David Hacker beat me to the idea, but adds the biblical name search.

Child naming, religion, and the decline of marital fertility in nineteenth-century america
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The History of the Family
Volume 4, Issue 3, September 1999, Pages 339-365


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J. David Hacker

Available online 22 May 2000.

Abstract

Demographic historians have long suspected that cultural factors played an important role in the early decline of fertility in nineteenth-century America. Using the recently released 1850 and 1880 IPUMS samples, this article investigates correlates of marital fertility among native-born white women of native parentage, focusing on the relationship between religion and fertility. Two proxies of religious sentiment are found to be significantly correlated with marital fertility. First, county-level census data indicate that the presence of Congregationalists and Universalists was associated with lower marital fertility, while the presence of Lutherans was associated with higher marital fertility. Second, the proportion of own children with biblical names—believed to be a proxy of parental religiosity—is found to be positively associated with marital fertility. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that traditional religious beliefs were an impediment to the adoption of family limitation strategies.
Article Outline

• Correlates of nineteenth-century fertility decline
• Biblical naming patterns in america, 1630–1880
• Determinants of marital fertility, 1850 and 1880
• Conclusion
• Acknowledgements
• References
• Vitae




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1.
o Rethinking the "Early" Decline of Marital Fertility in the United States Rethinking the "Early" Decline of Marital Fertility in the United States
o J. David Hacker
o Demography, Vol. 40, No. 4 (Nov., 2003), pp. 605-620
o
o Item Information Page of First Match PDF Export this Citation
*
2.
o Child-Naming Practices, Kinship Ties, and Change in Family Attitudes in Hingham, Massachusetts, 1641 to 1880 Child-Naming Practices, Kinship Ties, and Change in Family Attitudes in Hingham, Massachusetts, 1641 to 1880
o Daniel Scott Smith
o Journal of Social History, Vol. 18, No. 4 (Summer, 1985), pp. 541-566
o
o Item Information Page of First Match PDF Export this Citation
posted by Lloyd at 8:27 AM

Geo-locating baby names. So the idea would be to look at the land records office names for kids named after famous figures (authority) versus kinship. Would this be hard to index? Would it show up as a geographic distribution?

A preliminary scan showed something like 1,000 land purchasers in Indiana named "George W. *****" but more than 1,000 George W. ****s in (much less populated) Indiana. Same thing with "Andrew Jackson *****". The A.J.s are all in the central spine counties. Lots of Burrs and Harrisons, too, maybe 75 first named Harrisons in Indiana, and around 60ish in Mississippi. More Lafayettes, too, per capita.

Do these G.W.s, Lafayettes, A.J.s, etc. have bigger families? That would be close to a QED.

(What we are looking for is evidence of a preference for charismatic, leader-oriented personal politics sorts of attitudes.)

Will the power/authority/BIRG named people have bigger families?

(A census check, complicates this, alas, with lots more George W.s in the Census in Indiana than in Mississippi, though could this be a class thing, with the vulnerables being landless?)

(A task for chapter two?)
posted by Lloyd at 7:30 AM