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Cues to referent gender in randomly constructed names
1Psychology Department, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.
Perceptual and Motor Skills
|January 25, 2002
Summary
Gender assignment to random names is predictable based on sound and structure. Men's names tend to be shorter and sound harsher, while women's names are longer and end in vowels.
Area of Science:
- Linguistics
- Psychology
- Onomastics
Background:
- Previous research indicates distinct structural and phonetic properties differentiating male and female names.
- These properties include name length, vowel endings, and perceived emotionality of sounds.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether randomly constructed names elicit gendered perceptions based on established name characteristics.
- To determine the predictability of gender assignment to novel names using phonetic and structural variables.
Main Methods:
- Fifty volunteers were tasked with assigning gender to 32 randomly generated names.
- Analysis focused on correlating name structure (length, vowel endings) and sound emotionality (active, nasty, soft, unpleasant) with gender assignments.
Main Results:
- Gender assignment to random names was highly predictable (R>.8).
- Confirmed that shorter names and those sounding 'Active, Nasty, Unpleasant' were associated with male gender.
- Confirmed that names ending in vowels (especially schwa) and sounding 'softer' were associated with female gender.
Conclusions:
- Phonetic and structural features of names significantly influence perceived gender.
- These findings support the hypothesis that inherent qualities of names, independent of personal association, carry gendered connotations.