Unisex Names for Babies Born in Pennsylvania 1990–2010
Abstract Most first names are exclusively popular for females or males. A minority of first names are unisex, defined as being given with substantial frequency to both genders in the same population in the same year. First-name frequencies for births in Pennsylvania in 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 20...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University Library System, University of Pittsburgh
2014-03-01
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| Series: | Names |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://ans-names.pitt.edu/ans/article/view/1998 |
| Summary: | Abstract
Most first names are exclusively popular for females or males. A minority of first names are unisex, defined as being given with substantial frequency to both genders in the same population in the same year. First-name frequencies for births in Pennsylvania in 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010 provided information on babies given unisex names. Children of a White mother were compared with children of a Black mother. The unisex names were divided into two types of gender preference or consistency, from 1990 to 2010. Change usually was from a small majority of males to a large majority of females. Consistency generally was a preference for males. Females more often than males therefore were given a name that was consistently more popular for the opposite gender. Great diversity of names given in Pennsylvania contributed to the occurrence of unisex names.
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| ISSN: | 0027-7738 1756-2279 |