Gender-specific features in contemporary Japanese names

Abstract

Contemporary Japanese given names exhibit great variety and have minimal formal restrictions in their formation. It is often possible, however, to determine the gender of the name's bearer from its phonological and/or graphic form. In this article, various features, including name length, syllables, and characters at particular positions within a name and the choice of script, are statistically analyzed to determine whether they are significantly associated with male or female names and which of them contribute the most to the expression of gender. The findings of this study verify the empirical knowledge of the gender-markedness of some of the features and establish a solid foundation for future feature-based gender prediction algorithms. The expression of gender in currently bestowed names is discussed in the context of major changes in naming practices and name choices toward the end of the 20th century.