Regula van Hydrus (potential spoilers until the end of Heavensward)

[Cilia]

Let's break this down.

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.

That's why the Garleans are only based on the Roman Empire. For the most part they are very similar, having highly advanced technology compared to their enemies and a love of conquest. However in the same breath they are not Romans - they have their own naming conventions, conscription policies, etc - that differ from those of the Romans. "Garleans = Romans" is not a fair assessment. It's more like "Garleans = ~Romans."

While the miqo'te tribes are the only ones with strict gender roles in the game, that doesn't mean there aren't societal perceptions of male and female behavior. As we know very little about Garlean society outside of their military, I don't think it's unfair to say van Hydrus carries himself in a typically masculine manner. (Such distinctions are largely unimportant in the military anyway.)

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.

Having a feminine name is not evidence that van Hydrus is a woman. In spite of the feminine name, everyone refers to him as a man and he has a clearly masculine voice and bearing. He has a male voice actor in every language. If van Hydrus were a woman they probably(?) would have gotten a woman to do him and modulated the voice to make it a surprise. They... didn't.

Voice changer? Maybe. I'm not going to believe he has or is using one until the helmet comes off, though. Despite their grand magitek achievements, we don't know if they have voice changers, and I'm not going to base an argument on the assumption they do or believe any argument that assumes as much.

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.

Exceptions prove the rule.