Do children in inner city schools still get bullied for their names?

[BadCatDirtyCat]

Just wondering if any parents/teachers have experience of this?

I went to a tiny primary school in rural Wales where most people were related and anything remotely "different" was seized upon by the bullies.. this is one of the reasons why I'm inclined to give DC a "classic" name. Having said that, my DC will be attending a large, very multicultural school in London so maybe I'm worrying too much and letting my own experience have too much influence?

I'd be grateful for any thoughts!

Having worked in a large multicultural school in central London, I can guarantee your child won’t have the most unusual name there.

Seriously, don’t worry. My child has an unusual name and will be attending a small selective school.

No. My DC went to inner city schools in London. There is no such thing as a typical name because children come from such a variety of countries and cultures. Lists of popular baby names are irrelevant here. A single name has never been replicated once, as far as I know.

I went to a bad state school.
A girl there had the surname Pratt and wasn’t bullied but “Abbey” got bullied relentlessly and called Abbey National Bank
You often can’t even predict which name will get picked on. Abbey was a pretty common name

Yes, they get bullied anywhere inner cities no different.
Bullies find something to pick on a child for, if you give them a daft name you are encouraging it.
tarquin in a wc northern town probably wouldn't last the day.

If a bully wants to bully they’ll find anything about their victim they can to exploit.

tarquin in a wc northern town probably wouldn’t last the day.

I teach in a wc northern town. There is no bullying over names. That doesn’t mean there’s no bullying. Just not over names. The range of names is now so varied due to immigration, they are not growing up with common white 80’s names anymore.

Just spell them correctly. Don’t make it harder work.

In 30 years as a Primary school teacher I never heard of any child being bullied for their name (in a former mining area). I also have four grandchildren aged up to 16 and they have never mentioned anyone being bullied for their name - one of the teenagers has a name that is sometimes described on here as chavvy (I disagree) and one has a name that is thought of as posh. It's not a highly multi racial area but plenty of 'white indigenous' children, for want of a better word, have really unusual names. And 'unusual' is putting it kindly.

I help out in a school. Kids generally don't get bullied for having an unusual name. The only names that might get teased are names like Will/y or Isaac/ I suck. But I can't see anything tease worthy about Tarquin or Thomas for example.

my DC will be attending a large, very multicultural school in London

In that case there'll be mainly unusual names! The 'boring' classic ones might be the ones that stand out or are 'unusual'!

I went to school with a girl called Paris London ffs. There are some bizarre names in city schools.

Never.

Bullies find something to pick on a child for, if you give them a daft name you are encouraging it. tarquin in a wc northern town probably wouldn't last the day.

I honestly don't see what is tease worthy about Tarquin? It has no rude connotations, has it?

Yes, names like William could be teased with Willy or Benedict with Bendy Dick or even Teddy with Bear etc.... But I can't see what kids would find teasable about Tarquin. Imo kids are pretty accepting of their mates' names.

I have never known of a child bullied for their name and I have worked in some pretty (very!) tough schools! However if someone wants to bully someone, they will find a reason, be it name or something else. The problem lies with them, you can’t not give a child an unusual name because of people like that.

Thanks all, that's helpful. Tbh we will probably still use a classic name (we are pretty boring!) but it's still reassuring to hear.

Don't jump on me for "ageism", but I've noticed that generally the younger generation have less of an issue with non-"English" or more "unusual" names than your bog-standard Oliver and Amelia.

DH has a non-English name, and the kids he works with (in inner London primary schools) have no issue with it. His elderly Cockney neighbours, however, totally butcher it, and other older folk ask if they can call him by a more "English"-sounding name.

@bealelle

Totally agree!

My DS has a slightly unusual name, and the older generation have given me the whole “oh but a traditional name like William, that would be nicer”

@Bezalelle I agree! My OH is foreign and it's a running joke that many English people (especially older ones) anglicise names they find unusual. It's like they can't be bothered to even try. He just finds it funny rather offensive though.

Kids generally have no problem with unusual names as they just accept things as they are especially in our big cities which are very diverse.

I have a really weird name.
I get the occasional joke or remark (generally positive) but it’s always been from adults. Even when I was a child, nobody at school ever commented on it although their parents and my teachers used to have the occasional ‘funny’ comment to make.
I love having an unusual name!
Go for it.

As a teacher I find it odd that some people are attempting to say for certain that children NEVER get bullied for their names in the area that they live. It’s a very silly statement because they simply have no way of knowing whether it’s true. The kids you know may not bully/be bullied for their names - or they very well might and you just don’t know. There will always be bullies in schools, as much as we try to prevent it, and there’s always the possibility that a bully will chose the child’s name as the thing to pick on. Like a PP said, it doesn’t even matter if it’s an unusual name or not. I had a girl in my school who was relentlessly bullied because her surname was Jarman and they called her ‘jamjar’. Not particularly cutting, I’m sure you’ll agree, but everywhere she went people yelled ‘jamjar’ at her in an aggressive tone at her.

Also had a William mocked and called ‘Willy’

A single name has never been replicated once, as far as I know.

Really daisypond? The schools have never had two children called Olivia or William or Mohammad??

No. Never been an Olivia or William. Never a Mohammed, not as a first name - in a three form primary. Eg, my DC primary classes, DD was the only one with both parents British.

It's good that the school send you all the class lists so you can keep track of all 630 children over so many years. Do you put it into a spreadsheet? I'd never be able to hold all that in my head.

Bullies pick on something. It might be the name, it might be something else. School nicknames can stick, even if the person hates it. But they can arise from any name, or from an associations of the name (which might not even have arisen yet you can't future-proof names)

If you wouidn't want to live with a name (multiple pronunciations, bit too posh/wet/frilly or any other reason) then do think carefully about giving it tomsomeine else. But if you love it, go for it

Eh? Of course my DC know the names of other dc in their school. Most names are “foreign” and very recognisable. Kids are from Kazakhstan, India. Pakistan, Thailand, China, Nigeria, Somalia, Ghana, Caribbean, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Ethiopia, New Zealand, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Holland, Portugal, Denmark, Ireland, Colombia, etc, just off the top of my head. Names are not replicated. Inner city state school.