Assigning a Name to a Child: Gender Differences in Two Overlapping Generations

Abstract

In Brazil, male (n = 80) and female (n = 80) students and acquaintances of two overlapping generations (young and middle-aged) were interviewed, to investigate the process and effect of assigning first names to people. Questions focused on who was the namer, the guidelines used, and the affective values of given names. Significant age and gender differences were found. In the older age group, the mothers more frequently chose the names of their daughters than of their sons, whereas the fathers more frequently chose the names of their sons than of their daughters. In the younger age group, no such gender difference was found. In the older age group, the aesthetic criterion was more frequently mentioned by women than by men; in the younger age group, this gender difference was not found. The younger men reported the aesthetic criterion significantly more often than the older men, whereas no significant difference was found between younger and older women. The data showed a decrease in namesaking for women but not for men from the 1950s to the 1970s. This trend is consistent with the findings of previous research, showing a persistent tradition of naming boys after their fathers. On the whole, people liked their names, regardless of age and gender.