At school we had an anonymous grievances box. So that the kids could safely air their grievances. It was rarely used. But one day a note read “I don’t want to be called Willy anymore.” And amazingly it worked. Even the biggest bullies and class trolls called him William from that day on.
I essentially do something similar.
My friends and family all call me “Ted”. At work, people call me “Theodore”.
One person at work asked me if I ever go by Ted and I had to tell them it’s an easy way to know in which context someone knows me.
At school we had an anonymous grievances box. So that the kids could safely air their grievances. It was rarely used. But one day a note read “I don’t want to be called Willy anymore.” And amazingly it worked. Even the biggest bullies and class trolls called him William from that day on.
Your trolls were lightweight. Trolls in my schools would have doubled, or tripled down on Willy - knowing that it bothered him.