Using People’s Names to Infer Their Origins – Implications for Academia, Government and Commerce

Passing a list of names through an expert system, one can now establish the ancestral origins of their bearers, often right down to specific towns. Coding names on telephone files and electoral registers by their origins reveals interesting insights on migration patterns both within and between countries. By coding the names of their service users, government organisations now monitor the effectiveness of their diversity policies and businesses establish which minorities buy which products and services. This lecture summarises the methods used to infer origins from names and presents eye-opening research findings.