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Why We Ask Questions About...
Name

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American Community Survey (ACS)
Within About the ACS
Name

We ask for the name of each person in the household for two reasons. First, we have found over many years of research that it is easier for a respondent to keep track of which person they are answering for if the names are used. If you are interrupted while completing the survey, it will be easier to resume if you know which person you were working on, particularly in larger households.

The second reason is administrative. In some instances, responses are difficult to interpret, or missing critical information. If we have the name and telephone number of the person who completed the survey, we can call to collect missing information or ask for clarification. By having the name of each household member, we can more easily refer to specific information.

Without the name and phone number, we would have to send a field representative to gather the information in person, which is more expensive than a phone call.

Your privacy concerns

We use your confidential survey answers to create statistics like those in the results below and in the full tables that contain all the data—no one is able to figure out your survey answers from the statistics we produce. The Census Bureau is legally bound to strict confidentiality requirements. Individual records are not shared with anyone, including federal agencies and law enforcement entities. By law, the Census Bureau cannot share respondents' answers with anyone—not the IRS, not the FBI, not the CIA, and not with any other government agency.

Question as it appears on the form

We ask one question about the name of each person to help with the administration of the data collection.

Results from this question

Contact information is not part of published estimates and is carefully protected, as required by federal law, to respect the personal information of respondents.

History of the name question

The name question originated with the 1790 Census. It was added to the ACS in 2005 when it replaced the decennial census long form.

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