Being bullied for whatever reason can affect a person well into adulthood. It's therefore completely understandable that those who've suffered this sort of ordeal would want to protect their own children from similar treatment. One woman knows the pain of being bullied all too well, with classmates having taken aim at her unusual name.
The woman, whose name is Kandy, says she was plagued with all sorts of cruel nicknames as a schoolkid, including "candy bar" and "candy cane". She also came up against hurdles as an adult, with many people not treating her seriously on account of her name. Therefore, when the time came to name her own kids, she decided to opt for more traditional choices.
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Kandy recently opened up about her experiences on a Quora thread about the decision to give children either unique or traditional names.
She shared: "I gave my children names that were solid and old-fashioned. Thomas and Amanda. Why? Because my mother named me Kandy. It may have been a cute name when I was a tiny child. but was a horrible name as a school-age kid.
"Name-calling like candy bar, candy cane, etc were part of my childhood. As an adult, it was hard to be taken seriously with a first name that sound like a kid's name. It didn't help that my first marriage was to someone with the last name pronounced Tie. So Kandy Tie, who needs to do the quizzes as what your stripper name is with a name like that?"
In answer to the question posed on Quora, she added: "Why do you not name your children unique names? Because they grow up."
Other parents came forward with similar stories of their own, while others revealed they'd wanted to give their children standout names because they'd found their own names so very dull.
One woman with an "extremely common name" has always feared getting mixed up with someone else. Therefore she chose more interesting name for her kids to ensure they "would not endure the same fate."
Has your unusual name led to difficulties? Email us at julia.banim@reachplc.com
