Surname Analysis as a Means of Estimating Minority Elderly: An Application Using Asian Surnames

Estimates of the age, sex, and geographic distribution of four elderly Asian-origin populations residing in the United States are constructed using surname data obtained for 1990 from the Medicare enrollment files. The generally close correspondence of the results with baseline data for these four groups from the 1990 decennial census demonstrate the applicability of a surname approach. Surname analysis can be used as a means of drawing samples of ethnic minority groups, of estimating the current size of ethnic populations, and as an alternative method of deriving additional demographic information, for example, mortality statistics, for selected groups.