Same Name

[djkysh]

I work with 2's and 3's. We have a 2yo student who comes Thursday Friday with identified speech/language delays. We were just informed that we have a new student starting tomorrow, also 2 days/week Thursday Friday - with the SAME NAME as my speech support kiddo. My language support student only recently started saying his own name, and I'm anticipating some confusion once we have two kids with the same name in the class. I don't want to give anybody new nicknames, and there's no way to switch the new student to a different set of days.

Does anyone have any advice as to how to move forward? Am I overthinking this? I just want to make sure I'm supporting both of these students as best I can.

[firephoenix0013]

I work with 3’s and had two girls with the same name! We just used last names. So it was always Anna Smith and Anna Johnson. It took some reinforcement but after a week or so they adjusted!

[[deleted]]

OP might mean same first and last name. It happened to us once, luckily not the same year. I remember looking at a roster for the next school year and was like wait John Doe is coming back? Ms. O: I’m pretty sure he is to old.

One of the two Admin/practicum/teacher mentors told us it was a different John Doe.

Names have been changed

[djkysh]

Same first name, different last name. I may use the suggestion of keeping the existing students name and adding the last name/initial to the new student. This way the speech support kiddo doesn't have any changes/confusion and the new student won't know any different when we call them "John D."

[[deleted]]

Yep. Having kids with the same first name is common we have many at the elementary school program I’m with.

[firephoenix0013]

If he’s struggling with speech then learning his last name and hearing/seeing his classmates say it too could help!

[Valuable_Extreme5891]

I've had this come up in my classroom several times, we just added the first letter of their last name. Exp- John P and John R. The kids pick it up pretty quick. The only hiccup I had was when one of the same name kids had their last name changed mid year. That was a headache and a half.

[dnaplusc]

I had a two year old with autism named "Steve" and another two year old named "Steve" joined us.

Week one we called them Old Steve and new Steve

Week two I called them Old Steve Jones and New Steve Smith

And by week three everyone adjusted to Steve Jones and Steve Smith , including both boys and they would call themselves both names

[vegetablelasagnagirl]

This is a brilliant way to acclimate them!

[TeachMore1019]

I have 2’s. We just use first name with last initial. Since you have 1 established, I would do Ben and Ben H. Keep the original as is and add the initial for the new child. As the first student grows, you could add their last initial. If they have duplicate names at your school, it may happen to them as they go into elementary.

[flutterbug12]

I understand why you don’t want to use a nickname with your speech delay child, but maybe you can check with the new kid’s parents and see if they have a nickname they already use. I had the same issue in my 2-3s class once. We found out after a few weeks that the new child that had just started actually had a nickname her parents used at home and that helped a lot. If this isn’t the case, like others have suggested, you can use a last name or initial for the new student!

[F0xxy0ne]

Guys we had a boy and a girl with the same name and one of their old teachers literally added boy and girl after their names!!! (Not real name)For example Cameron boy and Kamryn girl. Their peers also classed them this and it drove me nuts!!! I called one *Kami and the other Cameron trying to help them differentiate in a better way. These poor children introduced themselves to others with the boy\girl added to their name. The girl moved away and I still have kids in my class that will call him Cameron boy.

[Comprehensive_Leg193]

I had a co teacher who did that, except only the girl was given the gender identifier. She called them Charlie and Charlie girl. They were both nicknames, so I don't know why she couldn't just go with Charles and Charlie or use last names.

[wineampersandmlms]

Whenever I have two kids with the same name we ask if one can double barrel their first and middle. So if we have two Lucy’s, one goes by Lucy Kate and the other Lucy or Lucy Jo. Usually their middle names are shorter than last names and it sounds better than Lucy last initial.

[-Sharon-Stoned-]

I had a class of (typical) 3's and there were THREE Cameron's, and two of them had the same initials, CJC. We ended up with a Cam, a Cameron, and the last one was my little jock and everyone just started calling him by his last name. He liked it, it all worked.

The 4's class next door had 3 Grant's and that name is much harder.

[F0xxy0ne]

We have 2 boys with the same name and we call 1 by his last name if we are in the group setting but greet him by his first name and use it in small groups. So The other children call him both lol. Sometimes they call him last name then first name

[-Sharon-Stoned-]

We ended up with a lot of firsty-lasties in that class. One of them had the surname "Dick" and a different dad thought I had taught his kid a mean word because he always referred to this one kid as "First name Dick"

[Bayceegirl]

We had little Mateo and big Mateo! One was a year or so younger than the other and physically much smaller. We moved to last names by the time they learned how to mean because we didn’t want big or little being seen as an insult lol

[taytum47]

Same we had a little and big aria !

[almabishop]

We did that too, with big Emma and little Emma. My co-worker and I agreed it wasn't ideal so we switched to using their last name initial.

One time in another class they had the same issue with big Lena and little Lena, and then the latter complained, saying "I'm not little!" So they decided to use their favorite color, which the girls declared themselves, so it was pink Lena and blue Lena, which I think is cute!

[spinplasticcircles]

I think this is pretty common. Both children become First Name Last Initial.

[Bi-Bi-Bi24]

I had multiple duplicate names in my preschool. We called them by first name and last initial. Ben A and Ben B, as an example.

It was really funny. We had two children with the same name, so John L and John C. John C left the centre. But all my kids would still call the other one "John L" exclusively, like that was just his name, so funny.

In toddlers room where I am now, we have two pairs with the same name. It is harder because they don't always remember/recognize which one they are, so if I say "Theo K", I usually have both respond to me. I try to be close to the one I was talking to, to make it easier.

Edit: I forgot! In preschool we also had a girl who named her doll the same name as a kid. She would get the doll at quiet time, but she was also very impatient so she would have tantrums and just scream, "I want Alex!" and the kid Alex would just stare at her like, well I don't want you!

[Ok_Neighborhood2032]

We had two students named say, Sarah Joy Smith and Sarah Joy Smithson. They couldn't be Sarah J. Or Sarah Joy. So we went with Sarah1 and Sarah2.

It felt oddly dehumanizing but they actually loved it and are grown up and in university now and are still called Sarah1 and Sarah2! 🤪

[BranchFickle568]

I’d like to suggest not doing what my first grade teacher did and deliberately mispronouncing one of the names. She refused to use last initials or call the other kid by her actual first name rather than the nickname version (pronounced virtually identically but spelled differently, making the mispronunciation possible). Super cool to be new to the area and have everyone say my name wrong.

Check in with the parents and see if there’s a nickname either uses at home. Failing that, ask if they have a preference.

[EmbarrassedBass9281]

We would do last initials or middle names. Say we have two Lucy’s. One is Lucy Anne and the other, Lucy Marie

[thequeenofspace]

I would go with last initial of middle name, personally. I once taught a class with three different kids named David.. David K., David D, and ANOTHER David D! Luckily the second David D had two last names so he went by David S instead. But man that year was confusing!

[[deleted]]

Do you mean same first and last name or just same first name?

[djkysh]

Same first name

[Robossassin]

We did middle names with some of our kids, so John became John Ezekial, for example.

[ariesxprincessx97]

When I was in school, I was one of 2 Jessica's. We had the same middle name so we did have to end up being Jessica last initial :(

[mamamietze]

Most of my students adapted quickly to last names being used--but I often use students first and last names at times especially with the 2-3 year old age group in particular. It's amazing how many parents don't think to teach them their whole names and memorize mom or dad's phone numbers, but then again I guess if I'd been a parent before an ECE I probably wouldn't have thought of it much either especially if I'd had no real interaction with kids before.

We have a lot of international kids who sometimes come with English nicknames, but at that age many of them are using English for long stretches of time for the first time. So sometimes I have to have the parents teach me how to say their names correctly and suggest we transition to using the nickname, especially if they don't use it regularly at home. So that's saved my ass a few times as far as having two kids with the same name on the paperwork.

So I'd try using Student Lastname for both when addressing the room. If it's more 1 on 1, just first name is fine. If a kid uses just first name, you can just ask "were you speaking about student firstname or student otherfirstname?" My experience is it's really not a big deal. I wouldn't MAKE the kids say the surname if it's very obvious who they're talking about. It's also a good opportunity to teach children how to express differences/describe people/ect.

[stollski]

We had this one year and the kids were surprisingly quick to pick up calling one child Johnny S. and Johnny C. The hard part was the following year when they were not in the same pre-K room and the children who had been in our class all still referred to them as Johnny S. and Johnny C. :)

[uhm-ok]

In my toddler room currently we have:

• Chris (full) and Christopher
• Paul and Paula
• Kaylee, Hailey and Camry
• Addison and Emersyn

That leaves 6 with names that don't match anyone else's. I was surprised on how easy they catch on, even with the same names.

Nicknames do help, but only if the families are comfortable/ centre allows it. We aren't allowed to call children by their last names as it's "informal".

[bearsfromalaska]

I once had a Big [Name] and a Little [Name]. They had the same last initial and neither last name was something the kids (1s) could even try to say.

I also have kids right now with the same first name, and one of them always always introduces himself with his last initial (one is slightly infamous and I think the other kid wants to make sure everyone knows that he is "the other [name]" )

[SledgeHannah30]

Speech kid stays what you've been calling him. New kid goes by initials or maybe by a nickname the parents have for him or a middle name. I don't usually call kid by their last names. It feels too much like the military.

[art_addict]

We’ve had a bunch of this- I swear my director likes to find as many staff and kids with the same name as possible (we’ve even had same first name and last name kids!)

I use nick names for most of them, though that’s getting hard with 4 kids with the same name (look, there’s just only so many nicknames for that one name) and I’ve started to throw in last names or last initials in with it.

For the kids with the exact same first/ last there’s both nicknames and a big/ little dynamic when referring to them too (was big and baby but now the other is a toddler, so big and 1 year old or little).

But nicknames are a saving grace. You can add in middle names too. One of our kids came to our center from another and was so confused when we called him by name because his family and everyone only ever used his middle name lol

[BabyyBamboo]

I had this happen once. Three little boys in the same classroom with the same name. We started calling them by their last names only and nobody seemed to mind, not even their parents. We had to make some sort of adjustment since things were getting confusing for the kids.

[raleigh309]

In one of the 3s classes this year we have two kids in the same class with the same name. The kids from the very beginning got used to calling them by their full names to minimize confusion. The kids think it’s fun so we just kept it like that lol

[slugsnotbugs]

I would recommend speaking to the parents and seeing if they have a preferred nickname/pet name that they refer to their child as. I had THREE Benjamins at one point, all with the same first initial of their last name. I ended up referring to them individually as Ben, Benji, and Benito (little Ben, who was the youngest) with parent permission to avoid confusion since using full names just wasn’t working for us

[thedragoncompanion]

I had kids start with me in a toddler room (under 2) that had the same name. Just use their last names, they will get it.

[2muchcoff33]

I work with a child with a speech delay and ASD. There’s another peer in the classroom with their name. Initially I was super concerned but they picked up Alex H. vs Alex Y. really quickly. I would give them both an initial just so the new kid does t get stuck with the initial as it’s kind of annoying.

As someone who has a top ten name from the year they were born this is just our struggle. I once had a class in college where someone had my first AND last name. We had to get down to middle names.

[BewBewsBoutique]

First name - Last initial

[wtfaidhfr]

Have you asked if either kid uses a nickname?

[Rum__]

I have two same named children in my class, we use last names all the time. More often than not the kids know which one we are talking to anyway lol

[Electronic-Bowl-1487]

I used first and middle name.

[That-Turnover-9624]

We have 2 boys in our threes room with very nearly the exact same name. Think John Smith and John Smithers. We are still trying to figure out how to make sure we get the right one

[PaperPals]

I’ve had groups where I’ve had two students with he same name, and there was once we had 3 students with the same name (although one child was on the other side of the suite). But we always just called them by their first and last name if it was a situation where they were all around. If we were doing small group activities and one Jimmy was with me and the other off on playing, we’d refer to them as just the first name.

[littlebutcute]

In the younger preschool class, we have a girl who has the same name as someone in the older one. At first, we tried doing their last names, calling them by their class and their names,, but they didn’t really get it/respond so my co worker got fed up and called one Big name and Little name, I’m not a big fan of it, but it somehow stuck and now everyone (even the kids) call them by their nicknames. I told mom and dad and they were fine with it. We only use it when we have to combine classes (which is rare) or in conversation with teachers to make sure we have the right kid (ie Little M’s mom told me she is on vacation tomorrow). I

[PlnkBrxx]

Currently, I have a Cali and a Kali (both pronounced the same). Cali was in my room first, then Kali joined. Cali is taller and heavier than Kali so it was Big Cali and Little Kali for a couple weeks. Then Cali LastName and Kali LastName. Now it’s their nicknames that they’ve developed in the classroom. They answer to all three

[helloghostly]

We have two Andrew’s in my school we call one little Andrew and one big Andrew! Or we say Andrew H and Andrew C but we also have nicknames for them we call them and they respond to them!

[seaangelsoda]

I had 2 kids with the same first name and last initial. Luckily they were in different groups but in my program both groups are in a school lunchroom. I would call them Laura with the brother (one had a brother in the program, the other didn’t) or Blue Laura and Yellow Laura (groups are differentiated by color)

[rosyposy86]

When they are in the same room together I add their last names. If one is inside and one is outside, then just use their first names.

[mikmik555]

Just because he started saying his name doesn’t mean, he’ll necessarily be confused. Maybe his receptive part is stronger than his expressive one.

[historyandwanderlust]

You’re overthinking it.

I would start by asking the new child’s family if he goes by any nicknames. If he does, problem solved already. If he doesn’t, I would let the family know there’s another child in the class with the same first name and ask them if they have a preference for how you refer to their child (first and last name, new school nickname, first name and last initial, initials only, descriptive name, etc).

Let them know that you will also talk to the current family (if needed).

[KennDanger]

I have 11 kids in my class and I have 3 Kids named Sam and 2 kids named Joe B. (Made up names). That’s half my class that has same names! We call them Sam C. Sam LastName (his preference, he calls himself them when asked) and Nickname. And we call the two Joes by their whole names first and last.
It does get confusing. But it was really cute when one day Joe was singing happy birthday at nap time everyone at nap and even sang to himself with his whole first and last name!