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

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.

The family and the state: a public choice perspective

“…In contrast to governments, religious organizations seem to be good at encouraging fertility amongst their members (Baudin, 2015;Schnabel, 2021). While the role of religion is difficult to measure, recent work has found creative ways to estimate its effects, such as by comparing the fertility of couples who choose religious or traditional names for their children to those who choose names that are less conventional (Connor, 2021). Why are religions better than governments at promoting fertility?…”