To be surprised by the names of the “posh kids” at DDs school

No Irish person would use an Irish surname as a first name. I realise there’s a trend for using ‘craft’ surnames as first names (Hunter, Cooper etc), but it would be more like an English person calling their child Jones or Brown as a first name.

Boris was just his nickname though. Apparently he still goes by Al to those he was close to.

What you call ‘basic’ names are what I’d call classic names, that don’t date.

Lighten up luv 🥴

Posh : solid classical names : Robert, Peter, James, Richard, Marie, Catherine, Emma. Often biblical or old royal origin.

Nature names for the new age hippies.

Made up names for the social climbers.

Aspirational destination names for the dreamers.

Local language names for people connecting with their heritage.

Double barrel and nicknames are not considered posh (I don't think).

You’ve discovered your own prejudice. I’m always doing it 😹

You’ve highlighted the reality of the “posh” middle classes vs the perception of them held by the poor lower classes.
That why you can always tell new money - they buy things and do things they think matches their perceived new social status, while the old money lot laugh at them behind their backs.

It’s not pigeon holing though🙄. Adults should be able tom tell
a few things based on a name such as religion or race or both. a pupil called Priya would be of hindu religion. But a pupil with cohen surname would be Jewish.

What like Dave or Boris 🤣🤣

🤣🤣

It’s terrible isn’t it. You’d think poverty and the widening have/have not gap in the UK would be enough on its own, but then the English have to go and bake in a whole other level of fucked upness on top.

That’s daft to say

You can often tell lots from a name - there religion, ethnic group, class, caste and more. This happens in the same race etc too.

I work in a school. To give you an extreme and sad example - a Muslim dad wasn’t happy that his son was sitting with another Muslim boy in class (they like each other!) . The dad said the boy was the wrong type of Muslim compared to his son . The teacher asked why? The dad said he could tell by the child’s name.

i Could go on!

For what it's worth, I think OP has made an interesting observation. The "posh" set are not aspirational, they've made it, they can choose solid names. The "chav" set are potentially aspirational and so they choose what seem like posh names but really are just names celebrities have used. I've met a Moses but I've not yet met an Apple. I have also met a Toffee, which I found frankly ludicrous.

There was an extremely long thread on this very recently. This is going the same way. Properly people call their kids very plain names apparently. Anything else is try hard middle class or deluded working class. There you go.

MN is obsessed with class distinction in a way I’ve only ever seen on here. Maybe I’m lucky not to have spent any of my life around anyone who anguished about what degree of middle class they or the people they know are.

Presumably you're in Scotland since you mention P1. We live in a similar area - people move here to send their kids to the excellent state schools. There are also some nice new build council homes.
I feel like the class differences are less obvious in Scotland having lived in England as well - in name trends anyway.

Lots of kids here have traditional Scottish names, like Mhairi, Alastair etc regardless of their background. It's a bit of an odd thing to be surprised by.

Not fascinated no. It’s simply a way of describing inherited wealth, passed down over generations.

I went to school (rough as a badgers arse school) with a Rafferty. He got expelled for starting a fire. His mum was lovely but his dad was a colossal wanker. He (Rafferty) changed his name to Liam when he was a teenager and became a goth.
Glad I got that off my chest 😂

Rafferty sounds chavvy to my mind

Why are we still talking about class in 2025? No one works in the mills or down the pit any more.

It does work the other way. Chavvy family’s can be snobby looking down on the family’s who are not
like them.

There is more than one type/level of posh.

Mumsnet is so fascinated by the perception of “old money”. I wonder how long it will be held on to. 2030, 2040? Old old money

In my experience, old money tend to use very ordinary names. Names many would consider posh are usually used by new money or people who aspire to be posh.

Arabella, Florence, Theodore Are out dated and posh people now wouldn’t touch them names.

rafferty is a Irish surname

Very self-consciously posh names do feel a bit tryhard to me. Old and unusual names have been in style, so a lot of people have named their kids long obscure-sounding names in a way that they wouldn't before. There was a general trend a few years ago for long flowery girls names that start and end with A, as well as typical old fashioned names like Agnes, Agatha etc.