Embarrassed teacher can't pronounce student's Doctor Who-inspired name

05 April 2023 , 18:55

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The teacher struggled to pronounce the girl's name (stock photo) (Image: Getty Images/Ingram Publishing)

It's not unusual for parents to come up with creative and unique names for their children to help them stand out from the crowd - and no one should be judged for the monikers they choose for their kids.

But one teacher was left red-faced after she struggled to pronounce one student's name that took inspiration from the popular sci-fi series, Doctor Who.

The teacher explained she was working as a substitute when she came across a young girl by the name of Romanadvoratrelundar, which is also the name of a Time Lord in the BBC series who was a companion to Tom Baker's iteration of the titular hero.

The student's name is also the name of a Doctor Who companion (stock photo) (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

In a post on Facebook, the teacher said: "I had to take attendance in a high school class recently and ran into this gem: Romanadvoratrelundar."

The woman admitted she struggled with the name and barely made it three syllables in before the student spoke up to let her know that she could just call her Romy for short.

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And the teacher noted that even the Doctor Who character - who was played by both Mary Tamm and Lalia Ward - went by a nickname, as she was most commonly referred to as Romana.

She added: "She very sweetly told me to just call her Romy.

"The character in the show went by Romana. Would have been so much better."

After the teacher posted about her struggle on social media, commenters were left baffled as to why the girl's parents didn't opt for a shorter version of the lengthy name.

One person wrote: "I love classic Doctor Who and new Doctor Who but no way would I do this to my child."

While another said: "Imagine how embarrassed she must be every time she has to explain."

And a third joked: "I seriously did not read that correctly and thought it read Roman-advent-calendar."

But it turns out the name isn't as unique as it might sound, as several commenters said they knew people who had been named after the same Doctor Who character.

Someone wrote: "I know a woman named exactly the same here in Australia."

"I have a friend named Romana after the same character! Her parents had the sense to shorten it," a second said.

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