title: Surnames in Bolivia: a study of the population of Bolivia through isonymy.
abstract: In Bolivia, the Hispanic dual surname system is used. To describe the isonymic structure of Bolivia, the surname distribution of 12,139,448 persons registered in the 2006 census data was studied in 9 districts and 112 provinces of the nation, for a total of 23,244,064 surnames. The number of different surnames found was 174,922. Matrices of isonymic distances between the administrative units (districts and provinces) were constructed and tested for correlation with geographic distance. In the 112 provinces, isonymic distances were correlated with geographic distance (r = 0.545 ± 0.011 for Euclidean, 0.501 ± 0.012 for Nei's, and 0.556 ± 0.010 for Lasker's distance). The multiple regression of the surname effective number (α), equivalent to the allele effective number in a genetic system, was nonsignificant on latitude and longitude; however, it was highly significant and negative on altitude (r = -0.72). Because the Andes extend from north to south in west-central Bolivia, random inbreeding was lowest in the eastern districts, and highest in mountainous western Bolivia. Average α for the provinces was 122 ± 2; for the districts, it was 216 ± 29, and for the whole of Bolivia it was 213. The geographical distribution of α in the provinces is compatible with the settlement of subsequent groups of migrants moving from east and north toward the center and south of Bolivia. The relative frequency of indigenous surnames is correlated positively with altitude. This suggests that the country was populated by recent low-density demic diffusion over a low-density indigenous population. This may have been a common phenomenon in the immigration to tropical South America.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Medicina Experimental, Laboratorio de Genetica Humana, IVIC, 1020A - Caracas, Venezuela.
authors.forename: Alvaro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Larralde
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dipierri
authors.forename: Emma Alfaro
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Gomez
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Scapoli
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mamolini
authors.forename: Germano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Salvatorelli
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: De Lorenzi
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carrieri
authors.forename: Italo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Barrai
mesh_terms: D000884:Anthropology, Cultural; D001838:Bolivia; D003241:Consanguinity; D003710:Demography; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015233:Models, Statistical; D009275:Names; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012044:Regression Analysis