I remember a conversation with my (now) Ex-wife when we started playing an MMO together regarding her nickname;

They would use a name that was vaguely ambiguous on gender but was far more likely to be considered Male than female, and it was for similar-ish reasons. They would still get some harassers occasionally (usually someone who found out they were female in guild chat... which was thankfully dealt with swiftly by leaders. [0])

[0]- Which, semi-related to the topic, was often instigated by finding out they were my partner!