No Evidence of a Gender-Equality Paradox in Gendered Names: Comment on Vishkin, Slepian, and Galinsky (2022)

Abstract

This article reexamines the results of Vishkin, Slepian, and Galinsky (2022), which found larger gender differences in voiced names with higher gender equality over time and across states. I show that the employed statistical methods and calculations led the authors to draw incorrect conclusions. Using more appropriate methods, I show that there is no evidence of a systematic decrease in the proportion of voiced female names over time nor a corresponding increase for male names in Study 1 and that the gender difference has actually decreased. In Study 2, I show that, contrary to the authors’ hypothesis, both men and women have a higher proportion of voiced names in states with higher female leadership scores and that the increased difference disappears when controlling for a cultural confound—states’ proportion of foreign-born inhabitants. I conclude by discussing some overarching issues and thoughts on best practices.