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If you had to give your baby boy an aristocratic /posh name, what would it be?

167 replies

calistassouth · 23/01/2021 08:55

Aristocratic/posh names for boys
Middle names too would be great!
Examples
St John
Ptolemy
Rufus
Crispin
Edward

OP posts:
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Toffeefee23 · 23/01/2021 09:52

Tristan is not posh

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 23/01/2021 09:52

What starts with 2 Fs but isn't Welsh?

Mainly surnames, but they often get carried forward into first/middle names before long as part of the family line. Names like Ffrench or Fforest.

VenusClapTrap · 23/01/2021 09:50

Kim

ColdemortReturns · 23/01/2021 09:49

Anything Jacob Rees-Mogg thought to bestow on his poor kids..

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 23/01/2021 09:48

XaviersMum1

Wow, that's me definitely identified as non-posh!! I didn't know there were different pronunciations of it. Then again, names fully meaning 'Saviour', like Salvatore and Salvador, are quite common in some countries/cultures.

I actually think Xavier is one of those crossover names - like Edward in the OP - which could be posh or just normal and strong. It probably also makes a difference whether your surname is de Fffarquar or Robinson Smile

PandemicPalava · 23/01/2021 09:47

Sebastian

BertieBotts · 23/01/2021 09:46

Some form of Max so Maximilian / Maxwell probably. No idea if this is actually aristocratic or just my idea of posh though :o

Palavah · 23/01/2021 09:45

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll

Willoughby Peregrine Carruthers Arbuthnot

Anything (non-Welsh) that begins with two or more Fs.

I think of Carruthers as the butler or the agent, and so addressed by his surname.

'yes Carruthers'
'very good m' lord'

What starts with 2 Fs but isn't Welsh?

topcat2014 · 23/01/2021 09:43

Jasper

kitschplease · 23/01/2021 09:40

Roly and Ludo

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 23/01/2021 09:38

Willoughby
Peregrine
Carruthers
Arbuthnot

Anything (non-Welsh) that begins with two or more Fs.

XaviersMum1 · 23/01/2021 09:38

I can imagine members of the landed gentry weeping and gnashing every time somebody mishears their beloved Xavier's name and calls him Dave

Let of an issue with the posh za-V-air pronunciation but someone once misheard Xavier as Saviour (zay-V-uh) but was terrifically polite about it

WanderingMilly · 23/01/2021 09:36

Cholmondley
St John
Peregrine

Palavah · 23/01/2021 09:36

Jolyon
Mungo
Aloysius

It's also about the middle names - family surnames rather than first names. But think de Lacy rather than Jackson.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 23/01/2021 09:32

Anything Latin or Latin-based, like Sixtus, Octavian, Xavier or Fabian.

I can imagine members of the landed gentry weeping and gnashing every time somebody mishears their beloved Xavier's name and calls him Dave Grin

Also, anything that is (or sounds like it could be) a small place name. Something like, say, Brocklington carries the clear implication that his family (notably Lord & Lady Brocklington) established and own most of the whole exclusive village that bears their name.

Ordinary plebs like me have a house/flat with an address that includes a city/town/village name; for the truly posh, Brocklington-cum-Cringlesby IS the family seat.

Not that the place itself is particularly posh, but I always think that De-La-Zouch sounds like it would be a perfect, fittingly strong, confident name to give your son, if you are of a certain echelon Grin

2021hastobebetter · 23/01/2021 09:28

I know a Rufus and Montagu as they are my DC best friends.

I close family relative has an Edward, and insists on Edward he is 12 and hates it. Wants to be Ed and she won't allow it.

jackstini · 23/01/2021 09:25

Hector
Tristram
Quentin
Aristotle
Algernon
Hugo
Miles
Montgomery
Sebastian

CloudPop · 23/01/2021 09:18

Marmaduke
Montagu
Cuthbert

SleepingStandingUp · 23/01/2021 09:17

@OhMsBeliever

I have a son called Barnaby. Definitely not posh, and I don't think I'm pretentious. I just chose a name I liked (from one of my favourite childhood books that I was re-reading when I was pregnant with him) as I did with all my children.

I also loved Ptolemy, but wasn't brave enough for that!

At John and Ptolemy?
longtimemarried · 23/01/2021 09:16

Piers/Tristan/Rupert/Hilary

LittleBearPad · 23/01/2021 09:13

Edward and Henry - really?

Sheepareawesome · 23/01/2021 09:13

Hugo or Rupert or Julian.

(I am a bit worried now as we have 2 DSes with names on the list above. So does that mean I'm pretentious? Moi?

barbrahunter · 23/01/2021 09:12

Rollo

OhMsBeliever · 23/01/2021 09:12

I have a son called Barnaby. Definitely not posh, and I don't think I'm pretentious. I just chose a name I liked (from one of my favourite childhood books that I was re-reading when I was pregnant with him) as I did with all my children.

I also loved Ptolemy, but wasn't brave enough for that!

SleepingStandingUp · 23/01/2021 09:11

@CoronaIsWatching

Based on ops examples, you think it's pretentious to call your child Edward??

That's one example, what about the rest?

I just think it's a bit of a sweeping generalisation to say only the aristocracy can use any names they might typically use. But then I also don't get the "try harder" attitude if people pick something other than Olivia or Oliver
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