Doing some automatic processing on Venezuela's electoral records can be fun. When we talk about the Venezuelan Joe Doe in Venezuela we often refer to "Pedro Pérez". In reality, Pérez is not the most common surname. Every region tends to show a different "most common surname" (founder effect someone?), in spite of the relatively high mobility we have seen for centuries and immigration rates Venezuela experienced particularly before the current caudillo came to power.
You will see in the first chart the voters' distribution per surname and birth year in the Eastern state of Sucre. The second chart has the distribution for the Western state of Zulia. Rodríguez and González are the most frequent surnames in Sucre. In Zulia the most frequent surnames are González (by far) and far away, Fernández. In any case: the abundance of González in Zulia is quite overwhelming. Pérez is not even in the top 10 there.
Founder effect in Zulia?
I am not used to say "Pedro Perez"..is rather "Perico de los Palotes".
ReplyDeleteWhat I found surprising about the figures is that there is a pick and then a decline in most cases, which are very common venezuelan family names. Why?
Hi, Bruni. Really? Perico? Never heard of it :-)
ReplyDeleteSorry I didn't explain the chart well. It represents the birth year of current (as for March, I think) voters with those surnames. It is normal that numbers start to fall down from the eighties onwards as that represents the birth rate is, after all, lower now than 20 years ago.
Also: many young people just register at the last moment.
Take a look at this:
http://venezuela-europa.blogspot.com/2011/08/when-do-venezuelans-shag.html
By the way: if you can explain me why there is such an October buldge"