to think that all these darling Jocastas are mythical?

[manicinsomniac]

Seriously, does anybody actually know a Jocasta?

I know it's the go-to 'mock the middle classes' earnest yummy mummy name on mn but I'm not convinced they're really around.

It only appears of one of the ONS name lists from 2006-2012 (there were 3 Jocastas born in 2007) which means there have to be fewer than 20 little Jocastas walking around the UK.

Does anybody know where the reference to 'little Jocasta' came from? Did it start from a specific thread? I know of other seriously posh names which actually do get used each year (if not very frequently) eg Araminta, Antigone, Persephone.

Ffs, "consider".

Thanks, Kindle (on its last legs)..

Agree drinkingtea, all the properly posh people i know are called Emma, Anne, Sarah, etc. (Altho Diana is quite 'posh' and that's classical.) I'm just arriviste

I love the name Jarvis but have been laughed at by DP and DM for suggesting it.

DPs family all have weird names, I'd have thought he'd be all over baby Jarvis. apparently not. Fine, Ian it is then

or one that has been culturally "absorbed",

Well how do you think these names get "culturally absorbed" without the first few people picking random foreign names and using them on a whim.

Freya (for ex) is the name of an ancient Goddess and once would have been seen as a bit out there, but noone bats an eyelid at it now.

I'm ever so fond of a slightly pretentious name.

Yes, without knowledge of pronunciation and meaning is not good!
Possibly more middle class than upper, those names. Though the Times and Telegraph announcements seem to have a high number of Persephone, Clemency, Atticus, and other similar styled names

I was a primary school with a Jocasta. I also know a Persephone, she's one of the hairdressers at the salon I go to, although she is know as Bess.

Well, it's not at all out there, considering how long ago the Vikings came to this country. Freya? I would say it's probably been around a long time.

I see what you mean about where to draw the line, though. I guess I just don't understand why you would go for purely aesthetics over meaning/your own heritage/family for your child's name. I guess even making up a completely new name is better IMO, as it reflects your imagination/artistc nature, perhaps. But like I said, I'm traditional and probably also extremely boring like that (but I'm also an artist!).

Ah, ardomay, saw your post. Yes, at least, it would be good for you to know if your child's name means a mythical monster..

Or a well known tragic fool

Freya has not been in common usage in the UK since the Viking invasions! It's been in common usage for maybe 15 years.

Where do you draw the line when it comes to using names within your 'own heritage'. What is an English name anyway?

And me and DH are both very close to our families, and mostly quite fond of them, so would have loved to use a grandfather's name if it had been possible. It would be different if they had been abusive/indifferent or whatever..

I already answered that, squoosh.

Never met A Jocasta.

Met a Bliss, Tarinabo and Boden, before.

I know four Hectors and two Athenes. I am still vexed that DH rules out all my best names (we could have had a Hepzibah and a Demelza by now. And a Corin), but we both agree that classical names are lovely but sound pretentiousdaft with our surname.

Although Antigone is lovely. I have a penchant for Iphigenia too.

As a side note, I was at university with an Agamemmnon, who lived with Cassandra. We were desperate to find a Clytemnestra to move in with them. Never did.

I have my eye on Ezio, Cassiopeia and Thane for future children.

'I already answered that, squoosh.'

Can't see it.

It's right there where I admit that I don't know where the line is. All I know is that e.g. Icarus Smith doesn't appeal to me on many levels. It's all highly subjective and just MO.

Oh I see, my question about sticking to names within people's cultural heritage wasn't aimed at you. It was to the thread at large.

I thought you were claiming you'd given an answer as to what an 'English' name was.

Ah, no.. Now of to my class to be arty (now, a hard question, I wonder whether having a more unusual name had made me even more artistic? Having studied some of the psychology around names, it is interesting to see how in some cases a nome ist omen in a way.. that's one reason why dh and me wanted to play it fairly safe and generic for ds).

On a slight tangent, I do hoot at all the casual classism and sneeringly dismissive 'overheard in supermarket' comments with lazy and stereotypical 'olive' and 'hummus' sniggering that goes on here.

Is it reverse snobbism? Insecurity? So what if your children eat something different? So what if you chat to then about it?

Juxtaposed with the overdone oversensitivity shown to anyone non-White-British (have just commented on earnest is-bamboo-racist thread) it's almost funny.

My boss always quotes Nomen est omen at me, my name clearly means "she conquers", I just point out that my parents raised me and chose my name so it does make sense.

Massive Latin fail there, but you know what I mean.

Come now! The days of hummus and olives being class indicators are long gone. Aren't they That's very 1980s if so.

I don't think there's very much reverse snobbery? I think the majority (I haven't counted so will be corrected) of us do like the names mentioned, too.

ardomay - yes on this thread everyone has been lovely, but over on the baby name boards it's a different matter.

i think on MN in general inverted snobbery is seen as much more light hearted and funny than using the words 'chavvy'. whereas both can be hurtful, especially when it gets quite personal. i think the idea is if you are MC then you can take it (possibly even deserve it for being a 'pretentious prat') whereas if you are WC then somehow you need defending more. Which i think is patronising in itself.