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GenderChecker now has 62,000 names in its database!

Having started at 40,000 just over a year ago, this is quite an impressive achievement, so a big thankyou to everyone who frequently emails in with new names, whether they're male, female or unisex - all are appreciated!

We tend to find a lot of people get in touch because they have run their own name through our genderchecker database and can't find themselves there! Sorry for this - but  when there are so many names in the world you can't expect us to have them all! 

When someone emails us a new name, we authenticate it by searching that name in Google and Facebook and seeing whether that name comes up with female or male photos or both. Then, we can enter it into our database with a fair degree of certainty about its accuracy. Now, we're not suggesting you start to use Google and Facebook rather than GenderChecker, after all, we're quicker and easier ! 

Interestingly, most of the people that helpfully write to us are female rather than male - read into that what you will! 

Keep them coming and maybe one day we'll break 100,000 names, if there are even that many!

Thanks, 

Ollie

I have found a website is really quite unusual - it claims to be able to identify the gender of the user simply by analysing some text which they have written. All you have to do is copy and paste a small passage and hit ‘go’ - the site’s algorithm then scours the words you’ve used and decides whether you’re male or female.

Apparently, the use of prepositions (around, below, above) and matters of statement (at, it, what) are predominantly male trends, whereas the use of more conditional language (if, should) and person pronouns (he, I, we) tend to be used more frequently by women. By calculating the density of your word usage, the engine reckons it can work out your gender.

I tried it several times - with an email which I had sent to a friend and also with two essays which I submitted at university - fortunately it came back male on all occasions!

But, a SHOCKING result - Gordon Ramsay’s most recent foul mouthed blog entry (here) came back as female! Very bizarre...didn't know f**k was a feminine word!

Check it out for yourself here but don’t blame me if it gives your gender back wrong - I’m only the messenger!