Given the average spread of last names within a population, say you
wanted to divide a mailing of 1600 to names in 8 different mailings of
200 each.  What would the alphabetic distribution be, for the 8
different groups using up to the first two letters of the last name.
Example: A-Ei, Ef-I, J-Me, Mf-Ni, Ni-Se, Sf-Su, Su-Te, Tf-Z

---

Clarification of Question by robmcintosh-ga on 14 Dec 2004 17:51 PST

This is obviously not an exact science but to reach a fairly accurate
answer I would think the sample would have to be fairly large and
geography and demographics would make a difference. If possible let's
say California and 100k or greater income.

---

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 14 Dec 2004 18:59 PST

Rob,

I went and analysed a list of about 60,000 surnames and divided them
into eight groups as you originally asked, but when I returned to your
question, I now see that you want only California names and $100K
income.


My original list looked like this:

Aa-Bu.....Aaberg to Buzzo

By-Du.....Byam to Duzan

Dv-Ha.....Dvorak to Hazzard



I don't know of any source of information that would readily provide a
California-specific list sorted by income.  Did you have a particluar
source of names in mind?

Let me know.

pafalafa-ga

---

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 14 Dec 2004 19:01 PST

I didn't mean to suggest my list stops after "Hazzard"...I analysed a
full list of surnames right up to Zywiec.

---

Clarification of Question by robmcintosh-ga on 14 Dec 2004 21:53 PST

Actually your list with a sampling of 60,000 names is probably fine
and I would consider that you answered my question in it's totallity. 
How do you claim your prize?  (10$ Big whoop) and me my final answer. 
Curious as to your background.  That was pretty fast work.

It would be curious to know what the demographic effects would be but
it is not in any way a requirement of the question.

Thanks alot,  Robert McIntosh

Hello Robert,

Hey...don't knock ten bucks.  Every little bit helps (especially this
time of year!).

Based on an analysis of the top 58,000 names from a list from the
Census Bureau of the most common surnames in the US:


http://www.census.gov/genealogy/names/


an alphabetical breakout looks like this:


Aa-Bu.....Aaberg to Buzzo

By-Du.....Byam to Duzan

Dv-Ha.....Dvorak to Hazzard

He-La.....He to Lazzell

Le-Mo.....Le to Mozingo

Mr-Ri.....Mraz to Rizzuto

Rm-St.....Rm to Stys

Su-Zy.....Su to Zywiec



I trust that meets your needs.  

But before rating this answer, please let me know if you need any
additional information.  Just post a Request for Clarification, and
I'll be happy to assist you further.


pafalafa-ga



search strategy -- Used bookmarks to the Census Bureau surnames list,
and sorted and analysed the list in an Excel spreadsheet.



P.S.  By the way, my background is pretty eclectic, but from my
previous work as a GA researcher, I happened to know about the
surnames list, so it was a pretty straightforward matter to find the
bookmark for it, download the list, and divvy it up into even parts. 
Happy Holidays!

paf

This was an excellent result and very very fast.

Thanks a lot for the stars and all!  Big double whoop, especially for
that nice tip.

Have fun with...whatever the heck you're doing with these surnames. 
And a wonderful holiday to boot.

paf