Demise of the ‘chav’ name?

Yes the word chav has traveller origins as it's the word for a child. The travelling community is regarded as an underclass by mainstream society. The word chav has now taken on a different meaning & is used to denote a socially inferior person. The modern interpretation is far removed from its original meaning.

😮😮😮 A man once told me "Congratulations on the chavi" when I was pregnant. I thought he was calling me chavvy (I am) but now realise I probably got it very wrong!

That's quite offensive and not even true. Chav is a word that travelers use to describe a bloke that's all. Nothing awful.

Since names began people have had surnames as first names.

@swinginwind , It's being working class and living on a council estate. Not all working class people live on council estates
It's neither of those.

Cross-posted with your update.

Liam isn't a 'chav' name but it's a name that appealed to the sort of person who'd name their child after a celebrity.

Probably not a popular opinion, but I don't really approve of naming a child a name (or word) from a culture, religion or language that you have no connection with. The names tend to date badly, or will cause tedious misspellings, mispronunciations or questions, or might just seem bizarre.

Are you for fucking real

No, I'm not for real. I was being sarcastic.

Same in Northern Ireland. Mother's surnames are often used. I know a Robson, Coulter and an Atchison, they're between their 60s 70s and one is 90.

Liam is the Irish form of William. Not sure what's chavy about that.

I've a Robert James very traditional the midwife when he was born said I shouldn't call him that as it was an old man's name 🥴

This thread is actually vile. But the again MN is full of people sneering at people not lucky enough to be born with the privilege that they have.

Your chav names are spot on.
Riley is the worst 😂

For me the quotes around the word 'chav' stopped me from reading it as judgemental. I don't think the OP intended it to be.
I may be wrong, of course, but the tone of the post didn't come across as badly intentioned.

Are you for fucking real

I went to school in the 70s with quite a lot of last-names-as-first-names kids.

It's a tradition in parts of Yorkshire to use your mother's or grandmother's maiden name as the first name of your first son.

The tradition had more or less died out by the 50s, but gets occasional revivals.

Not all people who live on CH are chavs.

It's being working class and living on a council estate. Not all working class people live on council estates

Use of the word ‘chav’ is pretty much the definition of ‘sneery and judgemental’.

All names date with generations. I've got a very typical 70s name and DH has got a very typical 60s name. I was very aware of this when naming our DC so went for names from classical literature instead but think old fashioned names are now really common! So I've just repeated my parents' mistake lol.

I think sometimes people read or perceive judgement in others observations.
There wasn't anything sneery or judgemental in the OP, but you can't discuss names with mentioning said names so there will always have to be an element of being class-ist.

We live in an ex council house on an estate that was originally all council and maybe now 50/50. We got priced out of the village we were in previously (but also in an ex CH) when we had children and needed more space. My upbringing was probably lower MC but we are definitely WC and lower income but university educated. Class divides are changing and COL blurs the lines. This will impact who we mix with and the names we come across, the schools our kids go to etc.

I want a "better" school for my kids, but don't want to put them in a situation where they compare lifestyles and we fall short. Anyway, my kids all have traditional names that I consider class less and this was intentional. I think many name their baby without necessarily thinking about the baby as a child/teen/adult. I always wanted names which wouldn't age them on a CV or raise negative preconceptions.

This thread is FULL of sneering. Laughing at people for misspelling Nevaeh. Calling 'chav' spellings 'yuck'. 'Trailer trash''council housed and violent'. Horrible

I don’t look down on anyone and if people do then they’re absolute nobs.

Saw the name Courtney spelt Kortnee the other day.

We were using the word chav extensively in the 90s in Kent. I rarely hear it now.

This

I'm going to ask another question.

Do you all think that being WC makes you a chav because that's what I'm getting from this thread.

This thread is vile. Middle class sneering at people who generally have lower levels of education and opportunities than you do. Lovely.

Noticing things isn't necessarily the same as sneering at them, although these kinds of threads do have an element of that.

So you all think that living on a council estate makes you a chav?

Have I got that right?