Teachers reveal names that are linked to bad behaviour at school

Jody Coffey

Jake, Jack or Max have been flagged by teachers as being difficult students

How our children behave at school may be different to how they behave at home.

Being a student immersed in an educational and social setting may bring out a more social or confident side to them.

The name of a student may be associated with certain behaviour at school, with one name consultant exposing which names are associated with chatting too much in class and more likely to get into trouble.

YouTuber and naming consultant, SJ Strum, vlogs about naming trends and conducts research around the topic for her channel.

Recently, she asked school teachers to put forward the assumptions they make when they see a certain name on the class list.

“A lot of teachers were like ‘yep, there are names that are red flags,” she explained.

“There were some that stuck out and came up again and again.”

Boy names, such as Jake, Jack or Max, in the teacher’s experience, were often linked to the worst behaviour – ‘disruptive’ or ‘not listening’ – as well as names that end in ‘den’, such as Jayden, Cayden, and Hayden.

Harrison also featured on the list which made teachers apprehensive to see them join their class due to bad behaviour.

Teachers cited names like Jessica and Isla as names of children who are often ‘too chatty’ during lessons.

“Apparently, Martha is high-maintenance. Alexandra can be a bit of a bully apparently,” SJ continued.

The naming consultant also shared that teachers also have a naming pet peeve.

“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,” she revealed.

SJ gave examples such as Emma-Leigh in place of Emily and the spelling ‘Jaxsyn’ for the name Jackson.

However, SJ adds that parents should always go with the name they love, saying that these lists are always ‘just for fun’.

“It’s naming your baby at the end of the day. You do whatever you love as a name.

“I always say and believe ‘go with your heart, what you love, what inspires you, and what’s going to make you love your baby’s name every single day’.”