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

[SaveWaterDrinkMalibu]

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

[catgirl1976]

She is a prat

DH has a fairly classless name (Jonathan)

I have an 80s name (Samantha)

DS is Tristan which has been called both posh and "chavvy" on here. I understand in America Tristan is as "chavvy" as it gets :)

He can play he Tylers or Tarquins, I don't care. But if he hangs around with people as vapid, attention seeking and dreadful as Katie Hopkins I'll be having a word.

[NewAtThisMalarky]

I think she has a point. Some names concern me.

eg if my child brought home a poppy or an India, especially if their mum was Katie...

[NoobyNoob]

My daughter is Isabella, we call her Bella for short. Apparently she's going to be ugly!

....stupid twat.

I don't judge what people call their children, I know a few parents who have called their children slightly different names and they are the nicest people :)

[minibmw2010]

Her argument was terrible. Loved the opposing lady's opening comment of 'that was snort worthy'. Her face when challenged about her own children's names, you can tell she's such a bully! I have a beautiful niece called India and I just think oh that's her name, nothing else. I don't care where the origin of it came from but I do feel sorry for my SIL now with this fuss out there, taking something away from it. My DS has an unusual name so I could never judge anyone. Ok some people go a little mad with the names but it's a free world.

[HappyMummyOfOne]

We all make judgments in life, its part of being human.

Names do say a lot about people, if mis-spelt, celeb names etc then you do conjour up an image or idea of the parents.

Am surprised at the number of people who choose to name their child a "posh" name on the basis they want people to believe they are a higher social class. I didnt think class types were that relevant but obviously they are in some areas.

[HappyJustToBe]

You can judge the parent because of the name - you may be right, you may be wrong.

To stop your child playing with that child is awful imo.

As for her comments on the name Tyler, she can fuck off. The one Tyler I know had teenage parents who are "working class" - she would not give them the time of day. They are wonderful. Unlike KH.

[chubbymomie2012]

I just watched this! i am speechless. she is a poisonous ugly snob! why do they continue to give her air time!!!!!!!

[Tanith]

Dontmeanto, I wouldn't be surprised if she allows her children to play with whoever they like, away from the journalists.
She's being paid to come out with rubbish like this. She needs to cause a stir and to make herself look ridiculous or they won't keep buying into her.
She doesn't have to believe a word of it herself.

[HappyJustToBe]

What I'm trying to say is you can probably guess what "class" someone is by their name but how does that determine worth?

[dayshiftdoris]

People ARE judged on name... All the time! If they weren't then I wouldn't have changed mine and I wouldn't get comments like 'ooh I'd have never have thought you were a [insert previous name]'

Unfortunately for Katie Hopkins - my son has a name on her approved list and I am even a progressional... I can hold our own in her quick & dirty judgement - he's turned out nice, on time, does his homework but yet I am single parent, my boy has ASD & presents such challenging behaviour that most teachers he has have grey hairs named after him. Just goes to prove you can't judge a book by its cover!

Their are names that you hear that you know a teachers heart will sink on hearing - it's a fact of life, history of how we named children historically but openly discriminate against a child on the basis of perceived class - well I thought THAT was against the law ?
Or did I dream the Equality Act existed?

[Sunnymeg]

We have middle class friends who have adopted and who have two delightful girls called Brittney and Chelsea. Mum says that she has been asked many times, by people who don't know the girls history why they chose such common names.

[reelingintheyears]

I would agree with that TSC,people all make assumptions about names whether they will admit it or not.

[CSIJanner]

The video can been seen . Just to warn, it does get the hackles up a touch. She doesn't judge surnames as that would be wrong, however Katie also said she didn't like celebrity names like Apple or based on places like Brocklyn alongside those common names.

Philip Scofield then pointed it her daughter was named India

My next child will be named Lambrini, just to keep those pesky Katie types away.

[IneedAsockamnesty]

Funnily enough i work as a SW and there are names that crop up time and time again amongst clients. I can't possibly tell you what they are for fear your DC have those names too

That's because ( as you should know) you are more likely to recive referrals from certain socioeconomic and ethnic groups in built up urban areas. This does not mean that these groups are more likely to abuse,neglect children or experance DV(should be a high % of your referrals) it just means they are much more likely to be referred. Someone in a different income group or ethnic group could do exactly the same thing or worse and does not run as high a likelyhood of coming to your attention because of the way other people react to perceived status.

In built up areas you are also very likely to find the same names cropping up in the same areas a huge amount of people are creatures of habit they tend to like the familure its why we end up with top 100 name lists,people like what they hear frequently they get used to it its very unusual to pick a name outside the most frequently used ones.

Its got naff all to do with the actual children.

[Juniperdewdropofbrandy]

Well said Sockreturningpixie.

[Awomansworth]

I don't know what KH would make of my twin ds's. One has a name on her approved list and the other is on her disapproved of list, (incidentally a name that has been mentioned a few times on this thread).

We chose their names simply because we like them and looking at them now, they really suit their names. I would hate to think that other mums were going to judge them as suitable play mate simply because of their names... but if they do, then more fool them.

People do judge though... In my work I hold a very senior position and when my DH once picked me up after work, a colleague said to me "I didn't realise your DS was black!

I said "Oh my... is he, I hadn't realised, thank you so much for telling me". Her face was a picture.

[BabyMakesMyEyesGoSleepy]

I was accused of being a troll last time I said this on MN but it really does depend on where you live. Sophie/Emily/Jack are all fairly bog standard here,most areas have a few of them. You will get a few in each class year in school.

I don't understand this preoccupation with class though. I know lots of people with different backgrounds,from a recovering drug addict to a media personality.
If someone is termed as middle class,does that really tell you anything of worth about them? I suppose if I lived in a class society I would be working class (council house,DH wOTH,I am a childminder, two cars 05 reg and a 10 reg ). Does any of that tell anyone what type of people we are? Of course not.

[ArbitraryUsername]

Yes people judge on names, but the really important thing is that different values will be placed on different names in different places and a different times, and among different communities.

As I said before, Joshua/Josh is a great example of this. Every single Josh I know is Jewish and it has absolutely never occurred to me that people put it into the desperately trying to think of a euphemism when what they mean is 'chavvy' not naice middle class names category.

But on MN you see proclamations about how a certain name is categorically and universally déclassé just because that's how it is perceived in rural Buckinghamshire. The fact is that people in different places will have different name prejudices.

Many of the middle class Americans and Canadians I know have names that would go straight in the 'oh you'll never be a with that name' category, but they're perfectly normal names where they grew up (and no barrier at all to becoming a lawyer or doctor or whatever).

It's really quite silly to imagine that everyone on earth (or even everyone in the UK) shares your particular name prejudices.

[Juniperdewdropofbrandy]

Awomansworth I love doing stuff like that. Did you mean your dh though?

[MorrisZapp]

Sockreturning pixie, I'm not sure that's true. I live in a relatively affluent area, close to a very deprived council housing scheme. I have friends who work in SW, education, health etc in my city and they all say that they see many more referrals from the housing scheme.

One example is a friend who is a firefighter, he visits homes to assess fire risk. In the estate, he saw quite a few homes where the dogs were given more sleeping space than the children. These children are already known to SW. There is a vastly higher incidence of drug addiction amongst that socio economic group too.

Isn't this just fact? All the research backs it up, doesn't it.

[ArbitraryUsername]

MorrisPixie: I think you might be mixing up a correlation (in your local area) with causation (and universality).

[Birdsgottafly]

It doesn't surprise me that this thread opened with a criticism of a perfectly acceptable name, it just happens to be French.

My cousin (and partner) are "international", in that he works around the world (they are quite famous in their field and are head hunted). His partner is French, so his children have French family names (being unmarried the children are French nationals on their passports).

Yes they sound out of place when they visit home (Wales), equally his and my other Welsh cousin's names sound out of place where i live.

It doesn't mean that they shouldn't have been given those names.

Made up names, are one thing, but every time there is a name thread, the ignorance of some posters is shown, by rejecting the idea that life exists outside of middle England.

[Onetwo34]

We moved in January, and the school DD now attends is much more middle class. All the names here are booooring top hundred.
Children are just the same though!