To think this class-obsessed country uses DC's names to change theirs?

[GinDaddy]

I live in the South of England, I'm heading towards middle age, so this gives you some context before my OP, which is..

AIBU to think people are giving their DCs "posh" or "aspirational" names as status signifiers? (Which ironically immediately marks them out to me as such?)

I realise there's always been fashionable and unfashionable names since time immemorial. But what I'm talking about is the slew of names which I would previously only expect to hear on Made In Chelsea or Guy Pelly's guest list at Boujis.

Arabella. Annabelle. Isabelle. Amelia. Jasper. Oscar. Oliver (to be inevitably commuted immediately to Ollie in faux-braying tones). Hugo. Theo. Leo. Harry (not even bothering to use the proper Harold, just going straight to the diminutive because well, it sounds right).

It's just a bit odd really. People can and will call their child what they like, but why are so many folk (and it's always the same folk, the ones who are project managers, who love myWaitrose and head tilting, whose teeth chatter when grandparents offer DC a Kinder Surprise) enamoured with these names?

Can someone actually explain this to me? No one has ownership of names, but I cannot believe that some people aren't using this as some sort of social signifier. 15 years ago not everyone was called Ollie or Theo. I didn't know a load of Arabellas or Amelias, I knew a few but that was commensurate with the environment.

AIBU to think the popularity of these names comes from their associate social status?

Sarah was 1950

No, Sarah wasn't in fashion in the 1950s. It was very much a Seventies name, so if you knew a Sarah in 1975 (which you would because every other little girl was Sarah), she would either be 5 or under or over 80.
As with Elsie now.

1950s names - Margaret, Elizabeth, Ann(e), Susan, Christine or Carol - always at least one in your class at school and quite often two. I should know, being of that generation.

@aroundtheworldyet, yes because the British treatment of Meghan Markle has been so fair and unbiased😂

With Victorian names, I often wonder why eg Alice and Amelia and Martha are back in style, but I never hear of a child called Edna or Agatha!

Because the last 2 are more early 20th century than Victorian. Names tend to come back into fashion when they are no longer thought of as old ladies’ names. I’m finding it really odd to hear of babies with names like Ruby or Iris but they won’t be thought of as old ladies names by young parents today.

YANBU OP

Well damn, I think it’s extremely harsh to suggest a child can’t be a high-court judge because they’re called Jayden or Lily-Mai! You’re making a lot of assumptions there about their capabilities.

I work with children of all classes. You will find names of all sorts across all classes. The only difference is middle-class parents tend to give their children only solid middle-class names like Tom or Alice, with some exceptions of course. So it’s not so much that they are limited to one class-band, more that others are excluded from them.

20Thinkingabout1t

my Dad raced whippets. He was fast as fuck

Yep that did go over my head :o

You seem to have touched a nerve, OP! It's an interesting topic because, as a pp pointed out, out liking for certain names doesn't just occur in a vaccuum, and it's common to find the name you thought was unusual or classic turns out to be fashionable and of its time, which means it will date your child.

The Tracy/Tracey comments have made me think of men's names that lost their status as men's names after they were used for women:
Tracy
Hilary
Vivian
Evelyn
Clair

@Forallyouknow
Aren’t those names better than people naming their children after cars, “Bentley,Mercedes” etc ...?
This is not really relevant to your point, but Mercedes was a girl's name long before it was the name of a car. It's "Mercy" in Spanish, and there are still plenty of women with the name.

Bingo! Both my children's names have been mentioned.

I’m still waiting for your lists of approved, “non class-signifying” names, Gin?

Zara, Lara, Tara, Cara, Sara - which are acceptable please?

Lina, Tina, Nina, Gina, Rena, Zena, Serena - who is the posh one?

How does calling your child a name that has certain class connotations actually change the 'class' of the child's parent...?

Where I'm from, if it's one of the well known biblical names, it's not going out of fashion. Ever.

But it did. Sarah was definitely out of fashion from the 1920s to 40s. So your 90 year old would have had an unusual name for her age.

You have pretty much named everyone in my Year 10 class (they are 15) , none of whom are 'posh', just normal kids in a bog-standard comp. It's just what people name their kids these days.

You must be joking about Oliver!!! Was popular when I was doing my early years course 14+ years ago. There were 4 in one class!

Our local crown court judge is called Wayne.

We really do have one called Sharon.

This is a well-known phenomenon and has been going on for generations!

I’m a Sarah, born late 80s. I work with a Sarah 20 years older than me that thought a Sarah of my age was unusual! There were 8 in my year at secondary school!

I don’t know any kids called Sarah now, would think that really dated lol

you just aren’t moving in middle class enough circles

Damn! I'm going to have to try harder than just using a Waitrose carrier bag to keep my bike saddle dry on rainy days.

roisinagusniamh

No

Well OP, I am a project manager, I do love Waitrose, my son’s name is on your list - so maybe I am just one big cliche.... but we chose his name because it works in multiple European languages, I actually manage projects and I’m quite good at it, and I find a combination of Waitrose and Lidl creates a delicious and interesting grocery list.... so I’m not aspirational... and my name is one that you would have put on your list 30 years ago but now it’s just a bit staid

Upper class folk can take more risks because their future is largely written already

No - I disagree. Upper class people use very traditional, boring names, but use outlandish nicknames. For the same reason they don’t get hysterical about feeding their children junk food occasionally or letting them watch TV - they don’t feel the need to do anything to stand out, nor to prove themselves. They can just behave in a normal manner!

@Coaltit. I am talking about in the UK (at least) I doubt it was particularly popular amongst the WC or LC in the first place BUT even if was, once it became a cars name shouldn’t people have stopped-it’s like Adolf was popular once but only an idiot would name their child that these days.

Some names (like it or not) make you jump to conclusions about class /upbringing - which is a slightly different point to people should be “staying in their lane” and not naming what should be little Bentley, Tarquin instead. You can name your kid whatever you want but it’s a little naive to think it doesn’t matter in the UK. It simply does.

Sarah was fashionable in the 50s and 60s. I know so many who are in their mid-50s - early 60s!

You must be joking about Oliver!!! Was popular when I was doing my early years course 14+ years ago. There were 4 in one class!

This one has been a solid popular name from when I was in Primary (early 90's). There was at least one in every class at school and now at my DS school & Nurseries there is always an Oliver! I can't take to it because I just think of Olive's and liver same with Olivia!

I used to sit in a back office listening to reception staff take bookings for sports courts and ticking off swimming lesson registers. I openly admit that at times we couldn’t keep our faces straight at some of the combinations of fore and surnames. Michael Hunt was a killer, not one to abbreviate😂 Apologies if anyone has this name, but it isn’t well thought out.

Can you explain the project manager part of your OP please?