Ahead of Valentine’s Day, a teacher shared their class list which was given out to ensure no child missed out on getting a card from their peers, but some of the names have baffled people
A school teacher has jokingly asked for “thoughts and prayers” after sharing a class list of names branded the most “awful”.
Teachers and other educators encounter hundreds of children from all kinds of backgrounds over the course of their careers, exposing them to a variety of names – and multiple spellings of them.
Most parents give a lot of thought and care to what they call their children but for some, a name’s apparent “uniqueness” matters more than anything else, which can lead to some more unusual results.
Some of these less common choices can be beautiful and creative offerings while others can prove to be particularly unpopular, especially in instances where traditional names are given an alternative spelling which disregards the rules of phonics in an attempt to make it seem different or more distinctive.
Ahead of Valentine’s Day, one teacher chose to share their class list, which was doled out among the children to ensure nobody is left out when it comes to potentially receiving a card, on Reddit. Some of the less traditional names listed include Kurstein, Averiella, Raeleigh, Paisyn, LaKendren, Emmitt, Kohen and more. More commonly accepted names included Ella, Ian, Shane, Jesse and Wyatt.
Accompanying the list, the teacher humorously penned: “Thoughts? Opinions? Prayers?” Fellow Reddit users were keen to share their thoughts.
One person asked: “So…it’s pronounced Kur-stine? Like a beer stein? Because that’s how I’d be saying it.” The teacher replied: “It’s Kirsten”, adding a grimacing face emoji. Another said: “Kurstein?! Geez.”
One name really caught people’s attention – Paysin. One person simply said: “Paisyn is so, so bad” while another simply said: “PAISYN?”
A third commented: “Paisyn is just so awful I’m sorry to those affected” which prompted the reply: “Yeah my brain record scratched on that one.”
Someone else shared: “My toddler has a classmate named Payson. He’s very sweet but the name is unfortunate. Paisyn is somehow leagues worse.”
Another person said: “I read it as Pai-sn, or poison with some kind of accent. Not sure which accent though.”
Another Reddit user shared their newfound appreciation for their own children’s method regarding giving cards: “At my kids’ school, if we choose to give Valentine’s cards we can only address them as ‘to my friend, from Name.’ Now I can see why haha.”
Someone else joked: “Fist bump to Jesse. Keepin’ it real, my man.”
And another pondered: “Is this a trend with millennial parents, or has it always been like this? Gen Z and I don’t remember kids in my class having names like this, even if the name was “made up” it was at least easy to pronounce and spell – and my school was pretty diverse across ethnicities and classes.”
