'I have an offensive surname and it's preventing me from getting jobs'
'I have an offensive surname and it's preventing me from getting jobs'
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A woman has shared how her unusual name has caused her issues as it's often flagged when applying for jobs or creating social media profiles as it's considered 'offensive'. Our names are often the first thing a stranger will learn about us. It acts as a window to our identities, and for that reason, parents often stress about finding the perfect names to fit their children. However, sometimes, our names can stand in our ways whether we don't want. Even though it's illegal in the UK to discriminate against anyone by their names, sometimes it happens anyways - especially when it's a computer that's in charge.
This is the case for TikTok user Suzy, who shared that her surname often stands in the way of her applying to jobs or writing it anywhere online, as it's often flagged as being 'offensive'. "Raise your hand if you can't sign up for sites anymore or apply for jobs online because your last name is 'offensive', Suzy said in a video. She added to the caption of the video: "Can a lawyer tell me if this is even legal?? To discriminate against someone for the last name they were literally born with? It’s not my fault the Americanised version of my last name is spelled like that.".
Her surname is Coon, which is sometimes used as a racial slur. She explained in the comments that this surname often gets flagged as inappropriate when she tries to apply for jobs online, or even when making a social media profile. "Put a different last name in, correct it when you have an interview," one person suggested, to which Suzy replied: "I actually did do that for my last job." She also told another user: "I usually just put C then if they call me I tell them what it is.".
Meanwhile, other users shared their own experiences of having offensive surnames. Another person shared in the comments that his last name, Cummings, also caused her problems. She said: "My last name is censored on DoorDash." And another wrote: "Swear my surname disqualified me for a job in the house of lords’ archive/library.". A third user said: "I once knew a girl whose family-name was 'Jylland', and one day her and her entire family got locked out of Facebook, and they had to prove it was, in fact, their surname..".
