Why is Rodolfo a boy's name and Pili is a girl's name? It is the question that has led scientists from the University of London (United Kingdom) to analyze the most popular names of children born in the last decade in England, Australia and the US And from 15 million different names they have identified a relationship between the sounds they contain and the sex of the individual . As Benjamin Pitcher and his colleagues report today in PLOS ONE magazine, male names often include large vowels that are pronounced with more emphasis (such as "o"). In contrast, female names often incorporate smaller vowel sounds ("i").
The result is that names like Thomas or Tom are considered more boyish, while Emily "sounds" more feminine and girl-appropriate to us. After all, the authors emphasize, among mammals, deeper vocalizations are associated with larger and more voluminous individuals. And in the West "we tend to think that the taller a man is, the more masculine he is and the more successful he will be when looking for a partner," emphasizes Pitcher, who assures that over time the preference for some names or others has evolved based on what society considers to be attractive qualities in each sex. His next goal, as he has announced, will be to find out if this trend is confirmed in other languages.
