Although cumulative family name distributions in many countries exhibit power-law forms, there also exist counterexamples. The origin of different family name distributions across countries is discussed analytically in the framework of a population dynamics model. Combined with empirical observations made, it is suggested that those differences in distributions are closely related to the rate of appearance of new family names.

• Received 22 July 2007

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.76.046113