Which names get made fun of?

[Newsenmum]

I often see this as a worry.

As a teacher, which names do kids genuinely laugh at?

Have worked in school for very many years I genuinely don't think the kids laugh at other kids' names, it's more likely the adults (parents or staff) who may raise an eyebrow. Where I live the social and ethnic demographic is very diverse so there are all sorts of names from all over the world plus many made-up names. It just adds to the melting pot and interest!

That’s what I wondered

A name that sounds like a different name. The level of teasing might be along the line of 'Art the Fart' or 'Big Jessie' or something. Dodgy initials are fair game - don't call your child something like Sophia Harriet Imogen Taylor or William Edward Evans

I worked in a school for many years and children really didn't bully other children for their names. Children are very accepting of all kinds of people, it's only when some of the nasty attitudes of some adults rub off on them that this can start.
MN is a classic place to pick up on the snobbery and fear of some parents out there....if you like it and it's not a rude word have it. Your child can be PM if they're not called Charles or John just ask Rishi !

I have taught as a secondary school teacher and can’t think of a single example of a name being the cause of teasing - and I have come across many names . As pps have said it is adults that seem to do this.

I agree with @ChillyFeets. I've worked with children with names from so many cultures and work in a school with children from so many different backgrounds, I think you're as likely to meet a Gaia / Fatou / Lorenzo as a Bella where I am. I don't hear kids making fun of names at all tbh. They can be absolutely vile about each others mothers though (secondary school joys 🙄)

As above. It's usually the snobby and racist attitudes of adults who do the bullying. I too live in a very diverse area and kids just accept all manner of names without the sniggering and sneering you read on MN.

Yes, I also agree. I’ve worked in many schools and the ONLY people I have seen laugh at a name were a couple of bitchy teachers (2 of them). Children are accepting of all names. I’ve never seen a child bullied for their name in 20 years of working in schools.

William

That's the only name that I've ever heard teased with Willy.

And, come to think of it, there was a Benedict at my school who sometimes got teased with Bendy Dick

You’d be surprised at how many unusual names do not get made fun of. I think everyone gets used to each other and then the unusual names seem ‘normal.’

Exactly. These kinds of comments on the baby names forum are like the tendency of Mners to view the innocuous activity of dropping your child to school as a gauntlet of ‘cliques’, ’alphas’, ‘Mean Girls’ and exclusions, and say more about some people’s unprocessed own schooldays’ fears.

DS has been at three very ethnically and socially diverse schools in two countries, and the children just accept one another’s names as their names.

Only on Mn have I come across the idea that being called anything other than George and Emily is social death.

I've been a teacher for 18 years in seven different schools and have never known a child be teased or bullied because of their name. Ever.

Only adults say horrible things about other people's names.

Yeah i'm a secondary school teacher and never heard any students make fun of a child's name. The teachers will sometimes duscuss it though! That would be names that you don't expect a child to be called e.g Debbie, Sharon, Barry etc. Or why are there so many Evies in my class? As it makes it harder to do seating plans etc. Apart from that, names are not a big deal.

The teasing won't happen in the class. It will be when they play outside school or on the school bus.

Parents should teach their children to be resilient and bullys will find someone else to bully.

Parents should teach their children not to bully.

Children don't make fun of names unless some stupid adult puts the idea into their heads.

There was a Fanny in my class at school and no one said a thing.

I agree that kids are more accepting than parents.

I think it’s best to avoid a famous person’s name though. Eg a Taylor Swift has to be musical and a Harry Kane must be good at football

If someone becomes famous after a child is born then that’s unlucky.

I was a teacher until about five years ago. I mostly worked in an independent senior school and had a lot of contact with a local comprehensive.

Pupils were sometimes bullied for their names. Only it wasn't really for their names - most of those pupils would sadly have been bullied anyway. The names just gave the bullies extra ammunition.

And more than half of the time it was surnames that were problematic. Not quite so easy to do something about that!

Initials were definitely worth being careful about though...

Second initials.

Two names spring to mind.

Alice, 'a lice'. Such a shame as I love that name.

The second isn't common but we had a student called Sirius. My American colleague used to bellow 'seriously, Siriusly' across the corridors in an attempt to be funny. (No kids laughed though).

Honestly, I also live in a melting pot area and see very little name calling due to names.

22 years teaching and rarely heard anyone teased for a name. The only two were not bullied - just commented on. Holly Wood and think rhyming like Tracey Casey.

@justwatchingtelly have you known any Alices that's happened to? because I'm struggling to imagine it (Adam doesn't get called a dam, either)

Besides, it's a louse.

Yes, I do (it was a student) but it was only the once in several decades of teaching.

It is second names that get picked on mostly.

I hate my second name, it’s very obscure and is the name of a small town in Yorkshire.

My DD, DB, me and DN all have had moments throughout school where it was ridiculed.

Learned to have thick skin fast though😅