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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Which names are would you consider 'too posh/try-hard/odd' to be used?

433 replies

AKMD · 25/07/2011 13:40

Having seen a few names pop up which, when read out to my office colleagues, have caused great hilarity, I was wondering which names poeple on MN generally consider too posh/try hard/odd to be passed off in RL. I absolutely love Arabella but have been told that DH and I aren't posh enough to use it :( Ditto Lucinda.

I have to admit I did laugh at Mungo. Sorry to any Mungos/parents of Mungos out there!

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Bandwithering · 26/07/2011 08:49

Rupert and Araminta

Clytemnaestra is too much! But maybe Phaedra or Ismene (they are shorter, less of a mouthful). I really like Julius and Aurelius so I don't think 'anything' Greek or Roman is out. It just depends. YOU have to run each individual name past a jury!!

Bandwithering · 26/07/2011 08:51

ps, Lucinda and Arabella could be Lucy/Lindy and Bella or Aria

I wouldnt choose them myself, but I wouldn't raise my eyes to heaven and say 'oh that's yuck/cruel/unusual/too psoh"

BulletWithAName · 26/07/2011 09:17

Any Greek or Roman name screams try hard to me. I don't think they are horrible names at all, they just sound extremely pretentious to me.

Quite a few names I've read on here have made me laugh though. Sorry Blush

DessertsInReverse · 26/07/2011 09:26

i should possibly have said many greek and roman names especially the longer more exotic ones can be perceived as perhaps trying to hard .
having said that i still love many of them Cassandra and Persephone especially although their meanings and the legends that go with them would deter me more than their apparent poshness ,

Callisto · 26/07/2011 09:26

I know of someone who named her children Boudica Persephone and Archimedes Lancelot. She is quite, quite barking, of very ordinary background and I feel very sorry for her children who are destined for a lifetime of teasing.

The poshest people I know (Lord & Lady) called their children Helen, Rose and Clive.

lockets · 26/07/2011 09:27

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BulletWithAName · 26/07/2011 09:28

Oh I think some Greek and Roman names can easily cross over into what's deemed 'normal', like Cassandra and Alexander, but some of the more 'out-there' ones do sound a bit silly to me.

lockets · 26/07/2011 09:30

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CaptainNancy · 26/07/2011 09:32

This thread is so funny- both MIL's ex-H and her brother's names are on here... not in the least bit posh.

Most of the boys names on my shortlists are too... Grin

CaptainNancy · 26/07/2011 09:33

Wow- 'Helen' is try hard?

BulletWithAName · 26/07/2011 09:33

Oh, don't get so defensive lockets, please. People on here slag off my DS's name constantly, I really couldn't give a shit. If you like the names you gave your DC, then why do you care what anyone else thinks?

If there was an edit feature on here, I would have edited my first post, hence why I posted again.

grumpypants · 26/07/2011 09:34

But once the child is here, running around, being gorgeous, at school, whatever, surely the name is insignificant? I certainly don't do a double take when one of the dcs bring home a child with a 'posh' name or a 'common' name - 'oh no, quentin, we can't have sebastian over, his mummy is pretending he is one of us...' Grin

lockets · 26/07/2011 09:37

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BulletWithAName · 26/07/2011 09:38

Fair enough Grin

lockets · 26/07/2011 09:52

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narmada · 26/07/2011 09:57

Anything that fails the back-door test - imagine yourself standing on the back step and shouting the name really loud to gain playing child's attention.

sieglinde · 26/07/2011 10:05

I really don't get this notion - I chose names I loved and dont' really give a toss about their class value. Ds has a very plain name, and Dd a name from The Lists, but a plain second name Just in Case (might be a good compromise strategy. Octavia Jane. Tabitha Jane.). As it is, nobody worries about it as her fancy name is almost always shortened, whereas Ds's plain name never is.

ZZZenAgain · 26/07/2011 10:11

off-hand can't think of anything that strikes me as trying to0 hard, definitely not Helen. How is Helen trying too hard?

I find plenty of names odd though. Wouldn't know where to start...

AKMD · 26/07/2011 10:32

Blush I'm laughing out loud at Marmaduke, although I do actually quite like it as a teddybear name. Love Peregrine and St John though (Georgette Heyer?).

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munstersmum · 26/07/2011 10:41

Merlin. There is a boy at school named Merlin.

narmada · 26/07/2011 11:07

I was at the park a while ago and heard a dad shout 'Ulysses!'. No word of a lie. I wasn't very succesful at swallowing my snorts.

lockets · 26/07/2011 11:10

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ZZZenAgain · 26/07/2011 11:11

I never encounter people with these kinds of names anywhere. What I do hear is a lot of names I find ugly and I assume the dc must have been named after a relative or something. I never meet people with these kind of pompous names or names that sound like they're names for pets etc

LynetteScavo · 26/07/2011 11:14

No name is too posh for me if I like it enough!

Ds2 would have been Hugo (but it didn't suit him when he popped out) and I know lots of people think it's a bit posh. DH said he would have called him Huey or Hugh. Hmm

lockets · 26/07/2011 11:14

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