Historically, there is no single, widely accepted unique term for a female hobo; they were often simply called "female hobos" or "hobo-ettes" in early 20th-century literature. However, the term "tramp" was frequently applied to transient women, though it unfortunately carried a much more negative, sexualized connotation than the male version, often implying social or sexual outcasting rather than just a nomadic lifestyle. In hobo subculture, women were sometimes referred to as "sisters of the road," popularized by Ben Reitman's 1937 book Sister of the Road: The Autobiography of Boxcar Bertha. Unlike the romanticized "knight of the road" image of the male hobo, female transients often had to disguise themselves as men or travel in pairs for safety. In 2026, historians focus on how these women were denied the "mythology" of their male counterparts, being categorized by their gender rather than their transient labor practices.