To think you can't judge a child by their name??

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Would you judge a child by their first name?

Katie Hopkins on this morning was saying how she judged the children her children play with by their names.

There's a YouTube video but can't link it

Yes of course I do.

And I judge them by their clothes, hairstyle and whether or not they have pierced ears at Primary School.

And anyone who says they don't is probably not being being very honest with themselves.

It works both ways by the way ...

Merguez Genuinely intrigued... why can't an 11 year old girl have her ears pierced?

was thinking more of the younger end of primary school Allegra ...

It is true that names do tend to indicate class but where I completely disagree with Katie Hopkins - I would NEVER choose who my children are friends with. Whatever class background you come from, it can be good for you to mix with everyone.

My DD got her ears pierced at 9, and we're posh :-p Well posh in Ireland. But as some people in my family have Irish names then maybe that rings hollow here on this thread. My dd had been begging me for years and I had a moment of lucidity. I just thought, "why don't I make her happy and say yes to something so harmless and spare myself the next few years of nagging?". Glad I buckled.

I had my ears pierced at 7, through much persuasion of my mum. She went by the view that I was old enough to understand that it's a permanent fixture, painful and could cause me a fair amount of damage if not looked after properly. Which I did. She had also given me a fair amount of time to be sure that I wanted to get my ears pierced (two years, I believe) and I remember vividly her saying that "you can get them done when you're seven" when I was five years old.

What merguez said.

and anyone who says they don't is probably not being very honest with themselves

Judge kids, by all means, if you have to.

But on that particular child's manner, work ethic, behaviour, how they treat your child. Not superficial things like names and appearance - things that the child has no control over.

And anyone who says they don't is probably not being being very honest with themselves

Really? I don't. And I am being honest with myself.

Well I have lived in 6 countries, you see, so recognise most of the things that you say for what they are, local small mindedness.

I know many women called Mercedes, for example. It is an upper-class standard catholic name in one of the countries I have lived in. If it conjures up an image in me, it is that of an affluent, well educated woman.

I have given my children names called chavvy in this thread. Dh and I are private school educated, oxbridge graduates. We chose those names as they are pronounceable in most of the languages we and our children have to operate in. The fact that we liked them as well was a bonus. The fact that people consider them chavvy is completely irrelevant to us.

Well I am posh by anybody's standards, and my DDs all got their ears pierced when they wanted to as long as they were old enough (imo) to take proper care of them by themselves while healing. Two of them had their ears done at age 7.

The DCs all have family names. One of them should really have a hyphen in it but I decided not to use it as it would have complicated form-filling. Their names are all over the place, ethnically-speaking - French to Irish to Shakespeare to OT to Greek/Russian but they are names and middle names that you might identify as Irish Catholic if you looked at them all in a list; DS is the dead giveaway with an Irish name.

I seriously considered the very Catholic Chantal as a mn for DD1 after dropping Jane Chantal from consideration as her full name. She ended up with a French double-barrelled first/middle name, and Chantal would have been lovely as the mn. I chose a French (and family) name instead of Jane. It's a bit to me to see the name Chantal (and its variations) castigated. It's every bit as pedigreed a name as Elizabeth, Margaret, etc.

There are names that are not to my taste and names I like. Among my own ancestors there are some real corkers. The children who have passed over my threshold are the dear children of people with their own taste in all things, names included. I can have an opinion on their taste and I am sure they have an opinion on mine. But I think it's important to examine where taste ends and prejudice begins.

In the end the judgement of others when it's based on outward appearance or something as random as a name often says far more about the ignorance or prejudice or insecurity of the judge than about the judged. I myself have an Irish name and it bothers me that someone might find me perfectly acceptable if I used the English version but might look down their nose at me for having the Irish one.

Liara -- Well I have lived in 6 countries, you see, so recognise most of the things that you say for what they are, local small mindedness

Have done similar and agree.

My dc have traditional names because I have always known there are narrow minded, shallow people who judge people on their name amongst other things.
I just think its a shame to go through life like that, because it must mean that people who do this think they are somehow better than others.

I absolutely judge children/adults by their behaviour and 'niceness' to other children/ adults and animals.

To be frank I can usually see good in a child who is gentle to an animal.

Judge in a name? Fucking mental twattishness.

Absolutely Mathanxiety, it's an opinion on their taste! I recognise it as that. I am being honest with myself. I do understand that it is taste, and what we've been exposed to, what we understand, that shapes our taste. But I can leave it there I think. It doesn't have to be prejudice.

I agree that some of the comments people make only reveal their own limited knowledge of the wider World, beyond the home counties! I have seen on the names board names that sound quite respectable to me labelled chavvy. Although I'm not Catholic myself I am Irish so I can tell if a child's name is after a French Saint. Mumsnetters just call "chav". And they are gasp shshhs wrong.

I think you can tell just as much about a family that names their child Elizabeth as one that names their child Chardonnay. We all make choices based on our perceptions. So to answer the question I don't 'judge' but I do make inferences.

And I wouldn't judge the child as nothing whatsoever to do with them.

I named my children Samuel and Margaret, what does that say about me? And is it different than if they were Sam and Maggie, which they are often called? (DD is not quite 6 weeks and we haven't decided if she's a Maggie or Margaret for every day just yet. :) )

Cheerful

Samuel nn Sam is classic. I can't imagine a young Margaret because the only one I've ever met is my fabulous great aunt who is touching 70 now. But as I say,she's fab. I can imagine a v young Maggie growing into it no problem.

They're classic names aren't they. Solid classic names with nicknames.

20wkbaby, If you had made the inferences I think you might have made about the family of the Elizabeth and her husband [insert classic name] who lived above me until about 6 weeks ago you would have been dead wrong.

That woman was hell on wheels and so was her classically named husband. Their flat is still not ready for re-renting even though a crew of workmen has been up there all day every day since they left with their big unfriendly dogs and their two unfortunate children. First it had to be cleaned and fumigated and then they set about repairing holes in walls, broken windows, toilet knocked off its seal, doors off hinges, wood floors ruined and appliances that had to be replaced. The mouse problem we had all been experiencing in the building stopped as soon as the top floor was emptied and the fumigators went in.

Oh and there is no more smell of skunk either now that they're gone.

The idea of controlling who your children are friends with based on their names is crazy. I would imagine her children will quickly work out what winds her up and will possibly take delight in doing just that when they are older.

Unfortunately, you could judge DD2s class exactly by their names.

My DDs you absolutely can't. Both names are very ordinary, despite DD1 sharing hers with the DD of the local seriously wealthy land owner and DD2 with royalty.

Who is Katie Hopkins ??? Never heard of her!!!!

As a teacher I do associate names with types of children. However, that doesn't mean I believe I know all children. I generally find Jordan's are quite naughty, but have also come across some amazing and lovely Jordans.

oh dear Ilove, you are going to get slated for that ' ! I agree, there are certain characteristics that coincidentally seem to follow a name but there are, as you say, exceptions.