Name order and the top elite: historical comparative studies, 1868–1913 vs 1947–2022

Abstract Various studies have indicated that a higher surname, in alphabetical order, is positively related to better performance and higher social status. In economic history, the surname feature is a proxy variable for inheritance from ancestors. Hence, the effect of surnames on economic status persists from generation to generation. Various studies conducted in Western countries have supported this argument. In Japan, an alphabetical name order list was introduced in various societal situations during the pre-World War II period (1920–1940). This study investigated whether name order effects should be attributed to inheritance or the introduction of name list order in Japan, where historical and cultural conditions differ from those in Western countries. A dataset was constructed by gathering lists of representative figures from various fields for the period 1947–2022. Based on these lists, we calculated the proportion of surname groups according to the Japanese alphabetical column lists. In addition, we used individual-level during the period 1868–1913 to examine whether the surnames of the samurai class were disproportionally concentrated at the top of the alphabetical order approximately 100 years ago. The major findings are as follows: first, people whose surnames are in the “A” column (the first column among 10 Japanese name columns) were more likely to appear among the elite in the modern era. Second, we found no effect of the top column on the historical list. Hence, we argue that, in Japan, the alphabetical order effect is due to the introduction of the surname order list rather than inheritance.