History Main / GenderBlenderName

* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'': In ''Operation: W.H.I.T.E.H.O.U.S.E.'', Numbuh One's future as America's president showed that he would have a son name Shirley.
-->'''Nigel''': My son's name is Shirley?!
-->'''Kuki''': Your wife wanted a girl, sir.
-->'''Nigel''': I'm MARRIED?!?!?!?

** Adrian Andrews from the second and third games, which is important because [[spoiler:her name sounds masculine (and her last name literally is). This helps derail Shelly de Killer's argument that Adrian is his client, since he states that he physically met Adrian to make the deal, but refers to her as male because he hasn't actually met her.]]
** ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyJusticeForAll'': This is a plot point, as Shelly de Killer tries to frame Adrian Andrews for hiring him, but proves he never met her by referring to her with male pronouns, with this also applying to her in the original Japanese version.

* Vyvyan Ayrs from ''Literature/CloudAtlas''.

* ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'': lampshaded by Artemis Fowl II in ''The Eternity Code.''

[[SheIsTheKing Titles]] and initials can be [[GenderConcealingWriting misleading]] too, since many are [[DoubleStandard assumed to be male]]. Expect a SamusIsAGirl reaction when the actual gender of the title bearer is revealed. [[note]]This seems to be even worse in languages with grammatical gender, such as French or German. For example, in German most nouns are gender specific (A "Polizist" is a male police officer ("Polizisten" is the plural form), a "Polizistin" is a female police officer ("Polizistinnen" as a plural)) but when you don't ''clearly'' mean a woman or women (and sometimes even then) often the male form is used; e.g., a group of nine female and one male police officer would be referred to with the term that grammatically means many male police officers ("Polizisten").[[/note]]

... And last, there are names which have no cultural ambiguity, but were chosen for the sole purpose of being the opposite gender. Usually [[HilarityEnsues played for laughs]], but [[WhoNamesTheirKidDude not always]].

A frequent variation occurs when writers who skimped on research of a foreign culture's naming conventions inadvertently give a woman a masculine name or (less commonly) a man a feminine name. Russian characters are particularly vulnerable to this. (Confusingly, "Sonya" and "Tanya" are female names but "Sasha" and "Valya", being diminutives of Alexander/Alexandra and Valentin/Valentina respectively, are gender-neutral and "Nikita" is a male name, even though they all end with the same vowels -- "я" ("ya") being a separate letter from "а", which matches its Latin lookalike -- which, in most Russian names and words, take the feminine grammatical gender.)

!!Examples

* ''Film/PlanB'': Lupe's girlfriend is named Logan, as a result of which Sunny thinks initially that she's a guy (Lupe [[ClosetGay didn't correct it]] either then).

* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'':
** Adrian Andrews from the second and third games, which is important because [[spoiler:her name sounds masculine (and her last name literally is). This helps derail Shelly de Killer's argument that Adrian is his client, since he states that he physically met Adrian to make the deal, but refers to her as male because he hasn't actually met her.]]
** [[spoiler:Robin Newman]] from ''Dual Destinies'' plays with this, having a name that is masculine on one side of the Atlantic and feminine on the other. [[spoiler:And is actually female.]]
** ''The Great Ace Attorney'' has Ashley Graydon, who is male, although this example is less plot-relevant than the others. Considering the game takes place in Victorian Era England, Ashley would be considered a commonly masculine name for the time and location, and only seems odd to a modern audience.

* ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyJusticeForAll'': This is a plot point, as Shelly de Killer tries to frame Adrian Andrews for hiring him, but proves he never met her by referring to her with male pronouns. This also applies to her original Japanese name.

** Berenice Gabrielli is a guy according to the Viz translation.