title: Distribution of surnames and identities in the Cimbro-Mòcheno communities of Italy.
abstract: The surnames of populations of the municipalities with Cimbro and Mòcheno origins are compared with each other and with other municipalities of the neighbourhood. This study starts from the supposition that a community of surnames shares a common cultural origin, maintained by reciprocal mobility. The analysis has been carried out by using estimates of the similarities between populations, the topological representations obtained by them and the spatial autocorrelation. On the whole, this research shows no evidence of peculiar distinctions between the populations that share Cimbro and Mòcheno origins compared to the neighbouring ones. Moreover, there is not any evident process of undifferentiated diffusion along all the directions. On the contrary, it is emphasized that belonging to the same geographic region and to the same administrative subdivision mostly influences the similarity between populations. The exception is the Cimbro municipality of Luserna, which presents a peculiar structure of surnames different from other municipalities of the same territory.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina Ambientale e Sanità Pubblica sede di Igiene, Università di Padova, Padova, Italy. gianumberto.caravello@unipd.it
authors.forename: Gian Umberto
authors.initials: GU
authors.lastname: Caravello
authors.forename: Mino
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tasso
authors.forename: Enzo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lucchetti
mesh_terms: D000884:Anthropology, Cultural; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000235:genetics*; D040961:Genetic Drift; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D009275:Names; D011157:Population Dynamics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019371:Topography, Medical