From Kim Kardashian to Paris Hilton, many celebrities are known for their 'vocal fry'.

This speech pattern sees users adopting a raspy, low voice that drags out certain syllables.

It's usually associated with women, who are often mocked for it on social media. 

However, a new study has revealed that vocal fry 'isn't just a girl thing'. 

In fact, scientists from Macquarie University say that vocal fry is just as common in men. 

Notable examples of male vocal fry include George Sanders' Shere Khan in The Jungle Book, as well as Sean Connery's James Bond. 

'Listen to Sean Connery say "Bond. James Bond",' advised Dr Josha Penney, an author of the study. 

'You'll hear creak, but it attracts less attention in males.'

Vocal fry is a common way of speaking in California, but has been picked up across the world thanks to the popularity of American media. 

Sounds are usually used at the end of a sentence when users dip into lower, creaky notes.

It is compared to the way Britney Spears croaks out the line 'Oh baby, baby' in her number one hit 'Baby One More Time'.

In their new study, the researchers set out to bust the myth that vocal fry is used predominantly by women. 

'We found it interesting that changes in vocal characteristics like creaky voice have been attributed mainly to girls, even though no one had really collected data to support that suggestion,' said Professor Felicity Cox, an author of the study.

'So we set out to see if there was any empirical evidence for a change in creak prevalence in young speakers.'

Using advanced analysis of recorded samples, the researchers found no significant difference in the prevalence of vocal fry between male and female speakers. 

So, why does the myth that it's more common in women prevail? 

According to the researchers, it likely comes down to pitch. 

'It may be that creak is simply more noticeable in female speakers because there tends to be a larger pitch difference between a higher "normal" voice and the lower-frequency creaky voice in females,' said Dr Penney. 

'In other words, listeners may be less sensitive to creak in male voices, so the increase in creak in female voices has been salient enough to trigger comment and criticism.'