Barriers to gene flow estimated by surname distribution in Italy

Surname distributions were studied in order to reconstruct human migration patterns. Zones of sharp change in surname frequencies--presumably barriers to gene flow--were detected by the statistical technique of wombling (Barbujani et al. 1989), using data from consanguineous marriages (1910-64) collected from 280 Italian dioceses which we grouped into 80 provinces. The 28 observed surname boundaries were compared with physical (geographical) and cultural (linguistic) barriers, and with boundaries detected from distributions of 57 alleles in the same territorial subdivisions. Genetic and surname boundaries had similar locations, as expected given the analogy in the inheritance mechanism of genes and surnames. Physical barriers seemed to be the main cause of gene flow reduction. However, cultural factors alone (e.g. linguistic ones) also determined barriers that delimited areas of homogeneous gene (and surname) frequency probably due to increased endogamy. The observed similarity between spatial patterns of surnames, genes and languages supports the hypothesis of the co-evolution of genetic and linguistic variation.