Three last letters identify most female first names

Area of Science:

• Linguistics
• Onomastics
• Sociolinguistics

Background:

• The final letter of a given name can often indicate the sex of an individual.
• Female names are typically characterized by a limited set of predominantly female-associated terminal letters (a, e, i).
• Male names exhibit a wider variety of terminal letters, with 19 common endings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between the final letter of first names and their assigned sex.
• To analyze the frequency of specific name endings for male and female names.
• To explore the influence of cultural traditions on name-ending patterns.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of the 500 most frequent male and female first names from Pennsylvania in 1990.
• Categorization of names based on their final letter.
• Comparison of ending letter frequencies between male and female name datasets.

Main Results:

• A small set of endings (a, e, i) predominantly signifies female names.
• Male names utilize a broader range of 19 terminal letters.
• The letters 'h' and 'y' appear with similar frequencies in both male and female names.
• Female names with predominantly male endings are more common than male names with predominantly female endings, potentially reflecting cultural biases.

Conclusions:

• The terminal letter of a first name serves as a strong, albeit not absolute, indicator of sex.
• Cultural factors, including historical gender status, influence naming conventions and the selection of name endings.
• Understanding these patterns aids in the analysis of name data and demographic studies.