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?

So if people at Coutts etc bin CVs the wc shouldn’t get uppity and stop this happening by choosing aspirational names for their dc.

I applied for something the other day and we were not allowed to use our name so that’s something.

@MarshaBradyo I think it's a good idea for everyone to use names that they both love and which don't have a clear "class" identifier.

Personally, I see nothing wrong with calling any child any of the names in the OP. I do think there is plenty wrong with parents using socially restrictive names for their children. I speak as a WC person who gave her DD a classic name, precisely to avoid negative social connotations.

I don't really think those names are 'posh' like not UM or UC and have nebwr thought of them that way.I think that is part of the confusion. They are more ordinary LM names so hardly suprising to abound in those communities. What would be more interesting is WC families using these names. IME they choose names like Kai, Kian, Skye, Summer. Or LM using UM or UC names.

I just came off looking at some 1800s ancestor's name - they seem to be James, Margaret Anne, Mary, Lawrence, John, James (the 1st James had died by then), Joseph, George William and Thomas born in the 1860s and 70s. The father of all that lot was an agricultural labourer in NE England.

I don't think there really is much difference between traditional working class names like the above and richer people's names in the UK - Prince William, Princess Margaret, Prince George - rich or poor - these are English laws. If you want to pick something really unusual then you will probably burden your child.

Names just go in & out of fashion is all. A while back when I was a teacher it was all Poppy, Rosie, Molly, Daisy, Jack, Josh etc. As a sixties baby my 'middle class' first name was so common there was always at least two in every class I've ever been in. And 4 of us at one point when I was age 9.

We just tend to recycle family names, and name our children for fondly remembered relatives. A grandparent or g-grandparent. Tactfully, we have chosen one name each from maternal and fraternal sides.

People choose names for all kinds of reasons. We have a Hugo. We chose it because we liked the name and to honour a close friend of DH and I who passed away in recent years. FWIW I don't personally associate it with any particular class and that's not something I'd even consider when choosing a name. Your generalisations are quite offensive.

Haven’t RTFT but actually I agree with you OP.

I know of quite a few people (who are very class obsessed actually) that have named their children some of the names in your OP purely because they want to appear middle/ upper class.

It’s really not that hard a concept to grasp.

I do however think it’s true that all those names are pretty popular in general just now too.

YABU

I’m English and live in the South East. We’re not rich but we’re not poor. My son is called Alfred and we call him Alfie. Why? Because my great grandfather was called Alfred and I wanted to continue a name in our family and I liked it. His second name is also an old fashioned English name after his other grandad.

We didn’t name him to sound posh but we also didn’t like any of these American sounding names or obscure ones. Just wasn’t for us. Both my husband and I have normal English sounding names too. Nothing fancy just common names.

Would rather have an Arabella than an Armani.

The names you consider to be "posh" aren't at all

You seem a little obsessed with wealth and class though OP. If it's not Carole (is that a posh name because of the e? 🤔) Middleton is thin cause she's rich, it's posh names and British vs US privilege.

In my experience, people think about class on MN way more than IRL.

I find it a bit weird.

I haven't read the full thread, just got to page 11 to see if I could spot my own children's names

I think people just call their kids what they like. We live in a fairly affluent area and DD attends the local state primary. In her class there is a Hugo, an Aurelia and a Sebastian, but there is also a Kai, a Jackson and an Ellie-Mae.

My mum grew up on an awful council estate in the 1960s and she's got a cousin called Spencer.