four in a class - really?

My son has just started reception at a three form primary school and when I got the list of names in his year, he was the only Oliver!!! I was sure there were going to be more. We have a James and two Jamie's in our class!

"I teach the following duplicates: Year 8: 4 Georges (class of 15)"

"There are 5 Sophias in my Dds class and to make it even more confusing 2 of them have the same surname too!"

"6 Daniels in my primary school class. Nearly 50% of the total boys."

How do you teachers differentiate between them - by asking the kids what nicknames they prefer, by adding an initial/surname or how? I'm genuinely intrigued!

I thought of this thread this morning when I was at a toddler group. No name duplications, bit definitely the zeitgeist was in full swing. And yes, I live in a naice middle class area

Ida
Imogen
Ivy
Isis

Ella
Isabella
Annabel

Eva
Ava
Evie

mopsyflopsy Fri 14-Oct-11 14:12:51
"So we were first name, first name with a y stuck on the end and I was my first 2 initials"

Depending on the name, this may or may not work so well .

It is Dawn, so Dawny (unfortunatly she became Dawny prawny because of the lack of hygiene, children are cruel) and I was DC

I teach the following duplicates:
Year 8:
4 Georges (class of 15)
2 Annabelles (class of 13)
2 Chris' (class of 15)

Year 7:
2 James' (class of 17)
3 Georginas (class of 17)

Year 6:
2 Alice's (class of 16)
2 Bens (class of 14)

Year 5:
3 Olivers (class of 16)
2 Mias (class of 16)
3 Isabelle/as (class of 17)
2 James' (class of 16)

When I was in 6th form (2000-2002) there were 4 Sarahs in my form out of only 7 girls. 2 of the Sarahs had the same surname and the other 3 of us all had top 10ish names too.
The year group had 6 Sarahs, 5 Emmas, 4 Lauras, 3 Rebeccas, 3 Joanne/as, 5 Andrews, 3 Davids, 4 Thomas' and 3 Ryans.

My dsis had 2 Leighs in her class last year (yr5/6) - both girls
My ds has 2 Adams

And, mog, it has nothing to do with feeling 'less individual'. It simply has to do with being identifiable (which is what a name is there for). That's all.

In DS's class there were 3 Matthews but DS is Sam and there were only 2 in the whole school.
There were 4 of me in one in my junior school classes.

In DDs class there were a few Joshs and Elyshas

"not sure why people seem to think it is a really bad thing!"

Are you serious? How can having a class with four Jacks or five Sophias (two sharing the same surname) not be a pain for everyone involved .

Agree with mayanna, giving me a common name was not a "bad thing" my parents had done to me but might have shown a little lack of judgement/imagination.

There are lots of worse things that could have happened but again mayanna is right, its a pain in the arse! [hgrin]

Three Thomas Cs in DS' year, plus some other Thomases with different initials for their surnames. Luckily we decided against Thomas at the last minute or he'd have been the fourth Thomas C.

mog, no-one is saying it is a 'bad thing'. What people are saying is that is can be a pain in the XX!

At the end of the day, we give a person a name so that person can be identified. If that name is already used by many others, then that name doesn't really serve a purpose and it needs an added modifier.
So, either your parents give you a name that identifies you, or your mates/colleages add something to your name to make you identifiable.

And, having read on here some of those modifiers (big, thick, the other, etc), I'd rather give my child a name that doesn't need any modifiers added to his/her name.

And, life is much more interesting (and easier) if we have different names .

"So we were first name, first name with a y stuck on the end and I was my first 2 initials"

Depending on the name, this may or may not work so well .

As a child we moved around a lot, I had something like 12 schools, but only ever encountered 1 or 2 other people per school with the same name as me, except for one school when there was 3 of us in one class. So we were first name, first name with a y stuck on the end and I was my first 2 initials (which I actually took through my school life.)

In my school year there were two girls with the same first, middle and surname - that got very confusing!!!

I'm a Megan. There were three of us in my class at school (1980s)

Most the ladies at school PTA are Sarahs.
Nice name, but It is a bit freaky and several are or were very close mates with each other and get referred to as "The Sarahs". They are very very different personalities, though.

I can't believe all of you with such accurate memories of your own childhood! I don't remember sharing a class with anyone with my name (very 1960s common) until age 16.

DC1 is the only one in his school.

DC2 is one of 3 in the whole school and one is a different spelling.

DC3 is the only one in his school and I suspect he will never meet any one with his name though there are a few worldwide.

In ds's year there are duplicates of 7 names. And in his school, one year has 4 Nathans and one has 3 Harrys in one class.

In my infants school class there were 4 Sharons, and at my secondary school we had 4 Susans in my class at one point. And 3 Karens........

I teach A levels, and currently have in the same classed 4 Emmas, 2 Elizabeths and 2 Hannahs.

Last year I taught two girls with exactly the same first name and surname. That made handing back work difficult. This is the second time I have had this now - but the first time I have had two students with exactly the same name in the same year.

should have said in my DS's class

In my 1980s primary year we had four Michelles, four Rachels (two were in my class), four Emmas and duplicates of Rebecca, Natalie, Keely, Kelly, Sarah and Chantelle. We also had three Davids, three Pauls and two Jasons.

In my DS's (aged 6) school there are two Isobels (well, one Isobel and one Isabelle) and two boys called Max. In DD's nursery there are duplicates of Isobel/Isabella, Sophia, Ruby, Ava, Eve/Eva and for boys Zach, Oscar and Finn.

In my primary class, there were 3 Marks, 2 Dannys, 2 Jamies and 2 Ruths. At secondary school every other girl seemed to be Rachel or Kathryn, and in my group of friends from those days there are 5 Matthews.

In my office of 12 people, there are 2 Janes, 2 Rachels and 2 Elizabeths. Also a Paul and a Pauline, which is nearly as bad. The two bosses have exactly the same initials.

ohhlaalaaa i live in ireland - guess that makes a difference to the pot of popular names

you would be highly unlikely to find an oliver, a ruby or an alfie here.