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

[AKMD]

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!

[kenobi]

I heard a Mum call her DS, Archie, in a 'loud & proud' way the other day, repeatedly.

Really? Not that I'm disbelieving you per se, but surely by the time your kid is old enough to be called in a playground, being proud about your choice of name has worn off?

I wonder if 'try hard' has to do with wanting to be original. I explicitly didn't want a name in the top 10 when choosing names for DD. That probably makes me pretentious but when growing up I was in a class of 22 with FOUR Charlottes. And two Marinas. And three Chloes. As lovely as those names are, I wouldn't use them, or Isabelle. Which probably says a lot about how posh my school was but there you go

I am pretty posh and my name features strongly on the 'try hard' lists above, but I looove it. JK Rowling did me a huge favour when she popularised it as no-one could pronounce it before.

That said, whoever said truly aristocratic don't go for pretty names, I don't agree for girls but definitely true for boys. I vaguely know a couple of full-on aristos and they are Alex, Alex, Will and Henry respectively.

[kenobi]

Ooops, posted to soon - but basically I guess that if you own half of Britain you have nothing to prove...

[Lizzylou]

The only way I'd have another child would be if I could guarantee another boy and if I could call him Cassius.
As no.1 condition is impossible and DH is not keen, it won't happen.

I love the name Cassius, feel cheated I only thought of it once I'd had my two DS.

[kenobi]

I love the name Cassius, feel cheated I only thought of it once I'd had my two DS and is of course the real name of the best boxer of all time, the distinctly un-posh and un-try hard Mohammed Ali.

NEVER understood why that one is considered 'posh'

[JanMorrow]

My own name in on the above "try hard" lists, although one of my parents is actually achingly posh, so it's allowed right?

My daughter had what was referred to as a "ridiculous" name, and my planned names for my forthcoming additions are on the above lists too..
OH WELL, I like them! Some people say I'm quite posh so obviously I'm "allowed" them.. you realise how ridiculous that sounds?

[MumToFG]

I wouldn't class many of these names listed here as posh. Archie? Amber? Isla? They are very ordinary.

[Greythorne]

The other problem with Cassius ( and Julius, Septimus, Columbus etc) is the possessive form becomes pretty unpronounceable.....Cassius's coat becomes 'Cassiususss coat. I don't find it manageable, Tbh.

[redheadbedhead]

i LOVE milo and ralph, they sound like raggly taggly smudgy-faced little cheeky boys to me :) and I am DEFINITELY not posh.

in fact we're thinking of Milo for a second name. And would be named after the kid in Phantom Tollbooth, not any posh person.

all the roman/greek names do sound a bit wanky to me though..

[ditavonteesed]

only one of my dd's names is mentioned, I am sure the other would be classed as too posh as well.

[boobiekat88]

basically, babies will be adults one day. unless you are some sort of high flyer middle class bugaboo pushing sophie toy chewing mummy your kid needs a normal bloody name.

woo! that means im allowed to call my children whatever i like! I knew that pram would come in handy....lol

[Greythorne]

But much worse than posh, try hard names are the trendy try hard, often shortened names:

Archie
Stan
Arthur
Art
Fred
Freddie
Alfie
Oscar
Rocky
Elvis
Earl

Lottie
Tilly
Georgia
Blue
Rosie
Libby
Molly
Milly

[redheadbedhead]

jesus i thought everyone on here had a bugaboo! i've been trying to find ANYONE who just wants a bog standard second hand pram to talk to for months now!!

but i am quite middle class.

[thereisalightanditnevergoesout]

'basically, babies will be adults one day. unless you are some sort of high flyer middle class bugaboo pushing sophie toy chewing mummy your kid needs a normal bloody name'.


Why though? Who says? Why does everyone have to have a 'normal' name? (whatever 'normal' might be) - and really, how dull would that be?

We wanted a name that wasn't going to be overly popular. We didn't want a situation where there were a number of children in the same class with the same name and for them to be differentiated by the initial of their surnames. Besides, we're not talking made-up or anything, just names that have existed for decades, some even centuries, which aren't overly popular (where we live, or on the ONS lists). If I'd liked 'John' I would have chosen that (turns out most of my family are named John or some derivative).

[thereisalightanditnevergoesout]

The other problem with Cassius ( and Julius, Septimus, Columbus etc)

You also have the same problem with 'normal' names like James and Angus...

[Insomnia11]

I would consider any of those names in Greythorne's list entirely normal and quite nice popular names apart from the last three boys ones. Blue I haven't heard though.

My cat is called Mungo. I also used to have a cat called Oscar, though I think it's an entirely excellent name for a boy as well.

[redheadbedhead]

I'm with insomnia on greythornes list... in fact some of those names are down on our own list for our first kid. the girl's ones especially sound quite normal to me apart from Blue (weird) and Georgia (posh)

[JemimaMuddledUp]

I like the name Ralph pronounced Rafe! Might have something to do with the enormous crush I had in school on a floppy haired arty sixth former with that name though...

[LaCiccolina]

Virginia and Tarquin produced much laughter by DH....I quite liked Ginny and well I never got as far as working out a shorter version of the other

Araminta was another name I heard from a kids tv prog when I was a child I always liked but didn't dare voice (Minty for short seems kinda cute) DH might have divorced me

[JanMorrow]

From the Moondial? I loved that show/book. I fell in love with that name then, but I'm not overly keen on "Minty".

[superjobee]

boobiecat yep imo you can give your kid the 'oddest' name in the world as you have a bugaboo

redhead same here, there is no way in hells chance we are spending over 200 on a pram but you can get a decent pram new or second hand for that price ..

[Awomancalledhorse]

My name is on two of the lists; 'I'm somebody now! Millions of people look at this book website everyday! This is the kind of spontaneous publicity - your name in print - that makes people. I'm in print! Things are going to start happening to me now.'

I think long first names & surnames together are a no-no, if we had a double barrell surname our kids would end up being called Kay & John.
I did go to school with (white English, no connection to the countries of name origin) brother & sister called Achilles & Columbia, I think using Greek/Latin/Dutch/Etc names when you have no connection to the country where the name originated is a bit odd.

[kenobi]

A kid at my school was called Pontus and I rememberthinking even then it was really a bit cruel. His surname was awful too (ended in -cock) and I just felt his parents could have tried a bit harder (or possibly less hard)...

[CalmInsomniac]

Lol. When I was expecting DD we thought she was a boy and called her Ghenghis (affectionately). After the scan showed she was a girl we thought Venus Electra had a nice ring. Later in the pregnancy we liked Anaïs for a while.

When it came down to it though, we called her....Eva [no guts to carry through unusual name emoticon]

[LindsayJoanne]

Santa?? Are you kidding me?

[wellamI1981]

I know it's really quite common now but Reuben is what I think of as a try-to-hard-and-want-to-be-middle-class name. Just my opinion though before everyone jumps in!