A family’s status in society can persist for eight centuries or more, according to a new study by two economists using the educational status and surnames in England between 1170 and 2012. That’s 28 whole generations. Surnames were first adopted by the upper classes in England, mainly the Norman, Breton, and Flemish conquerors of England in 1066, usually from their estates in Normandy and recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, the nation’s oldest surviving public record and effectively, the first census conducted. Many of these surnames persist: Baskerville, Darcy, Montgomery, Neville, Percy, and Talbot. Many of ... (full story)