The Gender Gap in Baby Name Perception: How Boy and Girl Names Score Differently

The Mehrabian perception dataset covers 967 male names and 733 female names, each rated across five personality dimensions. When you compare the averages between genders, a clear pattern emerges: boy and girl names are perceived differently on specific dimensions, and the gaps are large enough to matter.

Success: Boy Names Score 7.4 Points Higher

Male names average 53.4 on the Success dimension. Female names average 46.0. The 7.4-point gap is consistent across the full dataset, not driven by a few outliers.

The highest-scoring male name for Success is James at 109. The highest female is Jacqueline at 103. While the top names are relatively close, the gap widens further down the rankings. Among the top 25 Success names overall, 21 are male and only 4 are female.

• Top 5 boy names for Success: James (109), Madison (106), Charles (105), Alexander (102), Kenneth (102)
• Top 5 girl names for Success: Jacqueline (103), Katherine (89), Samantha (83), Victoria (82), Lauren (80)

Warmth: Girl Names Score 10.6 Points Higher

Warmth shows the reverse pattern, and the gap is even larger. Female names average 55.4 on Warmth compared to 44.8 for males. This 10.6-point gap is the single largest gender disparity of any dimension in the dataset.

The top female Warmth scores are dramatically higher than the top male scores. Beth leads at 113, and four female names break 100 on this dimension. No male name does. The highest male Warmth score is Moses at 92, a full 21 points below Beth.

• Top 5 boy names for Warmth: Moses (92), Jonah (89), Joseph (89), Steven (88), Lynn (82)
• Top 5 girl names for Warmth: Beth (113), Hope (107), Rose (105), Emma (102), Juliet (100)

The Other Three Dimensions

Morality and Health are essentially gender-neutral. Male names average 49.8 on Morality versus 50.2 for female (a 0.4-point gap). Health averages are nearly identical at 50.0 male versus 49.9 female.

Cheerfulness shows a moderate gap: female names average 52.9 versus 47.3 for male, a 5.6-point difference. Girl names are perceived as more playful and friendly on average, though the top individual scores are close (Stacy at 105 for male, Mandy at 104 for female).

What Drives the Gaps?

The Success and Warmth gaps likely reflect cultural coding in names. Names associated with authority, formality, and tradition tend to sound successful but less approachable. Names with softer sounds, diminutive endings, and familiar forms tend to sound warm but less professionally driven. These associations are culturally learned, not inherent to the sounds themselves.

The fact that Morality and Health show no significant gender gap suggests these dimensions are less culturally gendered. A name can sound trustworthy or healthy regardless of whether it is traditionally male or female.

What This Means for Parents

These patterns are real but not inescapable. 43 names in the dataset score 70 or above on both Success and Warmth, showing the trade-off is not structural. Parents who want a name that breaks the typical gender perception pattern have options. The data makes those options visible.

For parents, the gender gap raises a deliberate question: are you selecting a name that reinforces the typical perception pattern, or one that crosses it? Either choice is valid. The research just makes the choice visible rather than invisible.

Explore scores for any name on the statistics pages, or learn more about how the research works.