# What is it exactly that makes first names sound feminine or masculine? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 2, 2015, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-exactly-that-makes-first-names-sound-feminine-or-masculine/708733 "2015-01-02T01:36:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-exactly-that-makes-first-names-sound-feminine-or-masculine/708733/1 "2015-01-02T01:36:53Z")
Normally an literate English speaking person is usually able to tell a female from a male first name just by the way it sounds even if they have never encountered that exact name before. I have found this even holds true to some degree for other Germanic and Latin oriented languages. Obviously there are some scenarios where there are names that can go either way Like “Leslie” for men used in the first half of the 1900’s or more recently “Taylor” for girls etc. , however, in the main it’s pretty easy to sort female from male first names with a fairly high degree of accuracy. With respect to this differentiation what is it language-wise that allows this determination to be derived given all the utterly different possible names available. What makes a first name more male or female? Combinations of A’s and O’s, stresses, simply that we’ve heard similar names and unconsciously make that gender association? > **[English Baby Girls Names | Comprehensive List of English Girls Name](https://www.englishgirlsnames.co.uk/)** > > Find an English baby girl's name. Discover their meaning, origin, popularity and more. The ultimate resource dedicated to English girls' names. > **[English Baby Boy Names \*\*\*](https://www.babynames.org.uk/english-boy-baby-names.htm)** > > Comprehensive resource for information and advice when choosing English baby boy names. Unique, unusual, popular, and cool English baby boy names. A World of English baby boy names providing a diverse and interesting list of names ---
**Author:** ![qubed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f07891/32.png) [@qubed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qubed)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-exactly-that-makes-first-names-sound-feminine-or-masculine/708733/2 "2015-01-02T01:48:38Z")
Ending in a vowel is huge indicator for female names. Look through this list of most common names, and you’ll see that males names predominately end in a consonant, while female names end in a vowel. This cuts across many cultures & languages. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_most\_popular\_given\_names](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_popular_given_names) ---
**Author:** ![Idilia\_Dubb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c2a13f/32.png) [@Idilia\_Dubb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idilia_Dubb)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-exactly-that-makes-first-names-sound-feminine-or-masculine/708733/3 "2015-01-02T13:01:49Z")
> [@qubed](#): > > Ending in a vowel is huge indicator for female names Except for: Nicola Ezra Asa Judah Elijah Noah Dana Micah Luka Alva Ira Joshua Osama Jeremiah Sasha Andrea and a bunch more. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-exactly-that-makes-first-names-sound-feminine-or-masculine/708733/4 "2015-01-02T13:11:54Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Obviously there are some scenarios where there are names that can go either way Like “Leslie” for men used in the first half of the 1900’s or more recently “Taylor” for girls etc. , however, in the main it’s pretty easy to sort female from male first names with a fairly high degree of accuracy. No, it really isn’t. I think you’ll find a huge number of names that have done that. > **[Gender-Neutral Names 2024 - Unisex, Nonbinary, Unique - Nameberry](https://nameberry.com/blog/unisex-baby-names-names-that-morphed-from-blue-to-pink)** > > Exclusive analysis of top gender-neutral and nonbinary names, including Avery, River, Rowan, Charlie, and Eden, and unique unisex names such as Fifer, Jubilee, and Zephyr. It’s much more common than you think, so I think it’s mostly a matter of time and custom. Interestingly, names generally go from male to female, not too many go the other way. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-exactly-that-makes-first-names-sound-feminine-or-masculine/708733/5 "2015-01-02T13:56:08Z")
There’s also the issue of masculine & feminine nouns still existing in Spanish, Italian, French, and maybe German? English dropped noun gender centuries ago and I only first heard about it when I started middle school Spanish. Even there it doesn’t always follow common sense rules, like the word for ‘dress’ in Spanish is masculine. I assume it dates back to Latin and other archaic root languages… ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-exactly-that-makes-first-names-sound-feminine-or-masculine/708733/6 "2015-01-02T14:54:23Z")
\*“A girl’s name ending in ‘a’ – that always suggests a ‘C’ cup.” “And not one of us with a name ending in ‘a.’ You louse!” “Flat-chested bunch, aren’t you?”\* ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-exactly-that-makes-first-names-sound-feminine-or-masculine/708733/7 "2015-01-02T15:13:07Z")
> [@astro](#): > > …Obviously there are some scenarios where there are names that can go either way Like “Leslie” for men used in the first half of the 1900’s or more recently “Taylor” for girls etc… There are a fairly significant number of names that were previously used mostly for boys that have now largely become girls’ names. Other examples are Kelly, Shirley, Ashley (c.f. Ashley Wilkes from Gone with the Wind), Beverly (the author of Anne of Green Gables wrote a now-fairly confusing parallel series about a boy named Beverly that you keep forgetting is actually a boy because he speaks in highly flowery and poetic language and is, y’know, named _Beverly_), Paris, and Allison. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-exactly-that-makes-first-names-sound-feminine-or-masculine/708733/8 "2015-01-02T15:17:56Z")
Without googling them, identify the following names by gender: 1. Enzi 2. Goma 3. Issa 4. Salene 5. Koffi 6. Dinka ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-exactly-that-makes-first-names-sound-feminine-or-masculine/708733/9 "2015-01-02T15:18:04Z")
Yea, I’d say that the recent trends in naming children suggests that the inherent male/female sound is not as strong as we thought… ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-exactly-that-makes-first-names-sound-feminine-or-masculine/708733/10 "2015-01-02T16:05:41Z")
> [@Idilia\_Dubb](#): > > Except for: > > Nicola > Ezra > Asa > Judah > Elijah > Noah > Dana > Micah > Luka > Alva > Ira > Joshua > Osama > Jeremiah > Sasha > Andrea > and a bunch more. I think that Nicola, Dana, Sasha, and Andrea are more likely these days to be used for a girl rather than a boy. At least I can think of several women with those names off the top of my headbb ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-exactly-that-makes-first-names-sound-feminine-or-masculine/708733/11 "2015-01-02T16:20:12Z")
Depends on the language the name comes from, of course. Lots of foreign names get incorporated into English due to immigration, so we’re probably more confused about this than most. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-exactly-that-makes-first-names-sound-feminine-or-masculine/708733/12 "2015-01-02T16:29:02Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > I think that Nicola, Dana, Sasha, and Andrea are more likely these days to be used for a girl rather than a boy. At least I can think of several women with those names off the top of my headbb Plus there’s a difference between ending in a vowel and ending with a vowel sound. We don’t just judge a name by how it sounds when spoken; what it looks like in writing is a consideration too or we wouldn’t have the varied spellings we do. Japanese names aside because O and A conventions seem reversed and Slavic names where A is frequently male, you can often tell the gender of a name from several cultures based on a vowel ending: A is typically a girl’s name, O is typically a boy. I and E can be either, though I personally can think of more girls names that end in E than boys. Monstro: 1. Enzi - boy 2. Goma - girl 3. Issa - girl 4. Salene - girl 5. Koffi - boy 6. Dinka - dunno, it’s a type of people and place names are unisex but seem given to girls more often than boys ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-exactly-that-makes-first-names-sound-feminine-or-masculine/708733/13 "2015-01-02T16:55:42Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Monstro: > > 1. Enzi - boy > 2. Goma - girl > 3. Issa - girl > 4. Salene - girl > 5. Koffi - boy > 6. Dinka - dunno, it’s a type of people and place names are unisex but seem given to girls more often than boys I won’t tell you what the answers are (I want others to play), but you got 50% of them correct. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-exactly-that-makes-first-names-sound-feminine-or-masculine/708733/14 "2015-01-02T18:00:47Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > There’s also the issue of masculine & feminine nouns still existing in Spanish, Italian, French, and maybe German? English dropped noun gender centuries ago and I only first heard about it when I started middle school Spanish. Even there it doesn’t always follow common sense rules, like the word for ‘dress’ in Spanish is masculine. I assume it dates back to Latin and other archaic root languages… Does thinking of that word as “clothing” sound more like it could be masculine/neuter? Remember that until PC got invented, in Spanish the masculine was the neuter (and it still is, officially). Sometimes the same name is masculine in one language and feminine in another, such as Andrea: (m) in Italian, (f) in Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-exactly-that-makes-first-names-sound-feminine-or-masculine/708733/15 "2015-01-02T20:38:18Z")
> [@Idilia\_Dubb](#): > > Except for: > Judah > Elijah > Noah > … > Micah > … > Jeremiah “ **H** ” is not a vowel. ---
**Author:** ![Idilia\_Dubb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c2a13f/32.png) [@Idilia\_Dubb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idilia_Dubb)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-exactly-that-makes-first-names-sound-feminine-or-masculine/708733/16 "2015-01-02T21:06:07Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > “ **H** ” is not a vowel. All the names on the list end with a short “A” sound. Your objection is a distinction without a difference. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-exactly-that-makes-first-names-sound-feminine-or-masculine/708733/17 "2015-01-02T21:49:47Z")
I would guess: 1. Enzi - boy 2. Goma - girl 3. Issa - boy 4. Salene - girl 5. Koffi - boy (though this one’s really a giveaway as there is a very famous person with this name) 6. Dinka - boy ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-exactly-that-makes-first-names-sound-feminine-or-masculine/708733/18 "2015-01-02T21:52:49Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I would guess: > > 1. Enzi - boy > 2. Goma - girl > 3. Issa - boy > 4. Salene - girl > 5. Koffi - boy (though this one’s really a giveaway as there is a very famous person with this name) > 6. Dinka - boy 50% ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-exactly-that-makes-first-names-sound-feminine-or-masculine/708733/19 "2015-01-02T21:55:10Z")
Koffi versus [Kofi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kofi_Annan) ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-exactly-that-makes-first-names-sound-feminine-or-masculine/708733/20 "2015-01-02T22:36:15Z")
I find that the Japanese names in my son’s manga and manga-like shows reverse American gender naming conventions. Many male names end in -a (like Akira, etc). Many of the female names end in -o, and these usually sound more masculine to me. I have read books with Japanese characters that flipped these conventions, so I am not sure if these are actually a trend in Japanese naming convention. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-exactly-that-makes-first-names-sound-feminine-or-masculine/708733.md?page=2)