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ABSTRACT
The hypothesis that patterns in choice of given-names may prove to be the single most nearly ideal measure for analyzing spatial and temporal variation in total cultural systems has been explored through the statistical manipulation of sample data on frequency of principal male names in sixteen counties in the Eastern United States in 1790 and 1968. This material appears to meet quite admirably at least five of the criteria for such a measure: ubiquity, durability, simplicity, purity (freedom from contamination by noncultural factors), and accessibility. Regionalization of the sample counties by numerical taxonomy and the use of factor analysis confirmed and extended previous published statements about the existence of three basic early American culture areas: New England, the Midland, and the South. Factor analysis of personal name variance also indicated a number of structural elements—temporal, ethnic, religious, and residential—in addition to the regional, and the possibility that their further study might be geographically rewarding. The problem of whether different American places are becoming more or less alike culturally was tested, and the results lean toward the convergence hypothesis although the findings are still ambiguous.
