A new poll of 2,000 US adults has crowned Southern American English as the sexiest accent in the United States. The survey, conducted by OnePoll for language learning platform Babbel, placed Louisiana/Cajun English second and New York City English third. Miami English and General American rounded out the top five.
At the other end of the scale, the Philadelphia accent and the Appalachian dialect were ranked the least attractive. The study also asked participants about European accents, with Italian taking the top spot, followed by French, Spanish, and British English in fourth place. German and Polish were deemed the least attractive.
Babbel noted that accents can significantly impact romance, with over a quarter of respondents saying a bad accent is an instant dating dealbreaker. Sixty percent said an accent would influence their decision to swipe right or left on a dating app. Nearly a quarter admitted to softening or changing their accent on dates to improve their chances.
Esteban Touma, a cultural and linguistic expert at Babbel, commented: 'Accents don't just shape first impressions — they influence who we swipe on, who we meet again, and even how confident we feel showing up as ourselves.' He encouraged people to embrace their accents rather than hide them.
