A mother from Tennessee has gone viral after revealing that she’s allowing her daughter to legally change her name following bullying at school over accusations that the name was racist.
Danielle Remp shared a video on TikTok explaining that her daughter, Dixie, 16, had been targeted by classmates who claimed her name was linked to the Civil War‑era South.
The harassment became so severe that Dixie asked if she could legally change her name — and Danielle agreed immediately.
“She gets made fun of for it… I said yes, no questions asked!” Danielle said in her TikTok video.
The teen ultimately chose the name Skye, after reportedly being called “Dixie Dust” and “Dixie Normous,” among other crude nicknames.
“They just give it all sorts of crude meanings, and they’ll call me that in the hallway,” Skye told Today. She added that her father had chosen the name Dixie at birth, while her mother had originally wanted to name her Skye.
“Her choice feels more ‘like me,’” the 16‑year‑old said.
Danielle, 35, is now saving up the $200 needed to complete the legal name change.
“She’s a good kid,” said the mom, who works at Burger King. “She’s doing great in school, she doesn’t give me trouble. So if changing her name makes her feel better about herself, why would I say no?”
Unsurprisingly, the comments under Danielle’s video were divided, with viewers debating whether allowing a name change due to classmates’ opinions was the right move.
“What no. Teach your child resilience,” one person wrote. “If you let her change her name, what else will she want to change about herself?”
Another added: “I got bullied but now I love my name.”
But others supported Danielle’s decision. One commenter wrote: “As someone who was horrendously bullied for their birth name growing up and changed it as an adult, thank you.”
The name Dixie has long been associated with the Confederate States of America. It became an unofficial anthem of the South in the 1800s, and the word remains linked to the Old South, slavery and secession.
