And you thought your class list was hard to memorize

I've decided that one of the perks of working in an international school is the exposure to so many different names.  Not that the US doesn't have diversity in names (and Lord knows that parents today are naming their children very unique names along with the traditional ones) BUT having students from so many different countries in one school creates a huge diversity of names around you.   And you get to learn some of the variances in pronunciation as well for languages, like Hungarian, that has other sounds than English.

And it's not just first names.  The last names can be great too!  I've learned that in Russia, for example, the girls add an "a" to their last names, while the boys don't.  So, using my maiden name as an example, I would be "Schwartza while my brother and dad would be Schwartz".   In Hungary, they call people by their last names then their first names, according to Beata, one of my fellow employees.  And there are last names in this school that don't even look pronouncable!

So, for fun, I went through our school directory and compiled a list of girls and boys names, and last names for your enjoyment.  The lists are a compilation of names that I love, names that are unique, and names to give you a spectrum of what each classroom holds.  From Sarah to Shruti, they are all in one room!  American teachers, you shouldn't feel so overwhelmed now!

Girls

Hina

Eeman

Niya

Liana

Talia

Samika

Nabaa

Ruqaya (q's are used here commonly with no u after them, so it makes a k sound)

Rayyan

Nour

Auryn

Taleena

Khanza

Rama

Arwa

Shruti

Yashi

Carwyn

Asya

Nahara

Virag

Tameem

Hanan

Rimsha

Dorottya

Leen

So-Yoon (say-yune) this is a Korean name

Ksenya

Meera

Nannaphas

Phattranij

Ekatarina

Oghenemega

Zaha

Polett

Natphatra

Tegwyn

Akanksha

Nilanjana

Termeh (tear-may)

Anneloes

Bokyeong

Fiorenza

Yagmur

Boys

Hamiz

Laith

Majid

Hisham

Abdulaziz

Waldemar

Vilhelm

Makram

Idriss

Vitaly

Tollef

Ayman

Firas

Stanislas

Shreyaansh

Talal

Lakshya

Marcel

Arya

Cirjo

Maurycy

Akrit

Aleric

Audomaro

Ameen

Laszlo

Mihaly

Donghyuck

Ilya

Kentaro

Frano

Thanakorn

Arjun

Ayham

Efe

Vansh

Jashraj

Last names- points if you can pronounce them!

Abdelhamid

Abdulkadir

Engouang

Ebiwonjumi

Eminkahyagil

Fathizadeh

Gjennestad

Bjelland

Gniatkowski

Jirkovszky

Karazmoudeh

Kusumaningsih

Kusumadjaja

Legostaeva

Meepadung

Nadezdhina

Nadgauda

Omanigho

Pagdanganan

Perdiguero

Rubalcava

Sha Sudha

Sianipar

Skjelby

Tawfik

Toktamis

Ulutuna

Van der Werff

Wijanarko

Zambarakji

Zeybekci