Do Masculine Names Help Female Lawyers Become Judges? Evidence from South Carolina

This paper provides the first empirical test of the Portia Hypothesis:Females with masculine monikers are more successful in legalcareers. Utilizing South Carolina microdata, we look for correlationbetween an individual's advancement to a judgeship and his/hername's masculinity, which we construct from the joint empiricaldistribution of names and gender in the state's entire populationof registered voters. We find robust evidence that nominallymasculine females are favored over other females. Hence, ourresults support the Portia Hypothesis.