It’s not that uncommon to see (especially with reference to boys names) that a kid will be beaten up or bullied (over and above some teasing that all children might get) over a certain name. But have any of you ever seen that really happen (or know of anyone that it has happened to) who has been beaten up or physically bullied, just over their name?
Nope.
Hmm the only thing that comes to mind is one boy named [name]Lucian[/name]. He was a smelly kid, so at one point he became “[name]Lucian[/name] pollution”. He probably would have been picked on either way though, just poor luck that his name rhymed with pollution! Now that I’m thinking about it, a lot of the “geeky” kids that did get picked on in my school had different/unpopular names like [name]Lester[/name], [name]Daxter[/name], [name]Leo[/name], [name]Dustin[/name] ([name]Dusty[/name]), [name]Angelica[/name] ([name]Angie[/name]) and [name]Tabitha[/name]. I graduated in 2007, I don’t have any children yet but I can’t help but think that my taste in names ([name]Agatha[/name], [name]Prudence[/name], [name]Archibald[/name], [name]Oswald[/name] etc) might affect my child’s acceptance especially during middleschool and highschool!
I think it has a lot more to do with the child themselves. If other kids don’t like them, then they’re going to get picked on because of their name. Growing up, we had two [name]Tabitha[/name]'s in my year, one who was quite popular even as a child, the other was from a low-income household who wore secondhand clothes (before that was cool) and had unkempt, snarled, dirty hair, etc, and she was frequently called ‘[name]Tabby[/name] [name]Cat[/name]’ in derogatory tones with lots of cat calling & meow’s, whereas the other [name]Tabitha[/name] could be told by the same bullies that they liked her name.
There was also a [name]Reid[/name] in our year who was picked on as a child, they always rhymed his name with ‘peed’ and ‘weed’. And a similar story with an [name]Ian[/name] and rhyming with ‘peeing’. But especially [name]Reid[/name] ended up growing faster than a lot of kids and the teasing stopped right away.
So I really think that if a child is going to get picked on, they’re going to get picked on, and if they have a name that makes that particular method of teasing easy, that’s the route the bullies will take.
Not at all. Children will bully their peers, if they have a ‘normal’ name or not. Of course, I’ve seen small things; ‘[name]Hilda[/name]? Is that your witch name?’, ‘[name]Harry[/name] is so hairy his mum named him that!’. Slight teasing, but no bullying.
Actually, the only time I’ve ever seen something bigger that is I knew a girl who was in my class when we where about 11. She claimed that her actual name was ‘[name]Janet[/name]’ when she was a lot younger (probably around 5/6, I have no idea why because it wasn’t. I think her name was [name]Lizzie[/name]), and was mentally tormented for it. I suppose it was kind of her fault though.
Most of us have been teased over a name at some point. My first name is [name]Farrah[/name] (which everyone seems to mispronounce as FAR-uh), I get lots of “faraway” references. My double barrell surname has always been a source of laughs as well, one part of it is a day of the week. I never minded much, I just laughed along (mostly bored by the lack of originality in the jokes).
My best friend, however, was teased relentlessly by two boys when she started secondary school; they’d repeatedly chant “----- [name]Carter[/name] is a farter” (her surname is [name]Carter[/name]). It upset her a lot, to the point where it had to be treated as real bullying.
So while I wouldn’t say that someone is ever going to get beaten up over their name, there can be bullying incidents. I don’t think it depends on the name, but rather the person. Your child may not mind the little jokes about their name, but on the other hand they might mind a lot. It’s a little down to pot luck, and a little down to how the child is raised. And virtually no name is bully proof, there’s always going to be something unpleasant that rhymes with the name or sounds somewhat like it. [name]Even[/name] with the two most popular names - [name]Isabella[/name] sounds like “smell her”, an overweight [name]Jacob[/name] could become “cakey Jakey”…
I know a [name]Tangerine[/name] who gets made fun of all the time. It might have to do with the kid herself, though.
I agree with the pps that no name is “bully proof” and that if a kids is going to picked on, their name won’t make much of a difference.
I have a good friend whose last name is [name]Belcher[/name]. Obviously that has a lot of teasing potential, but she was never bullied or teased for it. I think bullying has more to do with the kids and the environment they’re in than the names themselves.
However, the only name I can think should be avoided because of teasing is [name]Dick[/name]. My grandpa went by this name (he goes by his full name [name]Richard[/name] now) and I remember some boys in elementary school laughing at me when I told them that. It wasn’t that big of a deal, since it wasn’t my name (plus I was clueless and didn’t get why it was funny :roll: I figured it out later though!). I do think a name like that would prompt teasing. But like I said, that’s the only name I can think of where that would be an issue.
(edit: I just realized my two stories contradict each other a bit… oops! but I hope what I was trying to say still made sense.)
My name is [name]Nevada[/name].
I was never physically bullied or anything, but I did get my share of getting called Las [name]Vegas[/name], [name]Dakota[/name], [name]West[/name] [name]Virginia[/name], and just about every other state people could think of.
But then again, I also get a fair share of people who love my name
I disliked it as a child, but now I really appreciate that I have never met another [name]Nevada[/name].
[name]Just[/name] wondering if this might be because quirky/intellectual parents tend to pick more unusual names for the children, and then of course their child is likely to be quirky/intellectual - both things which can attract teasing at certain ages. So, it’s not that the name prompts the teasing, it’s more that being a bit different (and being teased because of it) and having an unusual name are unrelated by-products of their parents’ personalities.
[name]Auburn[/name]
Good question. I agree with the berry who said a child named [name]Dick[/name] was guaranteed to be bullied. [name]Even[/name] if the kid was a star athlete, that name is not going to do any child good. A cousin recently named their son [name]Peter[/name], and we are a little worried he might get similar ribbing.
I can think of a poor girl in my school named [name]Amanda[/name] Gross who insisted on the first day that her name was [name]Amanda[/name] [name]Green[/name]. She’d just moved into the area and thought that if she just told everyone her last name was [name]Green[/name], that she could avoid the bullying she’d endured at her old school. Of course, there was really nothing her parents could have done about that.
I don’t think kids get beat up just because of their names, but often times verbal bullying is far more damaging. If you named your child something cruel (like, I don’t know - Wenis or Hitler) then yes, I think bullying would be unavoidable.
This is what I’ve always thought.
I don’t know anyone with a name awful enough to be bullied for it. In my young life all the kids had very typical names.
Not really. From my experience kids are usually bullied for being poor, fat, or socially awkward (often due to autism or other developmental disability/complication). Obviously this isn’t really any better.
I was often taunted by my cousin for my name. I think age five/six? She would say that she knew other girls with her name (which was a very common name) and her name meant “pure” and mine was dull, a boys’ name, had an ugly meaning and nobody else had it. I probably cried a few times. She was my favorite person but could be very cruel. There was for many years after that when I was determined to change my name when I was old enough (hence, sparking my interest in names!)
By now, I definitely feel I have the better end of the stick! I would loathe being say, [name]Emily[/name] R. when I can be me. She was the only one to have ever bothered me about my name. I’m keeping it for the long haul now, but I did pick up another name over the years that also suits me and I often use.