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Baby names

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Original poster

What are the upper classes calling their boys nowadays?

138 replies

seeingdots · 23/03/2019 07:55

So apparently naming trends in the UK often follow a step behind the upper classes. This may or may not be true, I don't know, but if so what does that mean for the next crop of popular names that will replace Jack, Oliver etc at the top of the lists? I don't know many 'upper class' people but those I do have only really used classic names like George and William.

Do you think there's truth in that idea and if so what's due a surge in popularity over the next decade?

Disclaimer: I'm expecting a boy but just posting for fun/interest. I'm neither desperate to make my little one sound posh nor to be on the leading edge of a new trend!

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RainbowMum11 · 23/03/2019 23:57

Me neither *sunflower but 2 of the names are my DC names and the other you mentioned is a cousin!
Not upper class at all but both families have very long histories locally, sadly the money has long since gone, on my side anyway!!

Sophronia · 23/03/2019 23:17

Otto
Otis
Arthur
Bertram
Hector
Henry
Frederick
Wilfred
Edward
Hugo
Theodore
Rafe
Orlando
Wilbur

sunflower332 · 23/03/2019 23:05

have friends with a definite leaning towards certain types of names.

But that doesn't make the parents upper class nor does it make the names upper class...?!

I really like Hector, Constance and Arabella but that doesn't make me upper class Hmm

RainbowMum11 · 23/03/2019 22:25

I'm not upper class, but I do seem to have friends with a definite leaning towards certain types of names. Recent boys ones are:
Ptolemy
Paris
Hector
Arlo

Girls:
Constance
Arabella
Persephone

Although, none are remotely made up - all either have Ancient Greek or English/Celtic origins.

sunflower332 · 23/03/2019 22:14

Names are an indication of class whether you like it or not.

But if most 'upper class' people use common names like James and Thomas, then they're not really indicative of class.

I know boys called Sebastian and Hugo (so called posh names) that are the opposite of 'upper class'...?!

Twelve8Ts · 23/03/2019 22:06

First that spring to mind for boys

Orlando
Digby
Otto

Can’t really think of any typical girls names?

Iflyaway · 23/03/2019 21:18

I really don't get mumsnetters obsession with class. I really don't think its particularly relevant in 2019..

Exactly!

OP, you could try

Jacob
Rees

or Mogg.

HTH.

LOL

Original poster
seeingdots · 23/03/2019 21:09

Marmaduke - are there actual people called that? I've only known ginger cats go by that name!

But yeah, it seems it's the classic names that I'd consider timeless and fairly 'trend proof' (if that makes sense) anyway that keep coming up.

I suppose social class is a very subjective category but for me upper class would mean shorthand for aristocracy/landed gentry type families.

OP posts:
bibbitybobbityyhat · 23/03/2019 20:43

Julius? My dd was very bemused to hear this name on a recent trip to a tourist attraction in London. She also said his parents "spoke like the Royal family" - she gets all her info on that accent from The Crown.

dementedma · 23/03/2019 20:41

Sadly I only know one uber posh, landed gentry type. His sons are Alexander and Jamie

bomanaise · 23/03/2019 20:37

The birth announcements are hilarious. I didn't know people did that (I'm not in the UK).

MikeUniformMike · 23/03/2019 20:25

University doesn't make you upper class, it makes you middle class.
Names are an indication of class whether you like it or not.
The Royalty is not upper class, it's Royalty.

Barrenfieldoffucks · 23/03/2019 19:36

No, just going to university doesn't make you upper class. But coming from a long line of people who did, and went in to traditional professions tends to make you middle/upper middle. So, context.

It's just demographics.

sunflower332 · 23/03/2019 18:44

I don't know any upper class, aren't these landed gentry? i think those in the newspapers are generally mc

Exactly. Although I don't even know what 'makes' someone upper class?

Auntieaunt · 23/03/2019 18:38

Allegra!!!! (Sibling of a baby in the telegraph). I once had a cat called Allegro and everyone said that was ridiculous. Obviously Mr Allegro was just born to be upper class

SosigDog · 23/03/2019 18:30

Upper classes tend to stick to classic royal or biblical names. Alexander, Arthur, Louis, Frederick, Michael, Alfred, Andrew, Charles, James, Edward, Thomas, Philip, Oliver, Henry, John, Mark, Richard, etc.

RomanyQueen1 · 23/03/2019 18:17

I wouldn't think they'd go around telling people tbh.
I don't know any upper class, aren't these landed gentry? i think those in the newspapers are generally mc and aspiring umc.

PolarBearDisguisedAsAPenguin · 23/03/2019 18:07

Please don’t call your son Ottilie as suggested above. It’s a lovely name for a daughter but not a son.

Kat772 · 23/03/2019 18:06

Benedictine is the name of a brandy favoured by Burnley Miners - a ' benny and 'ot water please. Doesn't sound that posh to me ...

spaniorita · 23/03/2019 18:06

Gary.

CloudPop · 23/03/2019 18:02

Something like that. But what a magnificent name

BigFatGiant · 23/03/2019 17:43

@cloudpop wasn’t there a dog or a cat in a film or something?

BigFatGiant · 23/03/2019 17:42

@SimonTJ the feminine version is Benedicte. Benedictine sounds like an antiseptic cream.

CloudPop · 23/03/2019 16:51

I still maintain that one day Marmaduke will rise again

Original poster
seeingdots · 23/03/2019 16:45

Oh FFS, I should've known this would descend into a debate about class. I don't think about everything through the lens of class and I thought I'd made it quite clear I wasn't posting in the hope of naming my child something that would evoke any particular class. I had heard this as a source of trendsetting for names here (can any of us really deny that there is a certain preoccupation with class still amongst the British public as a whole?) and it made me wonder about future trends for boys.

Thank you to those posting in the vein in which the thread was meant! I wasn't looking for a name but I think now Mango may make it onto my list Grin

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