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This is page 1 of 18 (This thread has 171 messages.) First | Previous | Next | Last Go to page

What makes a name (in your opinion) pretentious and why ?

(171 Posts)
By Tue 22-Sep-09 17:46:55 Add message | Report | Contact poster
Just wondered really..

I think labelling something/someone pretentious is very dependant on where your own background/standing but as we all are only very loosely gathered into social groups/trends it's fairly impossible (IMO) to call a name in particular pretentious.. what might sound so to one person maybe a perfectly normal name to another..

What in your opinion makes a name fall into the dictionary meaning - which is "characterized by assumption of dignity or importance" - and why ?

For example I don't think Persephone (mentioned in another thread) is in any way pretentious but I went to school with a Mungo and I have a very, very unusual name which I love.
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Mon 28-Sep-09 14:38:32
I dont think it matters if you call your child a 'chav' or 'pretentious' name as long as you like it & i dont think the name you choose reflects on the parent(s) I had a Chardonnay 16 yrs ago(r.i.p) way before it bacame so called chavvy & i have a Baylee but i certainly am no chav or am i a snob. The children with these so called names can aspire to be wotever they want to be a name doesnt make the person
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Sat 26-Sep-09 08:03:34
I understand you're upset- my name and my DS's name have both been slaughtered on here before. But you are on a 'names' thread so you will see opinions on names.
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Fri 25-Sep-09 19:57:31
I am getting annoyed with all the name stuff on MN...just seen my own name used as an exammple of a Boden woman, whatever! It's kind of rude, and can only hurt feelings, so what is the point? I hate lots of names, for lots of reasons, but I don't go telling people.
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Fri 25-Sep-09 19:52:43
A caustic-minded observer might raise an eyebrow at an unusual name, only to discover it was an old family name that went back centuries. I have a DD whose unusual name has been mentioned on this thread -- she was named after ancestors over several generations.
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Fri 25-Sep-09 19:09:23
Can foreigners get away with names that would otherwise be considered 'pretentious'? I mean, we don't belong in any 'class' smile..

Also, names that are considered 'pretentious' in one country are considered very common in another.
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Fri 25-Sep-09 18:57:41
I think I am definitely working class, as much as I subconsciously aspire otherwise.
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Fri 25-Sep-09 18:44:40
I think pretentious is when people try to be upper class about it. A bit Frasier Crane really.

I find 'Cosmo' (I think that's the name, it always crops up on here. It's something like that anyway) very pretentious. Though I know many on here like it.
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Fri 25-Sep-09 18:41:27
Was that a hint BonsoirAnna?
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Fri 25-Sep-09 18:23:28
Names are pretentious when they are both very rare and have never been fashionable, in an attempt to find a name for a child that no-one else has. "Trying too hard" to be different is pretentious!
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Fri 25-Sep-09 18:22:11
I have a Lochlann and a Tabitha - I used to have a Mirrin. I don't think any of them are pretentious?
This is page 1 of 18 (This thread has 171 messages.) First | Previous | Next | Last Go to page
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