My husband has a taste for rather unusual names. I’m talking [name]Ignatius[/name], [name]Augustine[/name], [name]Isidore[/name], etc. I love all those names, but I’m worried about them being too unusual. I say, “Are you sure you don’t want to name him [name]Matthew[/name], or [name]Thomas[/name]?” But he seems to want a name with bigger impact.
If we ever mention [name]Ignatius[/name] to friends, they usually say nothing, or say “be prepared for him to be teased big time.”
It’s been a long time since I’ve been around children, but how common is it today for kids to be teased over unusual names? I would think that with the number of parents searching for “originality,” that kids today would be more used to unusual names. I think that teasing would have more to do with the child himself. If he’s got a personality that sticks out as “odd” to the other kids, he’ll be teased no matter what. [name]Even[/name] if his name is [name]John[/name], kids could still call him “fat” or whatever.
Does anyone have experience with this? [name]How[/name] common do you think teasing over names is today?
Hmmm. I think a lot of it depends on where you live. If you’re somewhere diverse/cosmopolitan/hipster-y, [name]Ignatius[/name] should be ok. If you’re in a small town in the midwest…maybe not so much.
That said, I think teasing is lessening greatly as unusual names become the norm. My little brothers have friends with names like [name]Orion[/name] and [name]Ravi[/name], who probably would have been teased if they’d grown up when I did but have no name-related problems in this day and age.
My husband grew up with the last name Seaman, which now, is unfortunately mine too. Haha! But, he never really got teased, maybe, except from some few immature boys. And my name is Hilary. I was pretty much the only Hilary in a school of almost 2,000. I loved it! I never got teased, but I did get Hillary Clinton or Hilary Duff sometimes. It never bothered me, at all.
If you think of it like this… If you give your child a “common” name, say Ashley, and there’s 3 Ashleys in one class. How does the teacher and students decipher between each Ashley? Well, the teacher might call them by their last name or call them by a nickname. But when it comes to students, (from experience), when you’re trying to talk about someone with a common name, people tend to say, “What Ashley are you talking about?” And from there, it normally turns into describing them in a negative way. Like, “The Ashley with the acne.” or “The Ashley who kissed Stephen.” And so on…
When it comes to an “uncommon” name, which I love, they stand out. Everyone knows who you are talking about. There’s no overuse of a name, so it’s always beautiful, it’s never just another “Ashley.”
Seriously, go with a name you both like! I love the names you put on here, they’re wonderful! Regardless of what name you do pick, it’ll be great!! Kids don’t tease for long because they eventually grow up. And I think kids teasing other kids about their name is the last thing they pick to tease someone about. Everyone wants to be feel special and unique, so give them a name that makes them feel like that.
Good luck!
I’m not sure, but I don’t think it’s so common to be teased because of your name. When you’re young, you don’t know which names are popular and which isn’t. I don’t know how many times I have suddently realized that I knew somone with a unique name when I was young. I didn’t know that it was unusual at the time. I guess it’s because when you know less than 100 names, you will not know if one is more usual than the other.
I think that when they are old enough to know if a name is usual or not, they are too old to be teasing someone for their name.
I also think the only reason to be teased for a name is if it sonds like someting else (like Melion and Melon), if the usually is used for boys but you use it for a girl (or the other way around, like [name]Alison[/name] for a boy or [name]James[/name] for a girl) og if the other children think it’s a name for a grandparent.
Probably about the same as it always is; while schools have cracked down hard on bullying, teasing will always happen, unusual name or no. [name]Just[/name] go with what you love–you’ll be happier with it, and chances are that you won’t curse your child with a lifetime of ridicule. Most kids I know with interesting names (I’m a senior in high school) are really happy that they aren’t another [name]Emily[/name] or [name]James[/name] on the list. It’s more about you and your child than everyone else.
I have an very unusual name I’ve never met another person who has the same name I do. I’ve never been teased for my name. [name]Ever[/name]. People (especially when I was younger) often misheard my name for a similar, common name. Other than that, I got many compliments. I did, however, get teased for my last name a little. I still love it though.
I’m a girl, however, so it might be a little different for a boy.
As an elementary teacher in a culturally diverse area, I have not seen kids getting teased for unique names. My classes usually have a mix of Latino, [name]Asian[/name], Persian, [name]Indian[/name], Muslim, traditional American, modern, and alternative spellng names!
As long as it doesn’t sound horrible with the last name, such as [name]Ima[/name] Pig and [name]Anita[/name] Dykes, or has connections to genitalia (i.e. [name]Richard[/name] nn [name]Dick[/name]), kids are rarely teased because of their unusual names.
But boys with feminine names (or boy turned girl names) are often teased. I would stay away from [name]Augustine[/name]. But an [name]Ignatius[/name] or [name]Isidore[/name] shouldn’t have a problem. Another thing to look out for are virtue names- [name]Hope[/name] is one thing, but an impulsive [name]Patience[/name] or a [name]Chastity[/name] who is obsessed with boys is asking for trouble.
I agree with the PP that it does have to do with where you live. I live in [name]Florida[/name], which has a lot of Latino influence, and within the proximity of a large military base we get kids from everywhere, therefore we have a wide variety of names at my middle school. We have gender benders ([name]Bond[/name] on a girl) to names that were unheard of when the kid was born and rising fast ([name]Isla[/name]) to made up and misspelled names (Yovaurus and Skylr without the ‘e’). An [name]Isidore[/name] or [name]Ignatius[/name] wouldn’t stand out.
I think the teasing potential is overestimated by a lot of people. [name]Even[/name] when I was growing up, there is only one example of name teasing that I ever saw. It was a girl named Mélodie, and kids would call her maladie (french for sickness). But she was an odd kid who got teased for just about everything anyway. Like previous posters have said, as along as it doesn’t sound terrible with the last name and etc you should be fine.
I haven’t come across much teasing based on names- and I’m in high school. The only person I remember getting teased for their name was my friend N@zi (though it’s pronounced nah-zee or na-zee, not nat-zee). She later changed the spelling to N@azi. And now that I think of it, once my friend figured out that our friend [name]Alison[/name]'s name kind of rhymed with assassin but we all forgot about it after like an hour (until now I guess). No big deal, and neither of them were offended.
If she can pronounce it, she will accept it. She watched something today with a character referred to as “you, [name]Nicole[/name]” but she thought they said “Unicole” and she has no problem with it. There is lots of variety in children’s books and programming.
Where I live, not that much of an issue at all. Only if the name is similar to negative word or sound.
[name]Sebastian[/name], [name]Zipporah[/name], Bon (on a boy), [name]Zephaniah[/name] are names found at my workplace, and none of this kids have been teased for their names that I’ve been aware of.
I was bullied badly for a lot of things (generally being about double the level of mental maturity than everyone else for the duration of school "-_-) but never for my name.
There was a girl in my school called Manisha who was never called ‘man’ and two girls with the surnames Cockburn and Seaman who didn’t get teased either. I can’t think of any incident in which someone was bullied for their name.
I don’t think kids would tease based on just an usual name - they don’t think they would tease based on having an usual name but there are names that have a high teasing potential. In your list, I don’t see [name]Ignatius[/name] or [name]Augustine[/name] being teased that much for their name especially if they go by a nn like [name]Nat[/name] or [name]Gus[/name]. I do see a boy [name]Isadore[/name] being teased because of the more feminine sound of the name and the fact that there may be [name]Isadora[/name]'s around.
When boys get teased for their names, the name generally falls into one of 2 categories:
It is considered a girls name by most kids. I boy named [name]Ashley[/name] or [name]Robin[/name] or [name]Leslie[/name] today is likely to have problems.
The name rhymes with or sounds like an insult grade school kids like to hurl at each other. [name]Bentley[/name] may become Buttley on the playground, [name]Ennis[/name] could easily become Anus, etc
I’m in my mid twenties and grew up with a very unusual name, as did my younger siblings. We teased the daylights out of each other (once my brother got his mouth washed out with soap after a finding a clever way to interject the word “butt” into my name) but I never got teased by other kids, except for getting called “Burger” or “Burgendy” once or twice. My brothers may have for having “softer” names. I’ll have to ask.
Most people thought my name was interesting. Many people asked me if there was a reason why, and luckily I know the story behind my name and I ways enjoyed telling it as a child; made me feel special. But kids didn’t seem to care.
I think there are more and more unusual names being used and that children, and more importantly their parents, the ones who ultimately shape these predjucices, are more accepting. I feel that if you’re going to get teased as a kid, it’s probably going to happen no matter what your name.
I’m curious, what kind of teasing do people see associated with Ignatious? NN [name]Iggy[/name] is cute and inoffensive.
As a teacher, I don’t think I ever hear of kids being teased about their names. All the kids have unusual names these days, five year olds all start school at the same time, they don’t know what names are weird. As they grow up together, they are exposed to each others names and don’t find them unusual.
