Decoding Names, Decoding Bias: Unravelling Gender Perception Through Toponymy in Italy

Street names reflect the commemorative decisions of a community, representing not only the historical and political causes of naming and renaming processes that a city experiences but also social and cultural values. This study aims to analyse individual perceptions of gender equality through urban toponymy in Italian municipalities in order to provide insight into the persistence of local community culture as encapsulated in street names. Specifically, different specifications of a probit model are estimated to observe how a change in the ratio of streets named after women is related to the probability of an individual having more equitable perceptions of gender. Results show that even when controlling for a complete set of geographic, economic, socio-demographic, historical and political controls, in Italian municipalities with a high percentage of streets named after females, there is more awareness of gender bias and more egalitarian attitudes towards gender. Results are confirmed by a large set of robustness checks. Moreover, several heterogeneity analyses highlight that culture has a stronger influence in smaller cities, in cities with high social capital, and among native-born and less educated people.