People are two times more likely to address male professionals by just their surnames, while women are identified by their full names, say scientists who suggest that such bias may be contributing to gender inequality.
The research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has pointed out that the tendency of addressing men by their surnames and women by their full names, holds true while referring to professionals of equal station, artists, and even fictional characters.
The study, which included men and women, showed the difference in naming affected participants' judgements of professionals: When men were referred to only by surname, they were perceived as more famous and more important than the women, who were referred to by their first and last names.
"This sort of judgment could result in more recognition, awards, funding and other career benefits, and suggests that a subtle difference in the way we talk about women and men might lead to bias," said Melissa Ferguson, a professor at Cornell University in the US.
This difference in addressing men and women is not only seen in the general masses, but also in intellectual circles.
This disparity is apparent quite blatantly when we refer to Williams Shakespeare by his surname, and Jane Austen by spelling out her entire name, despite the fact the both of them were icons of equal stature in their respective literary movements, researchers said.
"The scientific realm is no different. The scientist who researched on radioactivity will always be remembered as Marie Curie, and the one who developed the theory of relativity, will invariably be called Einstein," they said.
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The researchers first noticed the discrepancy in naming when listening to political experts on Israeli television, but they realised that the same held true of students and faculty at Cornell University when they talked about scientists.
"I wondered if there were any benefits to being referred to only by your surname," Ferguson said.
The research included an experiment in which participants writing about fictional scientists were found to be more likely to refer to the male scientist by last name only.
The study revealed that scientists identified by only their last names were considered by participants as 14 per cent more worthy of receiving a National Science Foundation career award.
The scientists also analysed archival data in numerous online domains and listened to political experts on radio broadcasts to arrive at the results.
"The implications for political campaigns could be significant. It is possible that referring to a candidate by their full name instead of just the surname could have implications for fame and eminence," said Ferguson.
The researchers are planning further studies to evaluate the deeper implications and consequences of the gender bias in names.
"But just pointing out the discrepancy could have some effect. In my lab, we now pay more attention to how we refer to female scientists," Ferguson said.