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

All the threads that say “I live in a nice, middle class area”

Inadvertently while working on tax info , my office was sent a list of boarders at a very well known public school. It must have been hell for their administration as there were an unbelievable amount of boys called James

I dont really know mumsnet well. How is it obsessed with class. I thought all that ort of thing had gone out of the window years ago.

There’s very little else here for people to be obsessed about. Oh wait, not quite true, there’s flags to be obsessed about now.

I dont really know mumsnet well. How is it obsessed with class. I thought all that ort of thing had gone out of the window years ago.

I think it’s ok to think this but not say it 😂
I will say someone I know who is very ‘aspirational’ let’s say, has called her baby Owen which shocked me because I always thought it was the most un posh name going. Everyone is different!!!

i work in a school.. what you say isn’t shocking to me. The kids with the daftest names are usually what you call working class/on benefits.

but the kids with traditional names are often middle class. It was actually two of the teachers who gave there views to me on it. They said middle class people know a name is one of the best gifts you can give you child so they choose it wisely.

The teachers also said they can predict how kids with behave etc just by looking at the names on there register before they’ve even met the kids.

Eleanor, Alexandra and James = behave well
Blake, Chardonnay & bhodi =don’t behave

The society we live in is “deep” though isn’t it? We’re all living it. The only relevance I can see between you having an unusual name and this thread is that maybe some of the posters here were the ones bullying you

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

Your basic names are the names lots of upper class people call their children. A lot come from the bible, are family names, are traditional names passed down through generations.

Posh people don't call their children Theodore or Rafferty.

Look at the Kings and Queens through the centuries. There's not a King Theodore or Queen Arabella in the long history of the British Monarch.

I don't think it's that deep. I say that as someone with an extremely extravagant name that was mercilessly teased as a kid for having a "posh" name even today people still comment if I tell them my name.

I also don't necessarily think you can tell much about wealth by a name like I said most upper class people I know give their kids basic names and the same goes for the lower class people I know. The only exceptions are arty farty people and they come in all different bank account figures

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.

Judging families for their choice of names based on their socio economic status is disgusting. Not understanding the colonialism or neoliberalism behind name snobbery is disgusting. The lack of diversity displayed is disgusting.

What I don't understand is that everyone who is critsising my comment knows deep down that it does hold truth. If not catchment areas would certainly not be a "thing" and people would be happy to go to any old school and not give it a second thought. People literally scramble to get into the more affluent catchments, because deep down they know their children will have an easier time and a better standard of education. To say this isn't true is just nonsense.

Hi all, my DD just started primary 1. The catchment area for her new school is super mixed with all the nicest houses in the town but also 2 council areas so a real mix. We live in a council flat, I can’t say I’ve rubbed shoulders with the more middle class half of the town and I grew up in a firmly working class area so this is the first time in my life I’m properly mixing with this group (I know that’s awful but it’s just how life has been for me so far).

I don’t know why but I was expecting all the posh kids to have more extravagant names but almost every single one of them is just a very basic name (James, Harry, Anna, Clara, Emily, Emma etc.). While the names I’d normally have associated as being more “posh” are actually the names of the kids from my area (Rafferty, Arabella, Florence, Theodore).

AIBU to be shocked by this? Is this normal or a little regional quirk?

I agree that posh kids can be snobby, but at the very worst they will just ignore, or perhaps some name calling without causing physical pain. They do bully different to working class kids, but the threat of physical harm is more real in the working class. Both forms of bullying is horrible, but let's not pretend the rough working class are capable of a lot worst with often the parents joining in.

Why are English people so obsessed with "the classes", it's...er a bit, err, classless

What awful behaviour? These threads are interesting. We don't have to read it if we don't want to I was a mum at 16 who has demonised teen mums?
I was also teased at school for having a "posh" name. Don't be sensitive