To be surprised by the names of the “posh kids” at DDs school

[marilee]

Hi all, my DD just started primary 1. The catchment area for her new school is super mixed with all the nicest houses in the town but also 2 council areas so a real mix. We live in a council flat, I can’t say I’ve rubbed shoulders with the more middle class half of the town and I grew up in a firmly working class area so this is the first time in my life I’m properly mixing with this group (I know that’s awful but it’s just how life has been for me so far).

I don’t know why but I was expecting all the posh kids to have more extravagant names but almost every single one of them is just a very basic name (James, Harry, Anna, Clara, Emily, Emma etc.). While the names I’d normally have associated as being more “posh” are actually the names of the kids from my area (Rafferty, Arabella, Florence, Theodore).

AIBU to be shocked by this? Is this normal or a little regional quirk?

I dont really know mumsnet well. How is it obsessed with class. I thought all that ort of thing had gone out of the window years ago.

Where do you live OP? Have you really never met a posh person before?

In my town, even the poshest of the posh (especially once we've ruled out any Dc at private school) are really not very posh. Using a few Dc at state schools names is hardly giving an indication of what posh people call their DC.

The society we live in is “deep” though isn’t it? We’re all living it. The only relevance I can see between you having an unusual name and this thread is that maybe some of the posters here were the ones bullying you

There has been at least one Arabella closely connected to the royal family - check out Arabella Stuart.

I've got really posh ancestors but I haven't got twopence to rub together. Inherited wealth would be a fine thing. 😂

I mean I doubt it I've been on Mumsnet a few years now and from what I can tell the majority of users are three times my age

Lol. I'm an Alexandra and was a little shit as a kid.

Does she have any Welsh connections? It's a Welsh name originally (Owain) and very old. There's one in The Mabinogion.

If you think class is dead, you’re woefully under informed.

The thing that makes me laugh about this peak Mumsnet name onsession (and also gives me hope) is that the kids really dont gaf. My teenagers mix with people with virtually all the names mentioned on this thread, from all the different stereotypical backgrounds, builders, lawyers, teachers, work in a pub, aspiring footballers etc.

When I think of their wide circles of friends, they are a mix of kids who go/went to private schools, church schools, academies and grammar schools. If they meet someone new they go, oh, ive met this nice guy, Gary/Ishan/Hector or, that guy Gary/Ishan/Hector is such a knob. They judge people on how they behave towards them and their personalities. As do I actually. I appreciate that we live in the London suburbs so have all types of schools/houses/incomes on our doorstep. Long may that continue.

Inadvertently while working on tax info , my office was sent a list of boarders at a very well known public school. It must have been hell for their administration as there were an unbelievable amount of boys called James

😂there is that I suppose.
I live in west of Scotland and they're obsessed with the 2 big shitty football teams here

All the threads that say “I live in a nice, middle class area”

borders in the uk now are disproportionately international so that’s fairly unusual. Another reinforcement of the lack of diversity though I guess

It’s upper middle class now! They've all managed to elevate 😂

Kevin Bridges reckons it does, he said go in a pub with the wrong shirt on and you’ll get your eyeballs sucked out.

"Is your name not Bruce, then?" "No, it's Michael." "That's going to cause a little confusion."

Same here known as the "posh one" at school because of my name.
There's a reason most wealthy people give their kids basic names like George and Harry.

Most of the ones here are though.

If I gave a list of the names in my daughter’s class, you would instantly be able to tell their school is on a rough estate.

Why on earth do you have this ‘them and us’ mentality, OP? Do you think they’re your ‘betters’? It’s so archaic.

Well yes, I can tell that Mohammed will likely be a boy and likely from a family with some connection to Islam. But that’s not really what this thread was about. It was classist and making assumptions about people’s wealth and status based on a name.

Mohammed is an incredibly common name and I have met Mohammed’s who are very devout Muslims and Mohammed’s who never go to Mosque. I’ve met Mohammed’s from the UK, Sudan, Indonesia, UAE, and even the Netherlands. Some have lived in the UK all their lives and are third or fourth generation immigrants who are very successful. One was a refugee straight off a plane. They all had very different families.

My point really was just, don’t make assumptions about a child and what they and their family are like, based on the name that they have.

This conversation is definitely symptomatic of the obsession with class and class markers on Mumsnet.

I know a couple who named their daughter Sienna. Guess what it was nothing to do with being WC or MC. Dad's family came from Sienna that why the name was chosen.