Gender related naming practices : Similarities and differences between people and their dogs

We compared final written letters and spoken phonemes and syllable length in the names of male (N=250) and female (N=197) Golden Retrievers to determine if the same gender-stereotyping trends occurring in humans also appeared in dog names. Names were taken from a website of the most popular Golden Retriever names in English speaking countries. Both male and female dogs had names ending in letters and phonemes characteristic of their respective human male and female counterparts. Female dogs had more syllables in their names than male dogs and a higher percentage of male dogs had one syllable names. We conclude that the similarities between human and dog naming practices reflect a pervasive gendered naming phonology. Adapted from the source document.