Determine the gender of a name

Gender is a social construct that defines a set of characteristics considered to be linked to femininity and masculinity. Depending on some contexts, this may include identity, social, cultural, historical, political, and symbolic dimensions of gendered identities. Most cultures use a gender binary, in which gender is divided into two categories: boys/men/male and girls/women/female.

When it comes to assessing gender based on a full name or given name, it is important to point out that this does not guarantee absolute certainty, as some given names are commonly used by both genders, although in different proportions. Therefore, we provide an estimate of the probability of correctness of the identified gender. By adding a family name and/or a country of residence, the precision improves considerably, because it allows to better contextualize the use of the first name in its environment. When the probability of the identified gender is between 45% and 55%, this indicates that the name can be interpreted as not being specific to a particular gender.

For example, the name Keith Haring is identified as a male name with a probability of 90.63%.

The gender of a Japanese name written in kanji or in Latin is an estimate based on a binary gender classification: masculine or feminine. In addition to being identified as predominantly masculine or feminine, a given name may qualify as unisex or gender-neutral if the probability of the estimated gender is close to 50%.

• Kanji are the adopted logographic Japanese characters that are used in the Japanese writing system. Kanji is one of the three writing systems that are more commonly know as Japanese characters.
• Romanization is the transcription or conversion of a different writing system using the Latin alphabet.

For example, the combination of the Japanese given name 中松 and the Japanese last name 義郎 written in Kanji, is identified as a male name with a probability of 55.01%.

The gender of a Chinese name written in standard Mandarin or in Pinyin is a binary classification of gender: masculine or feminine. If the probability of the returned gender is between 45% and 55%, the name can be interpreted as being a gender neutral (unisex) name.

• Standard Mandarin Chinese is the official language of China. It uses a logographic system called Hanzi that is more commonly know as Chinese characters.
• Pinyin is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese. It is used to depict Mandarin logograms with the Latin alphabet, used by languages such as English.

For example, the Chinese full name written in standard Mandarin Chinese 谢晓亮 is identified as a male name with a probability of 53.29%. This full name can be considered a unisex name because it is worn by almost as many men as women.