Since February, Nigeria’s Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and the Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, have been in the news over allegations of sexual harassment and abuse of power against Akpabio. But beyond the glaring injustice done to Akpoti-Uduaghan, there’s an icky thing going on — everyone refers to the Senate President by his last name (Akpabio) but calls the Kogi Senator by her first name (Natasha).
Chances are you haven’t noticed this, or maybe you did and thought it was just you. It’s not. The media and the general public are guilty of this, and the reason is simple: gender bias.
But unlike some other forms of gender bias and discrimination, usually driven by men, both men and women are guilty of reinforcing this habit.
No, you’re not imagining it
If this article stopped here, you might begin to notice a pattern in how men and women are addressed in professional settings and be tempted to dismiss it as a coincidence, but it’s not. It’s a real thing, and there is data to prove it.
It happens across the globe
The phenomenon of men being addressed by their last names and women being denied the same is one of those things that can be dismissed in arguments as “imagined,” but big-time statistician Edwards Deming said everyone except God must bring data to back their claims. I don’t make the rules.
A 2018 research by psychologists Stav Atir and Melissa Ferguson titled ‘How gender determines the way we speak about professionals,’ made some pretty interesting findings, and I’ll help you understand them.
In eight studies which combined archival and experimental methods, the psychologists observed that “Men and women were, on average, more than twice as likely to describe a male (vs. female) professional by their surname in domains, such as science, literature, and politics.”
Here’s a curious one — after testing and confirming that 4,494 students across several universities were 55.9% more likely to refer to their male professors by their surname than their female counterparts, they did another test to see if male professors described with “stereotypically feminine traits (pretty, cute, helpful, understanding, kind, supportive, emotional, or meek),” would enjoy the same privileges as those described with stereotypically male traits (analytical, easygoing, brilliant, tough, arrogant, or rude). They found that those associated with feminine traits were more likely to be called by their first names, while the ones described with masculine traits were more likely to be called by their surnames.
If you haven’t been understanding my French, here’s what this study says — being associated with masculinity increases a person’s chances of being called by their surnames.
Psychologists Atir and Ferguson didn’t stop there; they carried out similar tests in the media and found that political pundits often referred to men by their surname and rarely did the same for women. They found the same thing in science, where male scientists were mostly addressed by their surnames as opposed to females.
Why is this a thing?
While the study did not carry out experiments to answer this question definitively, one of its authors, Atir, believes the first-name-for-women phenomenon might stem from the perception that surnames are inherently male. This perception hinges on the reality that men often keep the surnames assigned to them at birth, while women are more likely to change theirs due to marriage. Additionally, surnames are typically passed on from father to child rather than mother to child.
Atir explains that, while it is yet to be proven, these factors might explain why women are referred to in professional settings by their first or full names instead of surnames — to properly identify their gender.
Why is this bad?
Calling women in leadership, politics, and other professional settings by their first names has far-reaching consequences. Speaking to Zikoko Citizen on the dangers of this practice, Writer/Editor and Communications Strategist Nana Sule referenced Harry Potter author JK Rowling’s lived experience.
“The first thing that came to me was how J.K. Rowling famously used initials instead of her full name because her publisher believed a book by a woman might not appeal to male readers,” Sule said, pointing out that it is part of the broader issue caused by the disregard and disempowerment of feminine names in professional settings.
Sule stresses that first-naming women in professional settings while calling men by their last names reinforces subtle power imbalances as the “casual familiarity (that comes with a first name) can diminish a woman’s perceived authority, while men maintain a level of professional distance and respect.”
Stav Atir expressed similar opinions while speaking to the US-based news site Today.com in 2024. “We know the first name is kind of more associated with familiarity,” Stav said, explaining that it most often conveys informality and familiarity, suggesting that the person is more approachable and less authoritative. In contrast, surnames carry an air of importance and assertiveness, signalling respectability and a level of detachment that commands authority.
In politics and leadership roles, for instance, referring to women by their first names while using surnames for men can undermine the authority and perceived competence of female leaders, regardless of their actual abilities. This may explain the excessive scrutiny imposed on female candidates during elections — the reason society tosses away their achievements, experiences, certificates and awards while obsessively digging into their personal lives. It may be the reason why awful behaviours and outright physical punches in parliament are excused for male politicians while their female counterparts are over-scrutinised even without wrongdoings.
All of this, according to Louisville Political Review, widens the already existing gender gap.
How can it be stopped?
“What we must do is be intentional about language,” Nana Sule told Zikoko Citizen.
“Organizations should standardize naming conventions in meetings, emails, and official documents, ensuring that women’s last names are used just as frequently as men’s,” she continued, adding that women should “also assert their preferences by signing emails and introducing themselves formally.” Sule also believes that creating awareness through workplace training and media representation can go a long way to change things.
“Small changes in how we address women in professional spaces can have a lasting impact on how their authority and expertise are perceived,” Sule said.
In a similar article for the US-based radio, WBUR, Gender Equity experts Dr. Amy Diehl and Dr. Leanne M. Dzubinski offered a strong pointer for countering the first-name bias: responding with the appropriate surname anytime a female leader is called by her first name. While their suggestion was specifically in reference to former US Vice President Kamala Harris, this simple exercise can prove effective in similar situations.
So, the next time someone says “Natasha,” it is your duty to respond with “Akpoti-Uduaghan.” When they say Achebe and then Buchi Emecheta, ask, “Why not Emecheta?” Because while women’s first names may be collectively used to mark their gender, Emecheta’s identity has been established for decades now — yet the continued use of her first name, while her male counterparts are referred to by their surname, reinforces the flawed belief that women are inferior to men.
And because we are all guilty of this by default, you must also remind yourself it is Okonjo-Iweala, not Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. It’s Kingibe, not Ireti. It’s Oshoala, not Asisat Oshoala, and more importantly, it is Akpoti-Uduaghan, not Natasha.
