Blanche is more commonly a female name than a male one, so it's not too surprising. That being said, I feel like they deliberately made her design pretty neutral, which kinda fits with Team Mystic anyway.
The stuff brought up here disappoints me. Not because it's not good to hear, but because it was all stuff I figured out on my own well before this. Trading is one of the few upcoming features they've even MENTIONED, so of course that's at the top of their list. Customizing Pokestops is very obvious, especially if they get into sponsorship deals.