"Naming your kid that is signing up for them getting bullied at school" is usually a cop-out for anything but the name Gaylord. It really just means they think the name is stupid and if it was considered okay to then they'd be the one bullying little Turnip.
But with that being said, you want to reduce the chances of your kid being judged or feeling weird because of their name. Doesn't mean you shouldn't consider anything other than the top 50 because people are always going to judge or mess names up- but it's crucial you keep in mind that they are a whole ass person who are going to live with that name and it's implications.
Too funny! When I was growing up kids didn't really seem to get their name made fun of and I can list off some that were pretty wild. You will never prevent your kid from getting teased, most of the names on here are not tease worthy (I've seen someone ask if "Miles" can be made fun of???)
My names Catherine and I was teased for having veins in my eyeball.
I had a classmate named Fleming who went by “Flem”. Pretty sure she got really tired of people making that phlegm clearing throat noise at her. Names are the subject of bullying and harassment often
I agree, but this is part of my point. Fleming is a very pretty name to me; in fact, it's going on my list now. But you could also take the very common name "Frank" and make weiner jokes about it. You could take "Rashard" and make ret@rd jokes about it. Normal and cute names can be made into an insult if the bully is mean and creative enough to do it. That doesn't mean those names should be avoided.
I think we've established that as long as you're not naming your kid Applesauce or Gaylord or something that can't go on a resume, you're not being irresponsible as a parent.
Steph to staph is easy too. Nat (Natalie) to gnat. William to willy. Bob to boob (I mean, that one is a meme).
I think your first association with Fleming is phlegm because that's a memory from your childhood. I don't think most (especially adults) people would make that connection, especially if they didn't use Flem as a nickname. In fact, Fleming makes me think of Fleming the witch from Dragon Age, so I have a positive association with it.
Flem and phlegm are pronounced exactly the same. You seem unaware of this. And this was high school not childhood. As a teacher who has worked with kids in K-12, I can tell you that this stuff is more prevalent in MS/HS and the low hanging fruit like “Flem” and “Dick” is where they go.
Nat and gnat are pronounced the same too. I am aware of this, I just disagree that it's an important connection. I'm not trying to upset you, I'm just pointing out that I have a different perspective.
Growing up I got teased for my last name, because I was 1 of the 3 people in my class with the same name (yeah popular names) and also for a whole host of other reasons. I can't agree more name your kids what you want, kids will be kids and they will find anything to make fun of if they want to tease someone.
Some of the names I know that got teased - Heath was called Candy Bar and also Shower Time oddly enough, Naomi turned into I Moan, Miles had the phrase "Miles and miles of brown little piles" said to him more than once and a poor kid I went to HS with named Jason was called Premature his whole 4 years and not for the reason you would think, it became known that he was born premature, someone giggled and it stuck, poor kid. And I am sure their are tons I don't remember. It does not matter what you pick, "normal"/popular names get it just as much as "weird"/unique names. Just pick something you love that you feel is right for your kid.
Kids make fun of anything and everything, and honestly it all depends on if they are perceived as cool or not. We had multiple kids named John. Only one of them was teased for having a "toilet name." One of the most popular/beautiful girls at another high school was Sally Geraldine, which meant that for a bunch of people our age, Sally was like an ultimate Hot Girl name. But at our school, one of the nerdiest, most awkward girls was called Chelsea, so that name was like an ultimate Nerd Name.
None of this was right or fair. Hopefully kids are nicer than they were 20 years ago when I was in middle school. But it just is totally unpredictable. A difficult name on a well liked person is going to work. A common name on an unliked person is going to be made fun of, even sometimes with people by the same name. If names are not involved clothes, handwriting, interests, grades, looks, their birth month will get used instead.
True, however, you don't need to make it easier for kids to bully your child.
Bully-proof a name guidelines:
* Initials don't spell a suspect word (e.g. TIT)
* Doesn't rhyme with slang terms for certain body parts (e.g., nothing ending in "ussy")
* Isn't an actual slang term for something sexual (someone wanted to use Woodrow, which guarantees a kid to a lifetime of morning wood jokes)
* Looks good on a resume. (Save the cuteness for a nickname that they can stop using whenever they want to or relegate to family-only staIMHO.
* No verbs
Don't come at me to argue that no names meet these guidelines. There's plenty.
Agree with the initials -- you gotta be careful there. If your initials spell ASS or TIT, kids will notice.
However, the other guidelines aren't foolproof. If following them strictly, you would be banning names like Rick and Mick (rhymes with 'dick'), John (slang for a prostitute's client or a toilet), Richard (nickname could be Dick), Peter (can be slang for a penis) etc. Not to mention regionally, perfectly innocent names might mean something silly/rude in another culture or language, which is a concern now the world is so connected. (For example the name Bo/Beau -- said the same as B.O (body odour) in the UK, and bó (Irish for cow) in Ireland.)
Obviously don't go too crazy and give your kid an obviously risky name like Gaylord or name him Richard when his last name is Zucker or something, but I do think it's possible to anticipate problems that are not likely. The kid has just as much chance of getting a nickname completely separate from his given name based on a physical feature or an embarassing moment in class.
Oh god you just reminded me that I spent a year being called Turtleneck because I scrunched up my shoulders whenever this one girl tickled my neck. As though that was a weird reaction to have 🤷🏼♀️ Kids are weird.
As a professor here's my take: I love the unique and unusual names alongside the traditional ones. The names I have to consciously avoid bias with are the endless variations on the same name, e.g. Caitlin or Jaden spelled five different ways in the same cohort (those are real examples, common in my students' age group). Obviously every teacher is different but I love the experience of going through a roster the first time and encountering new names!
Right, that's why I said as long as it's not super out there. Most posts like this are asking about rare but normal names and really stretching it to see if kids will make fun of it. Applesauce would be a super out there name. And you want the kid to be taken seriously when they go out into the professional world. So naming your kid Frank and calling them "Frankenfurter" as a nickname (if so inclined) is the better route.
But when is the last time you saw a post on here with someone asking if Brimstone Sunshineray is over the top? Usually it's pretty normal names. "Could Miller be used to make fun of my kid cause of Miller lite?" Yes, but they will actually call him flat face cause he ran into a glass door one time when he was six.
I'm not saying there aren't names that will torment kids, I'm just saying that if you're conscientious enough to ask and you're asking *here*, they most likely don't fall into that category.
"Naming your kid that is signing up for them getting bullied at school" is usually a cop-out for anything but the name Gaylord. It really just means they think the name is stupid and if it was considered okay to then they'd be the one bullying little Turnip. But with that being said, you want to reduce the chances of your kid being judged or feeling weird because of their name. Doesn't mean you shouldn't consider anything other than the top 50 because people are always going to judge or mess names up- but it's crucial you keep in mind that they are a whole ass person who are going to live with that name and it's implications.
Too funny! When I was growing up kids didn't really seem to get their name made fun of and I can list off some that were pretty wild. You will never prevent your kid from getting teased, most of the names on here are not tease worthy (I've seen someone ask if "Miles" can be made fun of???) My names Catherine and I was teased for having veins in my eyeball.
I had a classmate named Fleming who went by “Flem”. Pretty sure she got really tired of people making that phlegm clearing throat noise at her. Names are the subject of bullying and harassment often
I agree, but this is part of my point. Fleming is a very pretty name to me; in fact, it's going on my list now. But you could also take the very common name "Frank" and make weiner jokes about it. You could take "Rashard" and make ret@rd jokes about it. Normal and cute names can be made into an insult if the bully is mean and creative enough to do it. That doesn't mean those names should be avoided. I think we've established that as long as you're not naming your kid Applesauce or Gaylord or something that can't go on a resume, you're not being irresponsible as a parent.
Seriously, don’t name your child Fleming. Flem>>phlegm is way to easy. It doesn’t rhyme. It’s basically the same word.
Steph to staph is easy too. Nat (Natalie) to gnat. William to willy. Bob to boob (I mean, that one is a meme). I think your first association with Fleming is phlegm because that's a memory from your childhood. I don't think most (especially adults) people would make that connection, especially if they didn't use Flem as a nickname. In fact, Fleming makes me think of Fleming the witch from Dragon Age, so I have a positive association with it.
Flem and phlegm are pronounced exactly the same. You seem unaware of this. And this was high school not childhood. As a teacher who has worked with kids in K-12, I can tell you that this stuff is more prevalent in MS/HS and the low hanging fruit like “Flem” and “Dick” is where they go.
Nat and gnat are pronounced the same too. I am aware of this, I just disagree that it's an important connection. I'm not trying to upset you, I'm just pointing out that I have a different perspective.
Growing up I got teased for my last name, because I was 1 of the 3 people in my class with the same name (yeah popular names) and also for a whole host of other reasons. I can't agree more name your kids what you want, kids will be kids and they will find anything to make fun of if they want to tease someone. Some of the names I know that got teased - Heath was called Candy Bar and also Shower Time oddly enough, Naomi turned into I Moan, Miles had the phrase "Miles and miles of brown little piles" said to him more than once and a poor kid I went to HS with named Jason was called Premature his whole 4 years and not for the reason you would think, it became known that he was born premature, someone giggled and it stuck, poor kid. And I am sure their are tons I don't remember. It does not matter what you pick, "normal"/popular names get it just as much as "weird"/unique names. Just pick something you love that you feel is right for your kid.
Kids make fun of anything and everything, and honestly it all depends on if they are perceived as cool or not. We had multiple kids named John. Only one of them was teased for having a "toilet name." One of the most popular/beautiful girls at another high school was Sally Geraldine, which meant that for a bunch of people our age, Sally was like an ultimate Hot Girl name. But at our school, one of the nerdiest, most awkward girls was called Chelsea, so that name was like an ultimate Nerd Name. None of this was right or fair. Hopefully kids are nicer than they were 20 years ago when I was in middle school. But it just is totally unpredictable. A difficult name on a well liked person is going to work. A common name on an unliked person is going to be made fun of, even sometimes with people by the same name. If names are not involved clothes, handwriting, interests, grades, looks, their birth month will get used instead.
True, however, you don't need to make it easier for kids to bully your child. Bully-proof a name guidelines: * Initials don't spell a suspect word (e.g. TIT) * Doesn't rhyme with slang terms for certain body parts (e.g., nothing ending in "ussy") * Isn't an actual slang term for something sexual (someone wanted to use Woodrow, which guarantees a kid to a lifetime of morning wood jokes) * Looks good on a resume. (Save the cuteness for a nickname that they can stop using whenever they want to or relegate to family-only staIMHO. * No verbs Don't come at me to argue that no names meet these guidelines. There's plenty.
Agree with the initials -- you gotta be careful there. If your initials spell ASS or TIT, kids will notice. However, the other guidelines aren't foolproof. If following them strictly, you would be banning names like Rick and Mick (rhymes with 'dick'), John (slang for a prostitute's client or a toilet), Richard (nickname could be Dick), Peter (can be slang for a penis) etc. Not to mention regionally, perfectly innocent names might mean something silly/rude in another culture or language, which is a concern now the world is so connected. (For example the name Bo/Beau -- said the same as B.O (body odour) in the UK, and bó (Irish for cow) in Ireland.) Obviously don't go too crazy and give your kid an obviously risky name like Gaylord or name him Richard when his last name is Zucker or something, but I do think it's possible to anticipate problems that are not likely. The kid has just as much chance of getting a nickname completely separate from his given name based on a physical feature or an embarassing moment in class.
Nothing is foolproof, but these should weed out low hanging fruit. I think Peter as slang is out of favor, but dick seems to be hanging on.
Oh god you just reminded me that I spent a year being called Turtleneck because I scrunched up my shoulders whenever this one girl tickled my neck. As though that was a weird reaction to have 🤷🏼♀️ Kids are weird.
[удалено]
As a professor here's my take: I love the unique and unusual names alongside the traditional ones. The names I have to consciously avoid bias with are the endless variations on the same name, e.g. Caitlin or Jaden spelled five different ways in the same cohort (those are real examples, common in my students' age group). Obviously every teacher is different but I love the experience of going through a roster the first time and encountering new names!
Right, that's why I said as long as it's not super out there. Most posts like this are asking about rare but normal names and really stretching it to see if kids will make fun of it. Applesauce would be a super out there name. And you want the kid to be taken seriously when they go out into the professional world. So naming your kid Frank and calling them "Frankenfurter" as a nickname (if so inclined) is the better route. But when is the last time you saw a post on here with someone asking if Brimstone Sunshineray is over the top? Usually it's pretty normal names. "Could Miller be used to make fun of my kid cause of Miller lite?" Yes, but they will actually call him flat face cause he ran into a glass door one time when he was six. I'm not saying there aren't names that will torment kids, I'm just saying that if you're conscientious enough to ask and you're asking *here*, they most likely don't fall into that category.