Discussion Male characters using "female" names and vice-versa

It is not really the name in normal sense... Because Fujiwara no Mokou means, for example, Mokou of Fuijwara clan. The name would be Fujiwara Mokou.

 

I’m aware. That’s why I said it was a functional word. But it is a third word. I assume that if he was born in the modern day, his name would be Abe Seimei. So when and why did it go from being okay to have the “no” to not being okay?

 

Technically he still can be called Abe no Seimei and his name would be still TWO word name. The difference in writting doesn't change the real name, like at all.

 

You could suggest that the translator change it to Camille which is a name for both males and females.

 

Probably the translator knows that.

 

Abe no Seimei is actually within the standard Japanese naming system. His name is written as 安倍晴明 Abe Seimei. The particle 'no' is a possessive particle, similar to 'of' in English. So Abe no Seimei is similar enough to the name Friedrich von Schmidt or Christophe du Martine.

That being said, there were many people with more than two-word names. For example, in Nobunaga's time, everyone samurai of noble birth may have long names. Nobunaga's name himself was several characters-long, which included his father's name, his generation name, his clan name, his clan's position title and his ancestry. Supposedly, you're not even allowed to call him Nobunaga, people outside his circle were supposed to call him his other name, which Ai-chan can't remember. Those shouldn't be made example though, as although their names were long, those were courtesies to honor their bloodline and station, not really their own names.