Quote Originally Posted by Cilia View Post
While societal perceptions of it can be different, there are traditional male and female social roles. If the Garleans are based on the Roman Empire, Regula is definitely acting like a male...

... and if your theory is "Regula is a feminine name, therefore van Hydrus must be female," well, things aren't always so cut and dry. There's no evidence to support this either, just the quoted inference. Conversely, there is a considerable amount of evidence pointing the contrary.

For the naming quirk of male Garleans possibly having feminine names, I don't see what Japanese has to do with this. Their names are based on Latin, as you pointed out yourself. Besides which, there are gender-neutral Japanese names, so using this to support your argument is a no-go.
If they were using full Roman societal rules then Livia nor any other female would be in the Imperial Army. If you really look around the game there are no set gender roles except in Miqo'te societies. You cannot say that someone is "acting male" or "acting female" in this game where every gender usually does everything.

I would say the evidence pointing to the contrary is equal to the evidence for it. And yes, having a feminine name is evidence. Just as much as having a masculine voice coming through a magiteck helm is evidence. And one piece of evidence, the voice acting, is not considerable. Especially when the helm worn by the NPC is magitek and could easily disguise or even flat out change a voice.

This isn't about gender-neutral names. This is about gender specific names being given to the opposite gender. And no other Garlean male has a feminine name. Just like no Garlean female has a masculine name. They all fit the gender name "rules". Except for Regula.