Are children teased for their name on school?

[LizardOfOz]

I see on many threads the sentiment "don't call your child X , they'll be teased in school".

As a teacher for 15 years I have never heard a child's name being teased. At most it's an unwanted nickname eg Alex instead of Alexander. And never in a mean way. Just most Alexanders are called Alex.

What have other teachers/parents found

YABU : children are frequently teased for/about their name

YANBU : I have never heard of a child's name being teased by their peers either

I put yabu because I got relentlessly teased about my surname, howe, at school. It was the late 80s and the TV show "how to" was on air. People were always saying "how too!" At me. Teachers did fuck all. Don't get me started on an advert for the show "art attack ", with the host holding his chest and a caption saying "I'm going to have an art attack ". This was just after my dad died of a heart attack when I was a kid (sorry I went off on a tangent)

Oh and my sisters friends brother (indian) was called oomang. It was changed to poomang by kids so racist as well

That's what I'm saying though, you can't. The boy with the most unusual name at my school wasn't bullied, he was the bully. The boy I remember him picking on didn't stand out for anything I recall.

I was bullied a lot at school in the 90's over my name. As I am not English and I was one of the only foreign kids in school. I also had a name that sounded awful in English but has a beautiful meaning in the original language. Now though, my sons school is so ethnically mixed and parents choose such unusual names that I don't believe this occurs much anymore.

No. But you can mitigate some of it by giving them a normal name.

No you can’t & what is a normal name? I’ve worked in schools, kids will pick on anything regardless of a name.

I was teased for my surname which I suspect is more common than being teased for a first name or unfortunate first and surname combination.

Nope the only incident I ever have had has been an adult giggling and Making a joke to a girl called alexa's face. Not OK at all! Never from a child.

I think it depends on the name. Something that's unusual or old fashioned but still a name is probably fine. But there was a woman on Reddit the other day who's sister named her child Cuntley I think that child may be screwed

My friend's surname is Woodcock and her daughters are both teased for it currently.

The only times I've seen kids be teased is when they've had truly ridiculous names. Not names from different backgrounds or cultures (which are obviously not silly or ridiculous!) but made up, silly names from parents trying to be ~unique~

And honestly, if you call your kid Danaerys Khaleesi Smith what do you expect is going to happen? (I feel bad for the kid though as they don't choose the name!)

I was teased horribly for being a Maggie in the 1970s/1980s during the milk snatcher’s prime years.

Conversely, I’ve met children this century called Storm, Thor and Honey who weren’t teased at all. Isis did get some teasing, though. 🤷🏼‍♀️

I knew a Spanish child called Jesus who was laughed at and some DC said 'do a miracle' to him quite a lot which he would get upset about. I would have thought it wouldn't have happened especially because of the football player but it did. I've also known a girl called Felicity be called 'facility' in a mean way by boys.

Two of my daughters have VERY unusual names, and one has a name that's quite rare where we live. They have never been teased or bullied about their names (I asked). They all like having the names that they do (even the one who keeps being told her name is Welsh - it isn't, it really isn't).

Kids will pick on ANYTHING. I was bullied for being a bit odd. My friend was bullied for liking reading. Names are the least of it, especially these days. I mean, you wouldn't tell your child not to wear glasses at school, would you, and they are just as likely to be bullied for that as having an unusual name.

There was an Alexa at my DD’s primary who got a lot of teasing, it’s not always parents giving their children stupid names. They couldn’t have predicted that. Same with Karen but I don’t think there are many children called Karen! Any normal name can suddenly become a name gets you teased.

A girl with the surname called Howe in my school when I was a kid often heard 'How Now Brown Cow' chanted at her, mostly by the boys.

OP, I would say that as a teacher, you are not seeing/ hearing the half of what goes on between children.

They are crafty, especially bullies.

I was teased about my name (which is not even that unusual a name), but of course it all happened when the teacher was not present. Teachers would say that there was no bullying, but there most definitely was. This was in the noughties but kids don't really change.

Sure, kids can be bullied over anything, but it doesn't exactly help to also give your kids names that are likely to get them picked on. IMO you may as well control what you can as a parent and minimise the risk.

IME bullies identify someone to pick on and then decide what about them to focus on- that might be the name, or it might not. But it’s not the name that causes the bullying, and having an unusual name doesn’t make the bullying more likely.

DD is currently in last couple of years of Comp, and has had some teasing from people, about what her name spells backwards. (Her name is Lana).

It's been very occasional though and she says it's good natured teasing among friends rather than people trying to be mean.

Horrible children will use anything to tease so I would say choose whatever name you like ( within reason of course, I have heard of an adolf and an elvis which I thought bordered on mad) and don’t be swayed by possible views of future children.

The only school-related trouble over names I’ve heard of, was a teacher persistently (I mean over many months) calling a teen by the full version of their name, when as they’d pointed out many times, they had been christened with the short version.
Some sort of making a disapproving point, evidently.

I went to school with someone who’s first and second name, when said together gave the name of male genital! Yes they were bullied because of it.

I was called something derogatory that rhymed with my surname, and my kids have too, albeit a different name.
Mostly to do with poo.
I didn't care much when I was a kid, but my two youngest havevreally struggled with the name calling. So yes, in my experience, children do pick on names.

Some people don't consider their choices to be odd so can't imagine others will make a big deal..
Ds's primary school pal was Rory Lyons..who the fuck would do that to their ds?
Them fuckers...

I have a very unique name which shortens into an insult, I never had any teasing at primary school, probably because all the kids had known me since they were 4 years old and it was just normal to them. I got a few comments at secondary but just laughed it off and it never persisted. I have on occasions had some very rude comments from adults, including a police officer who was interviewing me for a witness statement! The odd insult isn’t an issue, but having such a frankly odd name has made me hesitant to introduce myself to other people, I think I’d be a lot happier meeting new people if I didn’t have to explain my name every single time.