Question 1

What happens if a name can be male as well as female?

Accepted Answer

Depending on your API version or the integration you're using, our endpoints will either return an 
          accuracy or a probability value in the response. The accuracy parameter returns how sure we are that this name is either male or female. 
          The value is calculated by the number of records in our database. For example, if we have 100 samples of a name, 96 are female, and 4 are male, 
          the accuracy is 96% (or a .96 probability). A low accuracy indicates that this name is probably used by multiple genders and cannot be 
          conjugated to a specific gender.

Question 2

Can there be differences for the same name per country?

Accepted Answer

While the name Andrea is male in Italy, Andrea is a female name in Germany and can even be both in the US. 
          In this case, we provide an accuracy value in the query result, ranging between 0 and 100 (or a probability value between 0 and 1). 
          It tells you how certain we are in having detected the correct gender.
          You can significantly increase the API's result quality by providing some geographical information about your query. This can either be a 
          country code, the browser's locale, or an IP address. You can learn more about localizing a query in our API docs.

Question 3

How do you gather the data?

Accepted Answer

To provide the highest possible accuracy, we combine data from multiple sources. The main sources for new records are publicly available data, 
        governmental data and manual additions/corrections. Based on the source of a new name, the name may have to be verified by a second source before it is added to our list. 
        For example, if we add a name from publicly available data, this name may need a second verification, like a manual confirmation, before it is finally added to our database.
        You can find a list of supported countries here.

Question 4

How often do you update name records?

Accepted Answer

We regularly update our data depending on the country and the available public data. 
        Most western countries are updated once a year. Also, the distribution of names across genders may change over the years. 
        For example, if a name was used exclusively by women in the 1970s, it may be used predominantly by male people decades later. 
        That's why we also use birth data for several countries, such as the US, to enrich the results. Our models try to take all these factors into account as well as possible. 
        The returned accuracy value is regularly adjusted to reflect the actual usage in the population 
        as accurate as possible. The value is supposed to provide a reasonable evaluation based on the last decades and may expresses a possible fluctuation. 
        We do look at about the last 4 decades of the data. 
        If you run a query and repeat the same query a year later, you may get a different result because our system 
        might have dropped old data, and new data might have been added.
        Every time new data is added, we perform so-called integration tests afterward. 
        In this process, our API is tested against a previously validated data set to ensure quality. 
        This data set is continuously expanded with names and test cases to achieve the broadest coverage possible.

Question 5

How du you facilitate AI?

Accepted Answer

Artificial intelligence (AI) is being used to enhance the quality of our database and API results on a daily basis. With the help of AI, we can efficiently and accurately add new entries to our database, ensuring that our information is always up-to-date.

Moreover, AI also plays a crucial role in improving the overall quality of our API results. By leveraging machine learning algorithms, we can analyze data more effectively, identify patterns, and provide more accurate and relevant results to our users.

Question 6

Do you provide any help to implement the API?

Accepted Answer

Yes, we provide email support for all customers. You can email us to
                        contact gender-api.com. We will then get back to you as soon as possible. You can also find coding examples here.
                        Please note that we cannot help you with every programming language and use case. 
                        In most cases, you can use a standard rest client in your app to query our API.
                        Many libraries also support the import of an OpenAPI definition file. You can download our openapi.yml definition file here.

Question 7

What if we need a high level of accuracy?

Accepted Answer

Languages and names are fluid and change over time. From customer to customer, data sets also vary a lot  
        in quality, scope and origin. Therefore, we cannot guarantee that all results you receive from our API are 100% correct 
        and match your data pool. But we can promise that we are always committed to providing you with the best results possible and 
        that we regularly improve and update our algorithms. We also add new data on a very regular basis. You can find out more about 
        our updates here. In the unlikely event of our service not matching up with your expectations, we give you a straightforward 14-day money-back guarantee.
        Of course, we also offer to test our service completely free of charge. If you sign up here, you will receive 100 requests for free every month.
        If you query a name, our endpoints will either return an accuracy or a probability value in the response, depending on your API version.
        The accuracy parameter returns how sure we are that this name is either male or female. 
        The value is calculated by the number of records for this in our database. 
        Since use cases differ significantly, we do not give any recommendations on the level of accuracy. Depending on your use case, it is up to you to decide
       what results and accuracy levels to accept. 
        Even with an accuracy of at least 99%, there is a possibility that the result is incorrect.
        However, a value above 95% fits most use cases in general.

Question 8

How many names do you have stored in your database?

Accepted Answer

Our database contains 6,084,389 validated names from 191 different countries. All over the world we store 6,196,452 unique names.
        On an average we analyze about 10,000,000 datasets per month to improve the quality of our results.

Question 9

Which countries are supported?

Accepted Answer

The API fully supports 191 countries. Full support means that we collected at least  names
                        in this respective country. However, in most countries our dataset is much larger. Take a look at the following table to
                        learn more about how many names we support in which country. Keep in mind that if we do not provide a suitable support for a
                        country ourselves, you can still crawl the requested names against the entire dataset to get an adequate result.

Question 10

Do you support arabic names?

Accepted Answer

Yes, our API supports Arabic names. They can also be written in chars from the Arabic alphabet.
        Arabic is written from right to left in a cursive style and includes 28 letters. 
        As an example, if you query "عبد ال" you will get the following result: "gender": "male" , "accuracy": 100.
        The arabic name "عبد ال" is urlencoded in this example and the query url would look like: https://gender-api.com/get?name=%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF%20%D8%A7%D9%84&key=YOUR_API_KEY.
        You can find a full list of supported countries here.

Question 11

Can I query multiple names in one request?

Accepted Answer

Yes, this is absolutely possible. You can query up to 100 names at once.
                        For details, please take a look at our API Docs.

Question 12

I heard about your email API. What exactly is it?

Accepted Answer

Our email API can extract names from email addresses and provide the appropriate
                        gender to this respective address. This can help you to personalize your emailings with a proper salutation.
                        For example, from the email address "marie.johnson@gmail.com", API will extract the name "Marie" and determine the
                        correct gender, which is "female".
                        For details please take a look at our API Docs.

Question 13

I have a huge amount of data. Can I bulk upload a CSV file?

Accepted Answer

As a registered user you can upload any CSV file containing a first name column.
        For a better determination result, you can optionally add a country column to your dataset. While it is not necessary to specifically name the columns, our assistant guides you through the
        process by letting you choose which column contains which token, first name or country included.
        The feature is located within your account. Processed records will be charged like requests so that you can upload
        a CSV file with up to 100 entries for free every month. The CSV bulk upload requires a Gender-API.com account. For reasons of data protection, uploaded files will be automatically deleted after one year.

Question 14

How needs the CSV file to be formatted?

Accepted Answer

We support CSV files created on Windows, MacOS, or Linux. 
        In addition, we support files with delimiters like ";", "," or a tab. The enclosure char must be a ". 
        Furthermore, you can upload multi-line CSV files with a maximum of 10,000,000 rows and 301MB. 
        We recommend using a UTF-8 formatted CSV file with a semicolon as the delimiter to achieve the best results possible. 
        Otherwise, the CSV file can contain further, arbitrary rows, which will also be included in the output file. 
        The file must have at least one column with first names only or a column with full names. 
        Click here to download a sample file. Please create a Gender-API.com account to
        upload a CSV file.

Question 15

Can I upload an Excel file?

Accepted Answer

You can upload Excel files with up to 300,000 rows. For larger datasets, please use our CSV file upload. 
        We support .xlsx files with a single sheet. If you upload a file with more than one sheet, only the first will be processed.
        The first row in your sheet must contain the column names. The file must contain at least one column with first names, the country column is optional. For reasons of data protection, uploaded files will be automatically deleted after one year. Download sample file here. Example:

Question 16

I found a bug. What am I supposed to do?

Accepted Answer

We very much appreciate your help. Please send us an email to contact gender-api.com and we will try to fix this
                        bug as soon as possible.

Question 17

Is Gender-API compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)?

Accepted Answer

All Gender-API.com services are in full compliance with the GDPR.
                We provide a Data Processing Agreement (DPA), which enables you to comply with your GDPR obligations.
                You can request this agreement here in your account. A sample agreement can be downloaded here.
                Also, you can find more information, how we protect your data here.

Question 18

Do you provide any libraries for programming languages?

Accepted Answer

Due to the simplicity of our API, we do not provide a lib for any programming language,
                            except the jQuery Plugin. Most languages support a json parser out-of-the-box and
                            for almost every other language, there is already an external lib you can use. Take a look at
                            our coding examples to get started with using the API:

Question 19

How do requests get counted?

Accepted Answer

Every account will be recharged to 100 requests on the first day of every month if there are less than this number of requests left.
                Only if a result is found, the request will be counted. One name lookup will be counted as one request. 
                If multiple names are requested in one query, each name will be counted as a single request.

Question 20

Where can I find and manage my API keys?

Accepted Answer

We generate an initial API key when you sign up for a Gender-API.com account. You can find this API key at the bottom of your account overview page. If you want to revoke this key, click on the "Revoke and Regenerate" button. 
        Our system will then invalidate the existing API key and will generate a new one. All your applications that use the old token will then be unable to access our API until you replace this code with the new API key. [apiKeyImage] 
        You can also create more than one API key. This is useful, for example, if you have multiple applications in which you want to include our API. Please note there is no distinction between the keys and how many requests it has used. All requests are counted collectively. To manage or create multiple API keys, click on the "Settings" button in the account menu and then on "API Keys". 
        [multipleKeysImage] By clicking on the button "Create New Key", you can generate a new API key. You can give every token a name to later identify more easily where this key has been used. You can change this name at any time. Also, some of our widgets will auto-generate a key here. For example, if you use our "Quick Lookup Widget" in your account, our system will generate a key in advance, and this widget will then use this token to query our API.
        Furthermore, third-party apps will create a key here once they are connected. Every token can be revoked at any time by simply clicking on the "x". Once revoked, the connected application will no longer have access to our API.

Question 21

Can I share my account with multiple people?

Accepted Answer

You can share your account with up to 50 more colleagues or other people connected to your project in your account. To manage your team, log into your account and, in the account menu, click 
        on "Settings" => "Manage Your Team". On this page, click on the "Invite a new member" button to invite people via email to your team. When inviting members, you can choose between two different account types. 
        A) Users can view, create, update and delete API keys, upload and genderize CSV and Excel files, access all API endpoints, buy requests and connect third-party apps. B) Administrators can do the same things users can, plus 
        update account settings and billing address, create and view data processing agreements, invite, update and delete team members.

Question 22

Can I protect my account by enabling two-step verification?

Accepted Answer

You can protect your account by enabling two-step verification. To enable this additional security measure, log into your account and, in the accounts menu, click on "Settings" => 
        "Change Password / 2FA". Make sure you have an authenticator app installed on your phone. We recommend using an app like Authy (App Store, Play Store) or Google Authenticator (App Store, Play Store). 
        Then click on the "Enable Now" button and follow the instructions on the screen. You can add multiple devices here to ensure, for example, that you still have access to your account after losing a device.
        Once enabled, you will be required to enter the generated code by your phone's authenticator app to log in successfully.

Question 23

Can I use third party apps when two-step-verification is enabled?

Accepted Answer

Some integrations or third-party apps work flawlessly with two-step verification enabled. Others may require 
        to connect without two-step verification. If you have problems logging into some app with your Gender-API.com credentials, log into your account on Gender-API directly 
        and click on "Settings" => "Change Password / 2FA" in the account menu. Then click on the "Two-Step Verification" tab and set "Third-party app access" to "Not restricted". 
        Please note, you can only change this setting if two-step verification is enabled.

Question 24

What is the difference between a paid and a free account?

Accepted Answer

Both account types offer the same functionality. All API endpoints are available for both account types and will return the same results. 
        Free accounts are limited to a certain amount of requests per month. When you sign up, 100 requests are immediately available to you for free. On the first day of each month, our system will reset this number, 
        and the free requests will be available again. Please create only one account. If you need more requests, you can upgrade to one of our paid plans at any time here.

Question 25

How can I logout from all devices?

Accepted Answer

If you click the logout button in your account, you will only be logged out from your current device.
                To ensure the security of your account and data, it is important to log out from all devices when necessary. Please follow the instructions below to log out from all devices on our API platform successfully.
                When logged in, click here to logout from all devices. Also, if you change your password or modify your two-factor authentication settings, the system will automatically log you out from all devices that do not 
                match your current IP address. This adds an extra layer of security to your account. Creating separate accounts for each team member is recommended to enhance safety and facilitate team collaboration.
                Furthermore, to enhance the security of your account, we strongly recommend enabling Two-Factor Authentication (2FA). This additional layer of protection adds an extra step to the login process, 
                making it more difficult for unauthorized individuals to gain access.

Question 26

What is the difference between a subscription and a one-time payment?

Accepted Answer

If you want to buy one of our packages, you can choose between a one-time payment, or subscribing to this package.
          Subscriptions are recommended if you want to use our service regularly. You can be assured that there are always enough remaining requests in your account.
          Requests purchased with a subscription can be used within one month. With an active subscription, our system will recharge your account after one month 
          to the selected amount of requests. For example, if you are subscribed to our 25,000 requests package and have used 21,500, 
          our system will replenish your account to 25,000 requests after one month.
          One-time packages can be purchased for a single use case and can be used within one year. For example, if you want to process an Excel or CSV file, we recommend the one-time purchase.
          One-time purchases do not renew. You have to make sure to not run out of requests.
          You can switch between both package types on our purchase page.
          
          [difference]
Please don't mix both purchase types until you have talked to our support first or know exactly what you are doing. Buying a one-time package while you're subscribed to one of 
          our packages can prevent the subscription from refilling your requests. For example, when there are more requests left from the one-time purchase, than the subscription would refill.

Question 27

I need a certificate of residence. Can you issue such a certificate?

Accepted Answer

If you need a certificate of residence from our company, please contact our support regarding your request. The certificate has to 
        be individually requested for every company. Include in your request the full address of your company, your country of residence, and, if available, your tax number. 
        The certificate of residence needs to be signed through our revenue office. It usually takes 2-3 weeks to receive the signed form, which we can then provide as a digital scan.
        
        [certificate-of-residence]

Question 28

How can I buy a package / more requests?

Accepted Answer

You can choose between either a subscription plan or a one-time-payment here. 
        One-time-payment is recommended, if you want to process a large CSV file or if you prefer to use your requests on an irregular basis.
        You can charge your account with the required amount of requests at any time. Requests bought with one-time-payment can be used within one year. 
        If you prefer to sign up for a subscription plan, your account will be refilled to the selected amount of requests every month. 
        Subscriptions can be changed or canceled at any time.

Question 29

How can I cancel my subscription?

Accepted Answer

You can change or cancel your subscription at any time here. If you want to stop your recurring payments, click on the "Cancel this subscription" button.

Question 30

What is the typical API response time?

Accepted Answer

Our API is designed for high performance and typically responds within 10-200 milliseconds. 
        Response times may vary slightly based on your geographic location, network conditions, and the complexity of your query. 
        For batch requests with multiple names, the response time scales linearly. We use a global CDN and optimized infrastructure 
        to ensure low latency worldwide. If you experience consistently slow response times, please contact our support team.

Question 31

Are there any rate limits or request restrictions?

Accepted Answer

We implement fair usage rate limits to ensure optimal service for all users. 
        Free accounts can make up to 100 requests per hour and 500 requests per day. Paid accounts have higher limits: 
        1500 requests per minute and no daily restrictions as long as you have available credits. 
        If you need higher rate limits for your specific use case, please contact us to discuss a custom plan. 
        Batch requests (up to 100 names per request) count as individual requests but are more efficient.

Question 32

What is your API uptime guarantee?

Accepted Answer

We guarantee 99.9% API uptime on all paid plans. Our infrastructure is hosted on enterprise-grade 
        servers with automatic failover and load balancing. We continuously monitor our systems 24/7 and have automated alerts 
        for any issues.
        We also provide a Service Level Agreement (SLA) for enterprise customers. In the rare event of extended downtime, 
        paid customers receive automatic service credits based on our SLA terms.

Question 33

What format does the API response use?

Accepted Answer

Our API returns responses in JSON format by default, which is widely supported by all modern 
        programming languages. Each response includes the requested name, detected gender, accuracy/probability value, 
        and additional metadata. For example: {"name":"Maria","gender":"female","accuracy":99,"samples":12847,"country":"US"}. 
        You can find detailed response schemas in our API documentation 
        and download our OpenAPI specification for automatic client generation.

Question 34

How should I handle API errors?

Accepted Answer

Our API uses standard HTTP status codes to indicate success or failure. 
        200 means success, 401 indicates invalid API key, 429 means rate limit exceeded, and 500 indicates a server error. 
        Each error response includes a descriptive message and error code for easy debugging. 
        We recommend implementing exponential backoff for rate limit errors and caching successful responses when possible. 
        For persistent errors, check our API documentation or contact support. 
        All errors are logged for troubleshooting purposes.

Question 35

How do you handle API versioning?

Accepted Answer

We currently maintain two API versions: V1 and V2. V2 is our latest version with enhanced 
        features including probability values, extended country support, and improved accuracy. V1 remains available for 
        backward compatibility but we recommend migrating to V2 for new integrations. All API endpoints include the version 
        in the URL path (e.g., /v2/name). We guarantee that older API versions still continue to work. Migration guides are available in our API documentation. 
        Breaking changes are always communicated well in advance.

Question 36

How do you handle name variations and nicknames?

Accepted Answer

Our database includes common name variations, diminutives, and nicknames. For example, 
        "Bob" is recognized as a variation of "Robert", and "Liz" as a variation of "Elizabeth". However, we recommend 
        querying the full first name when available for best accuracy. Our AI systems continuously learn new name variations 
        from our dataset. If you encounter a nickname that is not recognized, please let us know and we will add it 
        to our database. Regional variations (like "Juan" vs "John") are handled through our country-specific datasets.

Question 37

Does the API support names with special characters and accents?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Our API fully supports Unicode characters including accented letters (é, ñ, ü), 
        umlauts, diacritics, and non-Latin scripts (Arabic, Cyrillic, Chinese, etc.). Names should be UTF-8 encoded in your 
        API requests. For example, "François", "José", "Müller", and "Søren" are all correctly processed. 
        URL encoding is handled automatically by most HTTP clients, but ensure proper encoding for special characters. 
        Our database contains names from 191 countries covering all major writing systems. More details in our API documentation.

Question 38

Which data sources do you use?

Accepted Answer

We combine multiple authoritative data sources to ensure maximum accuracy. These include: 
        government census data and birth records from numerous countries, publicly available name databases, 
        social media and professional networks (anonymized and GDPR-compliant), historical name records, 
        and manual verifications by our data team. All data sources are carefully vetted and cross-referenced. 
        We prioritize official governmental sources where available. Our AI models also help identify patterns and 
        verify consistency across sources. A full list of supported countries is available here. 
        We update our database regularly as new official data becomes available.

Question 39

How do you ensure privacy and data protection?

Accepted Answer

We take privacy very seriously and comply with GDPR, CCPA, and other international data 
        protection regulations. We do not store the names you query beyond necessary logging for service operation. 
        All API communications are encrypted via HTTPS/TLS. We offer Data Processing Agreements for enterprise customers. 
        Your uploaded CSV/Excel files are automatically deleted after one year. We never sell or share customer data with third parties. 
        Our servers are located in secure European data centers. You can read our complete privacy policy for full details. 
        Regular security audits ensure ongoing compliance.

Question 40

Can I get invoices and receipts for my payments?

Accepted Answer

Yes, invoices are automatically generated for all purchases and are available in your 
        account dashboard. You can download PDF invoices at any time, and they are also sent to your registered email address. 
        Invoices include all necessary details for accounting purposes including VAT information where applicable. 
        You can update your billing information and company details at any time to ensure invoices reflect the correct information. 
        For past invoices or custom invoice requirements, please contact support.

Question 41

What is your refund policy?

Accepted Answer

We offer a straightforward 14-day money-back guarantee for first-time purchases. 
        If our service does not meet your expectations within the first 14 days, contact us for a full refund - no questions asked. 
        For subscription payments, you can cancel at any time to stop future charges. Unused credits from one-time purchases 
        remain valid for one year. We also provide refunds for technical issues or service problems on a case-by-case basis. 
        Please review our complete cancellation policy for details or contact support with any questions.

Question 42

What third-party integrations are available?

Accepted Answer

We offer integrations with popular platforms and tools including Zapier, Make (formerly Integromat), 
        Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel, Salesforce, HubSpot, and many CRM systems. Our API works with any platform that supports 
        REST APIs or webhooks. We provide ready-to-use connectors and detailed integration guides for major platforms. 
        You can also use our CSV upload feature for one-time data processing without any integration. 
        For custom integrations or specific platform support, check our documentation or contact support.

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