Genealogical surveys show a high rate of non-paternal surname transmission with regional differences in Argentina

MUZZIO MARINA; MOTTI JOSEFINA MB; CHIARULLO SANTIAGO; BRAVI CLAUDIO M; BAILLIET, GRACIELA

HOMO - Journal of Comparative Human Biology

Elsevier

Lugar: Adelaide; Año: 2012 vol. 63 p. 43 - 49

0018-442X

Surnames are a vertically transmitted cultural trait that in Argentina follows the paternal line of descent when the paternity is known. There was a lack of empirical information regarding non paternal surname transmissions among the general population, so we performed 2550 genealogical interviews, which included 6954 surname passes, in different regions of this country. We compared the proportion of non-paternal transmissions between the ego and parental generation and found no significant difference (p<0.01). Inter-population comparisons allowed us to describe 4 regional groups. We also drew models and simulations to estimate how many generations it would take to find that only half of the population maintained the paternal transmission. The lowest proportion of non paternal transmission was of 7.3%, estimating 9 generations (between 225 and 315 years) to find that at least half its population keeps following the paternal transmission; the highest proportion was of 23%, taking 3 generations (75-105 years). Our results show a high proportion of unrecognized paternities among the general population, a very quick loss of association between male lineages and surnames, and regional proportions with significant differences between each other.