A Public Service Announcement: if you are middle-class and live in an area with a high proportion of Boden-wearers...

[PollyMorfic]

...you would be well-advised to take note.

Following my compulsory attendance at 7yo dd2's first music 'concert' (I use the term loosely, and yes I was bored) I whiled away the time doing a little research on the list of 'performers', which led to the following conclusion.

If you are middle-class and live in a reassuringly expensive but still very slightly boho area, possibly but not necessarily in London, and are currently pregnant with a girl, you are probably considering one of the following names:

Maya
Mia
Pia
Tia
Ella
Ellie
Lily
Lola
Evie
Edie
Esme
Izzy

These are all nice names. But everybody else thinks so too. So if you want to avoid in future years having half a dozen Boden-clad little mites do a double-take every time you call one of said names in a public place, you may wish to consider branching out a bit.

Eye thang yew.

My son goes to a boys' prep. I will name a few boys in his class (don't want to out myself!)

George
Jacob
Leo
James
Finn
Oliver
William

All quite popular/regular names I'd say.

sorry, thing.

Lots of people were saying, oh who cares about class, it's so boring. I think it's very interesting. And when people are posting different opinions on a forum, is that not a debate?

We can just look at the top 10 most popular boys and girls names to see which names are most widely used .

Oh yes, George, James and William are typical MC names.

What about Alfie, Archie and Charlie?

poppy - I would say they are typical WC names although I am sure they are used by the MC too

Yes and No - It has to be Alfred, Archibald and Charles - the MC don't do cute and twee.

What's the difference between POSH and middle class? Because I think MC is a very broad definition. I don't know many really posh people but I know lots of MC people!

Posh is when you go to CLC or finishing school in Switzerland, play polo, beg your parents to let you come home at Easter.

MC is when you pretend that your Mercedes was not bought on credit, and the man who mows your lawn in the Summer is your Gardener.

Also Posh means having impeccable manners and not being boorish (very MC).

They are nicknames (mostly) NOT names!

Gah. I just can't imagine Dr Izzy, or Esme MP. They will have to change to the full versions so they don't sound like they are playing dressing up. Has nobody got any aspirations any more?

Also, Posh people have housekeepers, whereas MC have cleaners.

Posh people also have Norland nannies, and the MC have child-minders or au pairs.

Although WC have child-minders too - but they tend to be called Sis, Mum and Gran.

The worst ones are the names that are purposefully spelled wrong, AND hypenated. What is wrong with a nice, traditional name, with a nickname to use informally if you wish, spelled in the way it has been for years?

It is still very possible to be a bit different without just making a name up!

And lets not forget that posh people don't pay tax because they employ people to squirrel it away in offshore accounts, whereas MC pay tax for the rest of the country.

I have to agree that I know many many WC James and Georges.

I think the upperclasses go for the timeless names - Edward, William, Elizabeth, Katherine etc

The middle classes go for the above, plus the trendier names like Oscar, Leo, Finn, Esme, Matilda, Lily

The working classes go for all of the above, plus the nickname names Alfie, Archie, Ellie, Evie etc

The very lower classes could opt for any the above plus the made up names and the surnames like Taylor, Mason, Tyler, Madison, Bailey etc..

So a George could completely span the classes but a Mason is most likely to be from the lower classes.

OOps - sorry - Off topic.

DDs class of 8/9yo girls:

Mollie - my DD :)
Sophie
Emily (x2)
Ellie
Katie
Ella
Liberty
Lydia
Megan
Annabel
Olivia
Grace
Phoebe
Alexandra

None are nn, all full names.

Middle class, boden wearing? Or not?

I guess we're trash then as I've never come across a Flora, Archibald or any such name.

There are lots of Isabella's, Gabriella's and Olivia's and shock horror lots of children have "nicknames" as their proper names, so yes we even have Bella's, Katie's, Charlie's and Mimi's.

I've never understood why on earth you'd give a child a name like Katherine if you've no intention of ever using it. My name is considered a nickname by many yet doesn't appear to have had any impact on my life whatsoever.

The poshest person I ever met was called Minty. No idea what her real name was!

calaloo ABSOLUTELY spot-on. Would just like to add Stacey to your final list.

Halfcaff could she have been Ermintrude?

But just because a parent feels part of a certain 'class', it has no bearing on the future 'class' of their children.... as they may do very well in life or alterntatively not do well at all... So surely the name someone is given at birth does not necessarily reflect his class once he/she is an adult?