Claire Reid
Teachers shared the red flag names they look out for in their new students and you may be surprised by some of the ones that made the list.
The task of naming your child is a pretty monumental one - whether you go for something traditional or more quirky and unusual it's going to be stuck with them for the rest of their lives.
And now, to add a further bit of stress on the challenge of naming your kid, it turns out that teachers do judge kids based on their monikers - with some names in particular associated with the pupil being ‘naughty’ or ‘high maintenance’.
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Mum-of-three SJ Strum, who regularly blogs about her life as a mother, took it upon herself to garner opinions from teachers about kids names - and some teachers did not hold back.
In the clip, she begins: “Do teachers really judge kids for their names? Yes!
“The number one thing which came up time and time again, the absolutely biggest pet peeve, bug bear, that teachers have when it comes to kids in their classroom is common name with unique spellings.
“It’s just something that is confusing for the teacher and really confusing for the kid as well.
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“Emma-Leigh as a double barrelled for Emily really was a tough one and Jaxsyn spelt like this.
“Imagine with this spelling and there was even a Fee-Bee.”
In addition, SJ said: “Teachers said they really like unique names, as long as they are not weird.
“Unique names that are spelt easily and correctly to say are absolutely fine. They liked names like Sage, Joanie, Scout.
“Unique names outside of the top 50 but not odd and weird were a thumbs up.”
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Some teachers also revealed they have certain preconceptions on whether a kid is naughty, just by looking at their name.
SJ continued: “A lot of teachers were like ‘yep, there are names that are red-flags’.
“There were some that stuck out and came up again and again.
“Jake, Max, Jack and the biggest one for boys was anything ending in den - so Hayden, Jayden, apparently always naughty, always disruptive, not listening.
“When it came to girls it was quite interesting, apparently Islas and Jessicas are really chatty names.
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“Apparently Martha is high-maintenance. Alexandra can be a bit of a bully apparently.
“So, there are names that people judge. It is very common.”
Teachers also complained about common names that are shared by more than one kid in the class, as it becomes annoying for both them and the children.
SJ added: “There are so many overused names. Common names that came up - there were lots of Charlies, Liles, Ellas, Alfies. One teacher had ten Sophias, four Laylas.
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“Every year there is a Theo and an Oscar apparently.
“They also said that double barrelling a common name is common but the majority of children only go by their first name of the double-barrel.
“So, if you’re going to double barrel maybe don’t go for a Rose or May because those are also overly used.”
Rounding off her discovery, SJ said: “The funniest, weirdest names teachers said were twins called Denim and Suede.
“Matching names like Jason Mason and Stephen Stephens.
“Chel’C spelt like this, Jack Daniels and DKNY.”