(non english) names upon entering kindergarten

[hellokitty]

They can go by their nn. I've had a lot of Asian friends who've does this with no problem. I have a korean whose name is Sam ____ Last name. He just went by, "Sam" at school and as an adult, but his documents all have his Sam-____ Last name. DH is korean and unfortunately, his name looks like a girl name in English. He has dealt with some discrimination when applying for jobs (they assume he's female, and yes, he works in a profession that is sexist, so being female is a big disadvantage and/or, "foreign" and non-english speaking), and he's often lamented that his parents didn't just switch his name to an, "American" name by switching one letter in his name. Thy immigrated to the US when he was only in 2nd grade. Ppl mispronounce and misspell his name all of the time, even though it is very straightforward, it's the American way. I've had the flip experience, I have a very, "white" name and I grew up with ppl asking me what my, "real" name was, b/c I am asian... but I think the attitude now is better and ppl don't question asians for having anglo names. DH is used to it, but the part that really bothers him the most is that it has affected him negatively when applying for jobs, as ppl look at his name and make incorrect and prejudiced assumptions. The few call backs he's gotten from job applications have been due to situations where he was able to speak to the dept mgr via phone and the person on the other end quickly realized that, a) dh is not a woman and b) he does not have an accent and is, "American," and that my dh comes off like a, "normal" kind of guy.

[Simon]

Our school's registration forms have a space for you to say what the child is actually called, if it differs from their given first name.

I make sure to use that "what is this child called" line and so far I have been pleased that most teachers/staff either know in advance or learn quickly that he uses the nickname. In Kinder this is especially important because teacher's often label things before school starts: cubby, desk, name tracing sheets, et. and its important for that name to be right the first time. For other things, recreational classes, sports teams, etc. when I register I only use the nickname. They don't need my kids' full legal name.

[Momit]

Our school's registration forms have a space for you to say what the child is actually called, if it differs from their given first name.

This is what ours does. So the student's record would look like this: John James "Jack" Smith. The teachers would call the kid Jack but his record has his full name.

Trales, I thought of that book too!

[PZMommy]

Kindergarten teacher here...

Put their full legal name on the form. I know ours has a space for what name they like to be called. I learned long ago to no longer label anything except for a spot at their table before the first day of school. So many kids go by nicknames, and often times parents skip over that line on the form. Not to mention there may be last minute class changes. I got tired of wasting expensive name plates and supplies to have to re-do them. I will call a child whatever their parent asks me to call them. I do have kids practice writing their full legal name from time to time and not just their nickname.

[stefani]

My DS goes by his middle name. He was registered with his full legal name, but yes, his teachers calls him by his middle name. One of his teachers told us on the "meet the teacher night" that his previous year teacher already said that DS goes by middle name, not first name. :-)

[eagle]

i was tempted to just use his nickname after regretting using it for the hospital, but after reading the responses here, i will just use the birth cert names. im glad kindy teachers know what to do. and hearing that changing later in hs is a nightmare, i am scared straight.

[123LuckyMom]

i was tempted to just use his nickname after regretting using it for the hospital, but after reading the responses here, i will just use the birth cert names. im glad kindy teachers know what to do. and hearing that changing later in hs is a nightmare, i am scared straight.

That's the best plan. You can legally change the name, though. The process is easy. You just fill out forms and pay a fee, and you'll get a new birth certificate. I'm not suggesting you do that, but if you wanted to change things, you could quite easily.

[georgiegirl]

Two out of the four years DD has been in school, everything has had her full name on it and not her nickname (although her nickname is listed as her nickname on all school records.). Our plan is to legally change her name if she wants to when her passport is up for renewal.

[Dream]

Both my kids have Asian names and we go buy that name. I'm addressed by my middle name but all paper work is in my first and last names, my first, middle and last name combined is too long to fit in my ID and I dislike my situation. I had posted about my dilemma here before. More than once when someone calls for me at my work place for verifications and ask by my first name they were told there's no one by that name as every one addresses me by my middle name.

[BunnyBee]

Unless you're going to change their names legally to birth names, I would use whatever is on their birth certificates. All the testing, transcripts for college... I just wouldn't take a chance there would be trouble proving their identity later.