American looking for UK Answers

Clementine is a fantastic name - I know a little Clementine. Have you looked at the top 100 names for the UK? They're names which are popular now, but may be less so in your age group. Also, the National Statistics office has quite interesting data on name trends

Rowena is also a good choice - my name's Rowan, and I love it, but it is unisex so you might prefer the more definite female version. Cordelia's a gorgeous name - Delia for short?

I wouldn't worry too much about the social class implications of your choice - maybe check on here before you commit for any clangers, but it doesn't really matter.

Other suggestions:
Beatrice
Veronica
Tabitha
Florence
Violet
Susanna

Actually, we should all take note of this when naming our own children - very popular names can indeed be a pain when you've got to share it with 4 or 5 others, not only in school but in working life too.

Sonnie where were you when my Mum was naming me and my DSister? .

Harriet -- Juliet - Julia - Juliana - Kate
Florence -- Flora - Frances - Francesca - Fiona
Mirabel -- Mira - Maria - Mariah - Marie - Marianne
Alice -- Alexandra - Elise - Eloise - Louise - Louisa - Anneliese

From your list, I'd use (in this order):

Alice
Harriet
Florence
Jemima
Clementine
Mirabel

Alexandra
Mira
Miriam
Naomi
Annabel

You keep coming back to Jemima and Clementine. If you love these names, then that's a good enough reason to choose either one. Neither has any negative connotations in the UK. This is going to be your name, so whatever you choose, it should be something that you love.

Yes, Camille is lovely (so much nicer than Camilla) but you could use Milla as a nickname, which is a bit similar to Emily. Genevieve too, I think a good mixture of vivacious and dignified and good from the nn pov too, lots of possibilities.

One of my best mates is called Cordelia and she isn't especially posh. It's a lovely name. I call her Cornelius and her family call her Coco.
I would go for that - I am biased though

But it isn't entirely income based in the US. The class thing, I mean. :)

Reality stars are rich but have no class. A poor literary reviewer has no money but lots of genteel-shabby sort of class.

I like Jemima. Esme is a nice too but I think will pose too many pronunciation problems. Clementine is lovely but I don't think it is a particularly wearable name. Rowena is a bit dowdy to me. (I do really like Rowan - mostly for a boy - though.)

Friends of mine in their 20s with (what I consider) uncommon names include Felicity, Annabel, Flora, Ffion, Angelina, Geraldine, Yolanda, Frances, Faith, Veronica, Vanessa, Joy, Tessa, Miriam, Verity, Maria, Maud, Charis and Susannah (Susie). They are all good names and I don't think would raise any eyebrows in the way Clementine might. I realise not all of them meet your criteria but they'll help you blend in a lot more. If you want to stand out, I'm probably not the one to be advising!

I like Alexandra, Sophia, Abigail, Emilia, Louisa, Camille, Genevieve, Seren (Welsh), Carys (also Welsh).

Dear OP: as an American living in the UK I would like you to consider how you are going to move here! It isn't easy and it's getting harder all the time. The best option is to find a Brit to marry. :)

That out of the way, have fun choosing a new name. Agree that they all read as very posh. :)

Rosemary?

Renee, Renata or Anastasia (essentially 'reborn')?

Ahh gwan lottie . I'm bored, at least until 2pm, when I intend to watch the fabulous 'Pregnant in Heels' on Bio, about over indulged pg women in New York. If I'm reading about social mobility, I won't have to do any housework!

So why did she specifically ask us about class half way down the thread?! People had been warning that some names sounded 'posh' in a negative way and she wanted to know what that meant.

I warned it was a potentially endless and unrewarding diversion... before plunging into it (because I was bored! but, you know, trying to be helpful).

I do agree that both class itself and its relationship to names is becoming far less obvious or relevant. (This is not the place to start a discussion on the marked decline in actual social mobility over the last 40 years... and I'm not bored today!).

Jollybear, I don't think op is thinking about class. I think she just feels that there are too many other Emilys.

Emily is a good example of a timeless, classless name.

OP what is your middle name? Could you not use that instead?

And it seems the OP is not concerned about 'class' at all. She seems to be purely keen to avoid being one of many Emilys sharing her name.

I can relate to that very well. I have a vey common 1970s name and always had to add an initial or other modifier (often little X) to my name. Even now at work it can often get confusing sometimes.

Personally I love the names Clementine and Cordelia - and there aren't many 20-30 year olds around, so would be a great choice op!

"I feel we haven't fully illustrated the 'upper middle only / jolly hockey sticks' style we keep referring to. The names ragged's given you are 'working to mid-middle' (first list) and 'solidly middle' (Victoria etc). The sort of thing that would signal to me 'upper MC, probably private school' are Venetia, Fenella, Arabella, Portia, Sophia (until recently), also Sebastian and defnitely Peregrine and Persephone. It gets confusing again though because upper MC / upper class use very nice, simple names too, like Lucy, Alice, Clare. Also because some very MC names become suddenly popular at all levels e.g. Olivia, Charlotte, Emily and finally... there is a category of more flamboyant name that can be either upper or lower end class-wise but is unlikely to be middle e.g. Talullah."

I think names no longer reflect 'class' (which in itself seems be becoming less relevant) in the UK. Names at our State Primary include Sebastian, Sophia, Tiggy (Antigone), Quentin, Connor, Tyler and Alexander - a whole range of names! Equally I know some privately educated kids named Tom, Alex and even a Jayden.

I honestly don't think we can say someone is necessarily 'posh' or 'chav' based purely on their names!

Btw we're going to need to know the answer, so we can look out for 'Clementine X' on film credits in future!

...and agree with kb that it is all more fluid now, also my 'upper MC' illustrations encompass upper class too.

I am professionally offended that you would consider changing your name from Emily.