this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2026
344 points (86.4% liked)
science
29187 readers
645 users here now
A community to post scientific articles, news, and civil discussion.
dart board;; science bs
rule #1: be kind
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I don't know anyone who would see a hyphenated last name and assume it's a male.
There are many cultures where having two last names or a hyphenated last name is pretty normal for any gender.
Yes, but people are bad at making assumptions that are globally accurate
My only point was that many people wouldn't think twice about the gender of a person because of a hyphenated last name. It's not even necessarily that common with married women tbh.
You're right. I suspect the numbers are very similar for all genders, and most people wouldn't make any gendered assumptions based on it.
But of those who do make an assumption, I would expect it to favor women due to the way last names are traditionally chosen and how that's changing culturally in western countries.
In this case I would assume that Bolivia uses a system for last names similar to that of Spain, children get a hyphenated last name consisting of the first last name of the father and the first last name of the mother.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_naming_customs
It happens to kids who are given both surnames by their parents.
In the UK they are referred to as “double-barrelled” surnames… and they have a reputation for poshness. They are not uncommon.