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At Gender-API, we take the accuracy of our service seriously. Recently, an independent assessment was conducted to validate the reliability of our service in determining gender based on first names. The findings were encouraging, showcasing our API’s precision and effectiveness in handling diverse names across multiple countries.

Study Overview

A validation study, undertaken by Jim Hagberg from the University of Maryland to evaluate the error rate of our gender-identification service compared to manually verified online sources. The study analyzed first names extracted from research papers published in three scientific journals:

• Journal of Applied Physiology
• Medicine and Science in Sports and Medicine
• International Journal of Sports Medicine

The analysis included 500 first names that were not gender-oriented and were unknown to the researcher. These names were validated using online searches for images or gender-specific pronouns linked to the authors.

Methods of Gender Identification

The study used three independent methods to identify gender:

• Traditional first name recognition is based on widely accepted gender-specific names.
• Personal knowledge of the individual’s gender by the researcher.
• Gender-API leverages AI and a database of over 6 million names across 190 countries to predict gender.

Key Findings

• Out of 500 names, 11 (2.2%) had no results in the Gender-API database.
• Of the remaining 488 names, 435 (89.1%) were correctly identified with at least 80% confidence.
• 392 names (80.3%) were correctly identified with over 90% confidence.
• 359 names (73.5%) were correctly identified with over 95% confidence.
• 282 names (57.8%) were correctly identified with over 98% confidence.

The average confidence level across all predictions was 94% ± 13%. This demonstrates a high degree of reliability, even for less common names.

Error Rate Analysis

A total of 22 names (4.5%) showed discrepancies between Gender-API predictions and online validation. However, when applying an 80% confidence threshold, misclassifications dropped to just seven names (1.4%).

Conclusion

This independent validation study confirms that Gender-API is a highly reliable tool for gender identification. With a low misclassification rate of just 1.4% when using an 80% confidence threshold, our API provides accurate and scalable gender classification based on first names.

Download the validation report here as PDF.

Gender-API is a trustworthy choice for researchers, businesses, and analysts looking for a proven, data-driven gender identification solution.

We are thrilled to announce a significant enhancement to our platform that will make your name-based inquiries even more enriching and informative. By leveraging our upgraded country of origin endpoint you can now receive detailed information about the meaning and ethnicity of names, and their gender predictions. Here’s how this new feature can add value to your projects and applications.

New Feature Highlights

Name Meaning

Our latest enhancement taps into rich cultural histories to provide the meanings of first names. For instance, a request with the first name "Johann" reveals:
Johann is the German variation of John, which means 'God is gracious'. This name was frequently used in the Middle Ages across Europe, especially for religious figures.

Country of Origin

We've extended our function to predict the country of origin for the queried name. For example:
Country of Origin for Johann: Germany (DE): 52% probability, Austria (AT): 48% probability. Both countries fall under the Western Europe region.

Language Of Origin

The endpoint also provides the language of origin for the name:
Language of Origin for Johann: Germanic

Enhancing Your Applications

Imagine the possibilities this endpoint offers for applications and platforms that involve name identity, cultural heritage, social networking, and more.

Getting Started

To begin using this enhanced service, visit our API documentation for detailed instructions on how to integrate the country of origin endpoint. If you have any questions or need support, our customer service team is here to help you every step of the way.

Empower your projects with the richness of name meanings and ethnic origins by integrating our improved API today. Explore the deeper stories that names carry through Gender-API.com and elevate the personalization and intelligence of your applications.

Happy coding! 🚀

Stay connected,
The Gender-API.com Team

At Gender-API, our mission is to provide the most accurate and comprehensive gender identification service possible. That's why we're excited to announce that we've added over 26,000 new names to our database in the last 3 months.

Our team of have been working tirelessly to scour sources from around the world and expand our name knowledge base. This major expansion means we can now accurately determine the gender of over 6 million unique first names across 190 supported countries.

Expanding our name data is a critical part of our ongoing efforts to improve the accuracy and coverage of our gender API," said Markus Perl, CEO at Gender-API.com. "The more names we have in our system, the better we can understand the nuances and regional differences in how names are used.

1. Increased coverage of names from Asia-Pacific countries like Japan, South Korea, and Indonesia.
2. Better representation of gender-neutral names and names that vary in usage across cultures.
3. More data on emerging naming trends and how they differ across age groups and demographics.

These improvements mean our users can have an even higher degree of confidence in the gender predictions returned by the Gender-API. Whether you're building a new app, analyzing marketing data, or just curious about a particular name, you can trust that our API is powered by the most comprehensive name database available.

"We're committed to continually enhancing and expanding Gender-API to meet the evolving needs of our users," added Perl. "This is just the start - you can look forward to many more updates and improvements in the months and years ahead."

To start using Gender-API for your own projects, sign up for a free account at Gender-API.com. And stay tuned for more updates on our ongoing efforts to make gender identification faster, smarter, and more accurate than ever before.

In an era marked by rapidly evolving data protection laws and regulations, maintaining the highest standards of data security and privacy is paramount. At Gender-API.com, we are committed to safeguarding your personal data and ensuring that our data processing practices are in compliance with the latest legal requirements. In light of this commitment, we are thrilled to announce significant updates to our Data Processing Policy.

Our recent update to the Data Processing Policy encompasses several crucial elements:

1. Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC): We recognize the importance of data transfers across international borders. To ensure the security and legality of these transfers, we have incorporated Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) as a fundamental component of our data processing framework. SCC provides a robust legal mechanism to protect your data when it leaves the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland.
2. UK Data Processing Annex: The UK Data Processing Annex is a new addition to our Data Processing Policy. This annex is designed to ensure that our data processing practices are in compliance with the UK Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).
3. Switzerland Data Processing Annex: Switzerland maintains its unique data protection regulations. Our Switzerland Data Processing Annex outlines the provisions for processing data related to Swiss individuals, adhering to the country's stringent data protection laws.
4. California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA): As a globally accessible service, we understand the importance of complying with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Our updated policy now explicitly outlines our commitment to meeting CCPA requirements, protecting the privacy rights of California residents.

Accessing the Updated Data Processing Agreement

We value transparency and believe that our customers should have easy access to our policies and agreements. You can find and download the updated Data Processing Agreement (DPA) in your Gender-API.com account. We encourage you to review the document thoroughly to understand how these changes may affect your data and data processing activities.

Our Ongoing Commitment to Data Protection

These updates are part of our ongoing commitment to data protection and privacy. We remain dedicated to:

1. Data Security: Implementing robust technical and organizational measures to safeguard your data against unauthorized access, disclosure, or alteration.
2. Compliance: Continuously monitoring and adapting our practices to remain in compliance with the latest data protection laws and regulations worldwide.
3. User Transparency: Providing clear and accessible policies to help you understand how your data is processed and your rights under these policies.

At Gender-API.com, we are unwavering in our commitment to protecting your data and privacy. These updates to our Data Processing Policy reinforce that commitment and ensure that we continue to meet the highest data protection standards.

Thank you for choosing Gender-API.com, and we look forward to providing you with the best possible service while safeguarding your data and privacy.