The Economic Payoff of Name Americanization

Discrimination, Migration, and Economic Outcomes: Evidence from World War I

“…German parents who had been in the U.S. longer were more likely to give their children English names. Biavaschi, Giulietti and Siddique (2017) provide evidence of general positive payoffs for name Americanization by migrants in the early 20th century. Some Germans sought to prove their loyalty to the U.S. by volunteering for military service.…”

“…As in the literature on physical characteristics and labor market outcomes (Hamermesh and Biddle, 1994;Biavaschi et al, 2017), observable characteristics significantly affected the relocation decision of Germans in response to the casualty shock. Stating their mother tongue as German in the Census, having the first name of the German emperor Wilhelm, a common German surname, or having been in the country for a shorter period of time strongly increase the probability of moving county from 1910-20.…”

“…Having the emperor's first name of Wilhelm increased the probability of moving by 17 to 20 percentage points, while having a common and thus easily identifiable German last name increased this probability by 28 percentage points. The importance of names in the labor market has been previously studied by Biavaschi et al (2017). They showed that there are substantial returns to name Americanization in the early 20th century and that individuals who chose to preserve their name identity were much less likely to experience occupational upgrading.…”

Southern (American) Hospitality: Italians in Argentina and the US during the Age of Mass Migration

“…The linking is based on country of birth, first and last name, and reported age. A challenge in linking these data is that some Italians declared their original name (in Italian) upon arrival but later adopted a Spanish/English version of it (see Biavaschi et al (2017) and Carneiro et al (2017) for these names changes in the context of the US). For instance, the Giuseppes were likely to become Josés in Argentina and Josephs in the US.…”

The Return to Education in the Mid-20th Century: Evidence from Twins

“…Linked twins are more likely to be married and less likely to be foreign-born. The latter could reflect the fact that a substantial share of immigrants Americanize their names (Biavaschi et al 2017), which lowers the odds of matching them across censuses by name.…”