, contrasting with actual birthplaces.

Main Results:

• Found statistically significant associations between names implying Southern origins and worse outcomes for both white and black men in the North/Midwest.
• These associations were entirely confounded by family-specific cultural, socioeconomic, and other factors.
• Demonstrated that names did not serve as a basis for regional discrimination in this era.

Conclusions:

• Regional discrimination based on names did not occur during the early 20th-century U.S. Great Migration.
• Family-specific factors, not perceived regional origin via names, shaped socioeconomic outcomes.
• Contrasts with modern research where names are proxies for discrimination risk.