Curious…

[Saffy118]

A lot of people on here talk about children might get bullied for this name and that name. Do any of you have actual experience of your child or children’s friends being bullied because of their name. I mean current experience not from 1963.

My experience is that my children go to school with children with all sorts of names. It’s a private school and there are names like Binky, Pinky, Mungo, Hugo, Pixie as well as your more traditional names yet I know of nobody who is bullied because of their name.

I myself went to school many years ago and again can’t remember anyone ever being bullied because of their name.

No.

Though I remember feeling a certain negative way about a person who had an unfortunate name, or commenting on a bad name when amongst friends - never to the person's face.
So, I figure many people think about names and subconsciously thoughts could impact how one treats a person with an unfortunate name. Bullying, I don't see as an issue but subconscious bias, yes.

I used to know a girl whose surname was "Thick". She had an awful time at school and even as an adult she was very reluctant to tell others her name.

Maybe we will start a new trend 😀

As someone who inherited an awful surname I sympathise

One of mine also has an uncommon name and never any bullying. The most I had was from my mother-in-law before he was born 😅

I agree, my point I think is to highlight that there is a degree of old fashioned thinking when people give opinions on baby-names on here and rush to say “don’t call them that they will be bullied”. I think the days of Smelly Kelly are mostly long gone.

I was at school 30+ years ago DC are at school now. I have only ever come across names being used as a way to bully a child that was was being bullied in a number of ways. E.g. if Ellie is being bullied she might get called Smelly Ellie as part of that bullying.

I went to school with a boy called Stacey and he was hard as nails so nobody ever teased him 😂😂

The only name that got teased at my dc primary school was a William - he sometimes got teased with Willy.

I don’t remember bullying over a name being common at all at school, particularly a first name. I do remember there was a girl whose surname partly rhymed with fat and she was bullied around that (but I think the poor girl was being bullied anyway and the name was just another thing to latch onto rather than the cause).

I have a very boring normal name, but regrettably my initials are BJ.

So.

You can imagine how high school went.

My brother's stepchildren were in primary school- and refused to go to secondary until they were allowed to change their names.

But in my opinion, it's not usually bullying. It's the double takes, the questions about spelling, the "that's unusual!" which is just tedious and makes life that little bit more difficult. I stuck stubbornly to my unusual spelling-then suddenly thought "I really can't be arsed" and changed to the conventional English spelling. I wish I'd done it years before.

Bullying, I don't see as an issue but subconscious bias, yes

Yes, this definitely is a thing.

But in my opinion, it's not usually bullying. It's the double takes, the questions about spelling, the "that's unusual!" which is just tedious and makes life that little bit more difficult.

I was coming here to say this.
I wouldn't say 'bullying because of a name is a thing - although I do have to ask why you would hand it to the bullies on a plate - but it must be so tiresome to have to go through life having everyone comment on your name anytime you have to meet new people, or just give your name even to a delivery driver or booking a table in a pub etc.

Lots of it in my dc’s school. Mostly boys with feminine or ‘weak’ sounding names. Teddy gets a hard time alongside Francis etc. And it’s not just unpopular kids getting picked on, there’s 2 groups of 3 siblings who are well liked and popular, but get complete shit over their parents name choices. One group is 3 sisters with a theme for their names, the worst one being moon. I’ll let you guess the other 2. Then a set of 2 girls and a boy, the boys got a girls name, one is randomly the Irish word for horse and sounds ugly af, the other one is named after a mythical creature. Children do get bullied and some parents do practically beg for it

subconscious bias Yes

it's not usually bullying. It's the double takes, the questions about spelling, the "that's unusual!" which is just tedious and makes life that little bit more difficult.
Yes

Mispronunciation Yes - and unconscious bias because of it.

I wouldn't say 'bullyingbecause of a name is a thing - although I do have to ask why you would hand it to the bullies on a plate
Yes

- but it must besotiresome to have to go through life havingeveryonecomment on your name anytime you have to meet new people, or just give your name even to a delivery driver or booking a table in a pub etc.
yes.

Then a set of 2 girls and a boy, the boys got a girls name, one is randomly the Irish word for horse and sounds ugly af

They called a child Capall??

Hugo is a top 50 name currently, and top 10-20 in many European countries, I don't think it's quite in the same category as Binky!