N. has a typically Russian name that ends with an “a.” In Russian, your last name has to end with an “a” for you to be a woman, not the first name.
So yesterday N. called an insurance company and introduced himself. Let’s imagine that his name is “Misha Ivanov.”
As soon as the insurance company employee heard this name, she started addressing him as “Mrs. Ivanov.”
N. felt it would sound stupid to respond with something like “I’m a man”, so he decided to drop a hint and mentioned that his wife was also going to drive the car he was insuring (even though I don’t drive yet.)
Still, the insurance company employee continued addressing him as “Mrs. Misha” and “Mrs. Ivanov.” Apparently, it was easier for her to accept gay marriage than recognize the possibility that a male name can end with an “a.”
“What about Santa Claus, though?” my father asked when he heard this story. I didn’t know what to respond. I get to sign for N.’s packages all the time because postal workers refuse to believe that a big, burly man can be called “Misha.”
Clarissa's Blog 
There’s a moderately well-known movie/tv series whose main character is a woman with a Russian male name that begins with N and ends with A, so if it’s the same name I’m thinking of, most Westerners will only know it as a woman’s name.
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Yeah, I know. The stupid move has been the bane of our existence. There is NO SUCH FEMALE NAME! In spite of what the film’s creators think.
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I don’t even think the character was supposed to be Russian. They just gave her a cool-sounding name.
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Still, they could have researched.
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Poor N. suffers as it is because he thinks his voice is too high-pitched and now this.
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My oldest has such a name, ending with an “a.” Had I known everyone would assume him a girl, I would have given him another name, Can’t fight everyone’s stupidity all the time…
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Then there’s the Japanese community, in which half the girl names end in -ko.
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