Job Discussion Forums

[LanGuTou]

I remember a few interesting ones from the past:

Pylon (girl)
Zombie (girl)
Fatty (very thin boy)
Woeful (girl)
Do-Do (girl)
Clutch (boy)
Tool (boy)

My favourite was a girl who called herself "Sex Babe". When I asked her why, she said that she had seen it under a photograph in a western magazine and thought that it simply referred to beautiful women.

[knight4ever]

In my school, here are a few :

Faith (guy)

Media (girl)

Golly (girl)

Sirius (guy)

Louise (guy)

Apple (girl)

Honda (guy)

Winters (guy)

Ocean (guy)

Fanley (girl)

Sun (guy)

King (guy)

Echo (guy)

Most common girl name : Lisa

Most common guy name : Eric

[weejay]

The worst ones I can remember are Luni (f), Hitler (m), Tweety (f), Pineapple (m) and Verucca (f). Luni and Verucca are both adults. In fact, Luni is a TA, not a student.

Monster, Kobe, Eleven and Apple all just seem like fairly normal names now.

[jaydizzle]

I've got a girl named Cassiopeia in my class. I think that's actually one of the BEST names I've ever heard. At one point, she asked if she should change her name to Chocolate, and I begged her not to.

[oxi]

- Little Pig and Fat Pig
- a few Winkis and Dimples
- quite funny when Fannies and Dicks sit together

- but...

my favourite was 'Insomnia' as he kept falling asleep in class

[DosEquisX]

Both girls:

Fanny (got a good laugh when I explained what it meant in America)
Hebe (apparently Jewish ethnic slurs aren't common in China)

[Zimmer]

[sistercream]

[George Macartney]

worst i had were a female student called "Blood", a guy called "Devil", and a not-so-sharp girl named "Brain".

a colleague had a class with three students called "Hitler", "Adolf", and "Chitler". when asked what his name meant, Chitler explained: "a mix between 'China' and 'Hitler'."

[Seth]

Somewhat related, but I had a student who picked the name John. Harmless enough. There was a discussion of Chinese names and how they have meanings, and he asked me if John had a meaning. I told him a John is a toilet or someone who visits prostitutes. He changed his name.

I had a Superman in class, and a girl named Echo.

[MisterButtkins]

Personally I make any student with what I consider a ridiculous name change their name.

[Ariadne]

I also request that they change their names if I think they are silly or rude or whatever else bugs me. I refuse to call out 'Caca' in a class. This year I have a girl who called called herself Belieber... yes, with a 'b'. She tried to explain to me that it was a veeerrry common name in Canada. I googled it and found that it is a word to identify a fan of a young pop star.

It's hard to get across the idea that just putting some letters together does not necessarily make a name. I'd rather have them stick with their Chinese names like Liu/Li/Yang than pick some stupid 'English' name.

There are some good reasons to use English names. It makes it easier for the native English speakers, but only if it's a real name that they can pronounce. It's also a good idea for English learners to become familiar with English names and which ones are usually used by men and which by women. The girls who call themselves Ian make that sort of tricky. Read a joke or a story to a class and they don't understand the nuances because they don't get it that Bob is a guy and Sally is a girl.

.

[MisterButtkins]

The worst English names I have encountered (and I made all these people change their names) were Sailboat, Snow Angel, and The Undertaker.