1
general::
Verbally abuse someone, use offensive epithets, as in The teacher told the children to stop calling names. This idiom was first recorded in the late 1600s but Shakespeare used a similar expression earlier in Richard III (1:3): "That thou hadst called me all these bitter names."
American Heritage Idioms
2
general::
Phrase(s): call someone names
to call someone by an abusive or insulting name. • Billy cried when the other kids called him names. • John was punished for calling his teacher names.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs