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Original poster

Is Cavendish a nice surname?

105 replies

FormerlyPathologicallyHappy · 30/09/2023 11:27

Or a bad one?

OP posts:
JayAlfredPrufrock · 30/09/2023 15:37

May be apocryphal but I like it.

griegwithhimandhim · 30/09/2023 15:42

Reminds me of 'Cavendish Foods' in To the Manor Born.

WhileMyDishwasherGentlyWeeps · 30/09/2023 15:43

JayAlfredPrufrock · 30/09/2023 15:37

May be apocryphal but I like it.

Thank you. Apocryphal or not I like it too! Great bit of (possibly debatable) history.

Twazique · 30/09/2023 16:43

Apocryphal is a good surname...

MistyMountainTop · 30/09/2023 16:47

CountessKathleen · 30/09/2023 12:45

So someone with a cat called Snowball would be registered at the vet as Snowball Snowball? (This is news to me - I don’t have a pet and didn’t know that vet registrations were for Fido Smith-Williams or Fluffy Patel.)

Show quote history

Yes, our cat's all have DH's surname, that's why he has to pay all the vet bills!

JayAlfredPrufrock · 30/09/2023 16:49

Yep. Always have first name and surname at the vet.

HadEnoughOfBears · 30/09/2023 17:13

I think it's a good name.
For some unknown reason I've always wanted the surname Hepburn

NinaGeiger · 30/09/2023 17:14

It makes me think of Cavendish House (or 'Cav House') in Cheltenham - a nice department store. No bad thing.

BatshitCrazyWoman · 30/09/2023 17:20

I like it OP. In fact, it's on my list. I'm divorced and still have my married name because although my maiden name is nice, it sounds awful with my first name (no idea what my parents were thinking!).

BatshitCrazyWoman · 30/09/2023 17:21

Talking of cats, Cavendish would sound fabulous with my cat's name. Think something like 'Maud Cavendish ' 😁

Original poster
FormerlyPathologicallyHappy · 30/09/2023 17:24

Good for you @BatshitCrazyWoman. It’ll just be nice for me to have a name I can reliably pronounce that no one laughs at (people are so rude) and I hopefully won’t have to spell. Although I have in-laws with the surname Hunt and they have to spell it out.

OP posts:
Whatelsecouldibecalled · 30/09/2023 17:35

If I'm marrying mark I'll take it!!

Calphurnia · 30/09/2023 17:45

Your reasons are so sound OP, enjoy your new name, along with dCat.

You may be obliged to take up cycling now though!

ghislaine · 30/09/2023 17:51

Surnames I rather like in that vein are:

Carmichael
Honeychurch
Nightingale.

mathanxiety · 30/09/2023 17:53

Hottytotty · 30/09/2023 11:58

Cavendish is the family name of the dukes of Devonshire so pretty posh, but has been around such a long time that lots of unposh people will have it as well. I like it better than my awful married name
Am thinking Smellie or Ramsbotham for the current name…

Or even Smellie-Ramsbotham....

oioicheeky · 30/09/2023 17:56

FormerlyPathologicallyHappy · 30/09/2023 12:29

I’m sure she will approve next time we go to the vets. I have previously contemplated changing her name anyway.

I liked Carrington but dh said no. It’s a bit much. I grew up wanting to be Krystle so much.

Definitely Cavendish then, if DH agreed. Xx

HoHoHoliday · 30/09/2023 18:11

I once met someone with the surname Christmas and ever since then I always thought that would be the most lovely name to have. If I ever change my name, that's what it will be.

Cavendish is nice. Classy, easy, common enough that everyone would know how to spell it.

Catsmere · 30/09/2023 21:43

FadedRed · 30/09/2023 12:52

Another interesting Cavendish fact: your everyday commonest banana is called a Cavendish, because it was crossbred in the glasshouse at Chatsworth.
IMO nice surname to choose.

So that's how Cavendish bananas got their name! I had no idea. Cool (or should that be warm?) fact of the day!

Also cool fact I just looked up after learning that - they were cultivated there by Sir Joseph Paxton, head gardener, designer of the Great Conservatory and later of the Crystal Palace!

Lots of neat associations with the name Cavendish. :)

And yes, OP, Puddy Cavendish does sound adorable, and has a very 1920s air.

Catsmere · 30/09/2023 21:49

griegwithhimandhim · 30/09/2023 15:42

Reminds me of 'Cavendish Foods' in To the Manor Born.

Ooh, I liked Richard Cavendish in that! Was always glad he and Audrey got together.

(Now there's a name to choose - not OP, she's already got Cavendish - fforbes-Hamilton!)

sadaboutmycat · 30/09/2023 21:55

ShutTheDoorBabe · 30/09/2023 11:51

Bolsover Castle was built and owned by Charles Cavendish and, later, his son William. I think they were politicians? Anyway, they were rich, important landowners so it's quite a posh name. I think Hardwick Hall was connected to their family too.

This was what came to mind for me, too! Love Bolsover 😊

TheMurderousGoose · 30/09/2023 21:56

Didn't he have an Eastern European name in To The Manor Born and adopted Cavendish to sound more English. Popular name for those choosing a new surname it seems!

AFieldGuideToTrees · 30/09/2023 22:07

My ex husband had a great aristo name, so much so we used to have loads of giggles when he signed visitor books in stately homes with just his surname (as the aristos do).

I changed back to my maiden name as I couldn't bear to be connected to him after our divorce. Regret it now, I don't like my surname and only chose it because I had to choose something and hadn't remotely got a clue what else I could call myself.

OP, Cavendish is lovely, and I hope you'll have many years enjoying the name you and your husband thought about. ❤️

Catsmere · 30/09/2023 22:12

TheMurderousGoose · 30/09/2023 21:56

Didn't he have an Eastern European name in To The Manor Born and adopted Cavendish to sound more English. Popular name for those choosing a new surname it seems!

Welp, I stuffed up, forgot his adopted name was Richard DeVere, and Cavendish was only the company name. He was Czech - his mother was Mrs. Polouvicka, who Audrey always called Mrs Poo, so presumably Richard was Polouvicka too.

hotcandle · 30/09/2023 22:22

If I had thr choice I would change my surname to Waterford. I just absolutely love it.

Jibo · 30/09/2023 22:27

I love Cavendish. I think any surname that's got a London square named after it is a safe bet.

Did you consider going back to your maiden name or was that not great either?