3 ms·
Why the estimate? If you follow the links on the wikipedia page to the US census site, they have the data just sitting there. There is a big CSV file with the
by rauljara 17y ago
Why the estimate? If you follow the links on the wikipedia page to the US census site, they have the data just sitting there. There is a big CSV file with the 150436 most common names. They even have a field with cumulative number of occurrences per 100,000.
Number of surnames it takes to get 50% of the US population: 2182
The 2182nd surname: JERNIGAN
- klodolph 17y agoI was going to post this exact comment on the blog but it requires some kind of draconian registration scheme. I guess the blogger doesn't really like getting feedback.
- epochwolf 17y agoIt's on blogspot. You can comment with your google account or an openid.
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- kvs 17y agoGood work!
- snprbob86 17y agoAre those names sorted alphabetically? Or by descending number of occurrences? i.e. is JERNIGAN the 2182nd most popular surname? Or the 2182nd alphabetically among the 150436 most common? I ask because it makes a difference of whether or not you actually found the minimum.
- rauljara 17y agoThat would be pretty crazy if out of 150436 names, J came somewhere in the two thousands. 26 goes into 150436 almost 6,000 times. The file is definitely descending order of occurrence. Look for yourself. It's kind of cool to skim through it. http://www.census.gov/genealogy/www/data/2000surnames/names.zip http://www.census.gov/genealogy/www/data/2000surnames/names.... Be sure to open the csv file. The excel file only has the top 1000 names.