Names and Gender

There's a significant aspect of the names of states and provinces that may be lost on those of us whose primary language is English.

Many European languages assign genders to the names of objects and places as well as of persons. There are some rules that go into this assignment. In French, for instance, most names that end in "e" are generally feminine, and the rest are masculine.

Such rules, and having genders for objects in the first place may seem purely arbitrary Yet there is something intuitive and insightful to these designations.

No knowledgeable Canadian denies that Alberta is a masculine province, despite having a woman’s name. There is a dispute over its gender grammatically. Statistics Canada lists it as feminine, apparently looking to its namesake. Yet ask most native francophones what gender “Alberta” is, and they will reply “masculine” without hesitating.

This masculine province is bordered on east and west by feminine ones: Saskatchewan (La Saskatchewan) and British Columbia (La Colombie Britanique). Two other Canadian jurisdictions, both maritime, have feminine names: Prince Edward Island (Ile du Prince Edouard) and Nova Scotia (la Nouvelle Ecosse), making four out of thirteen or 31%.

Does it matter? Coincidentally or otherwise, Canada’s first female provincial premier was Rita Johnson from BC. Its second was Catherine Caldeback from Prince Edouard Island. And Canada first female Prime Minister was Kim Campbell, from British Columbia.

Eight American states (16% of total) have French names that are feminine. California (La Californie) is unmistakably one as are Virginia (La Virginie) and West Virginia. So are the two Carolinas, Pennsylvania, Florida and Georgia.

Yet only one feminine name state, Louisiana, has had a female governor, out of 31 women who have served in this capacity in different states. If we include Montana, whose gender is feminine in Spanish, the number goes up to two of 31. Apparently state gender makes no difference to women’s election to public office.

Those who have experienced real gender discrimination in certain countries or religious traditions may respond to this type of study with impatience and irritation. What does it matter if a word is masculine or feminine in a language? Does this tell us anything more?

Yet some people change in youth or adulthood names they were given at birth ("That's not me!") Likewise some find themselves on the wrong side of the gender divide and seek a sex change operation ("I was always a women in a man's body" or vice versa.)

The words we use do matter--both in fact (the wording or a law) and in flavour (the subtle associations). They both reflect an essence and they shape an identity.

There is a spirit of names as surely as there is a Spirit of Laws, as in Montesquieu's book of that title (L'Esprit des Lois) If we are to understand the similarities and differences of Canada and the United States, there is something to be learned by look at word labels, and how they may affect those who live under them.

Those who wish to take the name and gender issue further in the US may wish to look at state and provincial names in another language, such as Spanish. This is especially relevant where the state names were Spanish words to begin with, as in Colorado, Florida, Montana and Nevada.

In Spanish, "Colorado" has the same masculine gender and Florida, the same feminine one as in French. However both Montana and Nevada change to feminine words.

Tomorrow we’ll look at similarities and differences in the Spirit of Laws in the two countries.