Surnames Evolution

Watch a population's family names spread, compete, and go extinct

Starting from a country's 200 most common surnames, a seeded population of 2,000 people is simulated generation by generation — marrying, having children, and dying — until either one surname takes over, or the mix stays stable for a thousand years.

Change dataset?

Changing the dataset restarts the simulation.

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Population

    How it works

    1. It starts with 2,000 people, with each surname's share proportional to its real-world ranking.
    2. Every simulated year, everyone ages by one year.
    3. People aged 15–35 may marry and have children — the more children a couple already has, the less likely they are to have another. Children inherit their father's surname.
    4. Everyone has a chance of dying each year, based on real death-rate-by-age data.
    5. The simulation ends when either one surname takes over everyone, or a thousand years pass with the same surnames still around.

    No matter how many surnames there are, if only the father's surname is ever passed down, there will always eventually come a day when just one remains.