What's in a Surname? Success, Maybe

Many countries are interested in improved social mobility for two quite different but related reasons. First, the perception of high social mobility, concretely meaning that children can do much better in their life path than their parents did, stimulates imagination and effort by both parents and children. It replaces resignation or despair with hope. Second, high social mobility permits the emergence and development of unusual talent, which can be found in any stratum of society, that otherwise would be buried in social stasis and inertia. Every society has prodigies among the poor and the disadvantaged, whose talents too often go unrecognized and undeveloped.