Female names in online chat programs are 25 times more likely to receive threatening and sexually-explicit messages than users with male or ambiguous names.

Research at the University of Maryland in the US found that female usernames received an average of 163 malicious private messages each day, where ambiguous users received 25 and male users only four.

To enhance online safety, and prevent invasive forms of harassment, the study suggests that people steer clear of gender-based usernames.

"Parents should consider alerting their children to those risks, and advising young people to create gender-free or ambiguous usernames," said Michel Cukier, assistant professor on the project.  "Kids can still exercise plenty of creativity and self-expression without divulging their gender".