Authentication

All API requests to GenderAPI require authentication. You can authenticate your requests in two ways:

API Key in POST body as key parameter
API Key in Authorization header using a Bearer token

1. API Key in POST Body

The simplest way to authenticate is by including your API key as a field called key in the JSON body of your POST request.

For example, to determine the gender of the name "Alice":

cURL Example

curl -X POST "https://api.genderapi.io/api" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"name": "Alice", "key": "YOUR_API_KEY"}'

JavaScript fetch Example

fetch("https://api.genderapi.io/api", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    name: "Alice",
    key: "YOUR_API_KEY"
  })
})
.then(response => response.json())
.then(data => console.log(data));

Python requests Example

import requests

url = "https://api.genderapi.io/api"

payload = {
    "name": "Alice",
    "key": "YOUR_API_KEY"
}

headers = {
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
}

response = requests.post(url, headers=headers, json=payload)

print(response.json())

2. API Key in Authorization Header (Bearer Token)

For better security and cleaner requests, you can send your API key in the Authorization header using the Bearer scheme. In this method, you do not include the API key in your JSON body.

Instead, only your input parameters (like name) go in the POST body.

For example, to determine the gender of the name "Alice":

cURL Example

curl -X POST "https://api.genderapi.io/api" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
     -d '{"name": "Alice"}'

JavaScript fetch Example

fetch("https://api.genderapi.io/api", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
    "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    name: "Alice"
  })
})
.then(response => response.json())
.then(data => console.log(data));

Python requests Example

import requests

url = "https://api.genderapi.io/api"

payload = {
    "name": "Alice"
}

headers = {
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
    "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
}

response = requests.post(url, headers=headers, json=payload)

print(response.json())

Choosing Between the Two Methods

Both authentication methods are supported on all API endpoints. However, using the Authorization header is more secure because it keeps your API key out of the request body and avoids accidentally logging it.

Regardless of the method, always set the Content-Type header to application/json when making POST requests.