First Names and Ascribed Characteristics

Abstract

Experimental studies on (implicit) gender biases often deal with the problem of subtly revealing gender, yet without making the study's focus too salient. One prominent solution is to indicate gender through first names. While easy to apply, this method may be prone to confounds: first names may carry various perceptions beyond gender, such as age, socio-economic status, or other traits. We examine the relevance of potential confounds in a comprehensive survey experiment with 4,000 participants of a wide age range (between 18 and 65 years), each rating one of 20 common and timeless first names (10 male and 10 female) on 7 demographic, 9 labor-market relevant and 13 further personal characteristics. We demonstrate that first names actually evoke perceptions beyond gender and show that certain names are consistently and significantly perceived as more prosocial, assertive, or positive / negative than other common and timeless first names of the same gender. Our results send a clear message to experimental studies using first names to convey gender, namely to take into account the perceptions the selected names evoke beyond gender in order to avoid being misled by confounding perceptions. Our data set can serve as a valuable resource for future experimental studies, allowing researchers to choose names that evoke – among a wide age range of participants – similar or diverse associations across different characteristics.