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Baby names

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Original poster

question- what are "posh" names?

95 replies

thecaroline · 30/10/2014 22:22

I'm not from the UK, so I was wondering what everyone means when they say a name is "posh." Like, upperclass, but which names in particular? Names like Arabella, Charles, etc.?

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TheAwfulDaughter · 01/11/2014 02:03

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Sophronia · 01/11/2014 01:31

Thought of some more: Cressida, Tristram, Candida, Jolyon, Percival, Cosima, Horatio, Perdita...

Also I agree that many of these 'posh' names are actually more upper-middle class, while the real upper class / aristocracy use more classic names such as Emily, Alice, John, William

thatstoast · 31/10/2014 22:25

Oh and George!

thatstoast · 31/10/2014 22:24

Here's some minor Royals Born in the last 10 years.

Savannah
Isla
Mia
Xan
Cosima
T?ne
Senna
Rufus
Lyla
Louis
Estella
Maud

Not sure what to make of that list. Poor Maud.

MehsMum · 31/10/2014 22:24

I know a posh Julian and a posh Francis and a posh Johnny (from landowning families, that sort of posh).

There are a few names - like Mungo and Tarquin - that are only really used by posh families (because everyone else pisses themselves laughing at the thought), but then there are all the names that posh families do not touch with a barge pole. It's not so much what your cousins are called that slots you in as peasant or posho, but what your cousins are NOT called.

Glancing around my particular tree, I am definitely NOT posh.

NerfHerder · 31/10/2014 22:07

Actually, all the really smart people I know are named Joanne, Caroline, Victoria, Leonard, Phillip, Francis... names that seem fairly commonplace nowadays.

squoosh · 31/10/2014 22:06

You forgot Deco though, there's always a Deco. Declan to his mother of course.

squoosh · 31/10/2014 22:05

I know looki, I was only joking.

MistressoftheYoniverse · 31/10/2014 22:05

Richard..Tarquin...

Mungo always makes me think of someone who eats dirt.lol

looki · 31/10/2014 22:00

The 'o' thing is funny. In Dublin if someone's name ends in 'o' it means they're the polar opposite of posh.

I agree with this to an extent ie the polar opposite of posh but in Dublin the names that end with 'o' are usually nicknames rather than proper names e.g. Anthony becomes 'Anto', John becomes 'Johno', Damien becomes 'Damo' etc. The 'o' is usually only used by working class people. The 'o' names in the UK are actual names e.g. Hugo is a name in itself if that makes sense?

Fullpleatherjacket · 31/10/2014 21:59

Hero.

The only Jonty I have ever known was an utter arse and a bully to boot

NerfHerder · 31/10/2014 21:58

DH suggested 'Peregrine' for our 2nd DC, and I was a little taken aback! (DH is very down-to-earth, his other suggestions were things like Theo, Charles, Oscar)

That said, his father's name is on this thread (as is mine).

We used to call DC2 'Rupert' or 'Rupes' as a nickname, but there are no Ruperts in our extended families either side... DC2 was nn after Rupert Bear because as a very small boy he was overly attached to a pair of yellow trousers, and a red sweater! Grin

squoosh · 31/10/2014 21:54

The 'o' thing is funny. In Dublin if someone's name ends in 'o' it means they're the polar opposite of posh.

Monica101 · 31/10/2014 21:53

Yes I agree the Greek myth names are posh, I know a lot of upper middle class who use them. Maybe not the upper class who tend to have very traditional names like George, John, Lucy, Alice. But I hear Hector, Iris, Hermione a lot.

Fullpleatherjacket · 31/10/2014 21:51

Ludo
Cosmo
Mungo

Seems there's a theme-o Grin

squoosh · 31/10/2014 21:51

Yes there's always someone called Johnny in every posh family.

dementedma · 31/10/2014 21:50

Fergus not uncommon here in Scotland along with Hamish and Angus. Middle class rather than seriously posh.

dementedma · 31/10/2014 21:49

I don't know very many genuinely upper class folks but the ones I do know - think landed gentry and loaded - are called Johnny, Paul, Victoria and James

looki · 31/10/2014 21:47

Tara and Fergus have been mentioned but they are Irish names and in Ireland are very run of the mill. In fact Fergus is seen as a bit of a country bumpkin name.

Tara, Cara, Lara etc are ten a penny. Zara is getting more popular but many are put off because of the Spanish clothing range.

TheWildRumpyPumpus · 31/10/2014 21:43

Zara, Fergus, Piers, Henrietta

squoosh · 31/10/2014 20:58

I know of a felicity - common as muck!

That made me Grin

Poor common Felicity.

cheesecakemom · 31/10/2014 20:52

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Bowlersarm · 31/10/2014 17:07

Posh names to me are Charles, Rupert, Tarquin, Sebastian (although becoming less so), Hugo, Jonty, Augustus, Piers. Araminta, Lucinda, Henrietta, Jemima, Georgina, Margot.

bouncingbelle · 31/10/2014 16:59

'Posh' to me now means piers, Persephone, Percy, araminta etc - names that would get you laughed out of your local comprehensive.

Where I live, even just 10 years ago names such as Eva, Emily, Harry, Archie or Olivia would have been seen as posh yet now are ten a penny.

The poshest people I have ever known (think eton etc) were all your average Thomas, Jonny, Guy, James, Tim's.

OublietteBravo · 31/10/2014 15:57

The only Rupert I've ever known went to a large comprehensive school in Yorkshire, and wasn't remotely posh.

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