Describe the text evidence. Explain what the evidence shows. Race writing is a form of historical writing that uses statistical analysis of the distribution of names in historical sources to establish or refute claims about the existence of racial categories in history. Name patterns can reveal much about how people organized themselves socially, economically, and politically within ancient societies. By analyzing the frequency with which certain names are used across different time periods and locations, historians can gain important insights into many aspects of past life. This type of research is known as "name studies." Names were often the only means by which individuals distinguished themselves from their peers. In ancient Greece, for example, citizens adopted new surnames when they participated in the draft lottery called ephebation. In Rome, everyone who had the right to vote did so under an individual name, but most people also had the option of being named after their father, grandfather, or some other respected personage. Names thus served as labels that identified individuals as members of this group or that class.