News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:US boy names that became girl names and vice versa by ape4 on Monday November 02, 2026 @01:01PM (#50340842)
Good luck to the Perl function Text::GenderFromName()

Maybe it needs the birthday

Re:US boy names that became girl names and vice versa by andix on Monday November 02, 2026 @01:24PM (#50341214)
I guess it's eternally stuck in the 90s. I didn't see Perl in a long time now. 10-15 years ago it was still everywhere.

edit: No, it's stuck in the 80s: "The data comes from a 5% sampling of Social Security card applications with dates of birth from January 1980 through December 1989"

https://metacpan.org/pod/Text::GenderFromName#REGARDING-THE-...

Re:US boy names that became girl names and vice versa by normie3000 on Monday November 02, 2026 @02:10PM (#50341983)
At what age are social security numbers issued? Folks born in 1989 weren't adults until the 2000s
Re:US boy names that became girl names and vice versa by OptionOfT on Monday November 02, 2026 @03:16PM (#50343045)
https://www.ssa.gov/faqs/en/questions/KA-01969.html

> It is a good idea to apply for your child's Social Security number and birth certificate at birth. If you apply at the hospital, the state agency that issues birth certificates will share your child's information with us. Then, we will mail the Social Security card to you. If you wait to apply, there may be delays while we verify your child's birth certificate.

Re:US boy names that became girl names and vice versa by astura on Monday November 02, 2026 @09:51PM (#50347411)
Now they are usually applied for (and issued) at birth because the IRS requires you to provide one for dependants you claim on taxes since 1987.

Before that, usually you got one when you needed one, when you started working.

Re:US boy names that became girl names and vice versa by quickthrowman on Monday November 02, 2026 @03:29PM (#50343247)
That’s a silly function, why even try to quantify that?
Re:US boy names that became girl names and vice versa by boscillator on Monday November 02, 2026 @01:55PM (#50341755)
Why did anyone even try and make this? It's fascinating what incomputable functions people try to shoe-horn into being computable.
Re:US boy names that became girl names and vice versa by rconti on Monday November 02, 2026 @01:17PM (#50341110)
I thought you must be joking. You were not!
Re:US boy names that became girl names and vice versa by Terr_ on Monday November 02, 2026 @01:37PM (#50341437)
I'm sure there are a few competing "Falsehoods programmers believe about names" out there by now.