That's bullshit！ In ancient China, women only had surnames, but no first names and characters. Only men who entered the imperial examination had names, so they gave themselves a word when they grew up. All the women are called XXX, such as Yang and Wang. Even the queen has no name, such as the eldest grandson queen, who can only be called history in official documents.

Even if Wu Zetian was in her prime, she didn't have a name before she proclaimed herself emperor. She can only be called Wu. You can address Miss Wu, Mrs. Wu, Hou Wu respectfully, and give yourself a name only after she proclaimed herself emperor. However, Tian is your respectful name, not your name. Wu Zetian is a respectful name, to be exact, it should be after the emperor. As for Mei Niang, such a name is just a nickname, posthumous title.

So is Yang Yuhuan. Yang is the only official name, Yuhuan and the like are just nicknames and posthumous title, which are purely joking nonsense.

Women don't have names because they can't use them, and poor male farmers in rural areas don't have names, only surnames and nicknames, such as Zhang Gou and Wang Tiedan. Of course, no one cares if you find a scholar and give yourself a nice name.

This situation was not fundamentally changed until the Republic of China, and everyone should have a name.