This study investigates why some immigrants choose names for their children that are common in their home country whereas others opt for names used by natives in the host country. Drawing on the sociological literature on symbolic boundaries, the first strategy can be described as boundary-maintenance whereas the second can be classified as boundary-crossing. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study and applying bivariate and multivariate methods, two broader explanations for name-giving practices are tested: (1) cultural proximity and the permeability of the symbolic boundary between home and host country; and (2) immigrants’ levels of linguistic, structural, social, and emotional integration in the host country. Overall, the theoretical model explains the differences very satisfactorily. Whilst both sets of factors proved relevant to immigrants’ name-giving practices, the immigrants’ level of integration in the host country was less important than the cultural proximity between the origin group and host country.

这项研究调查了为什么一些移民为自己的孩子选择在本国很常见的名字，而另一些则选择在接收国的当地人使用的名字。利用关于符号边界的社会学文献，第一种策略可以描述为边界维护，而第二种策略可以分类为边界跨越。使用德国社会经济专家小组研究的数据，并应用双变量和多变量方法，检验了两种更广泛的关于举名做法的解释：（1）文化接近性和本国与所在国之间象征性边界的渗透性；（2）移民在东道国的语言，结构，社会和情感融合水平。总体而言，理论模型非常令人满意地解释了这些差异。