question- what are "posh" names?

[thecaroline]

I'm not from the UK, so I was wondering what everyone means when they say a name is "posh." Like, upperclass, but which names in particular? Names like Arabella, Charles, etc.?

Zara, Fergus, Piers, Henrietta

Tara and Fergus have been mentioned but they are Irish names and in Ireland are very run of the mill. In fact Fergus is seen as a bit of a country bumpkin name.

Tara, Cara, Lara etc are ten a penny. Zara is getting more popular but many are put off because of the Spanish clothing range.

I don't know very many genuinely upper class folks but the ones I do know - think landed gentry and loaded - are called Johnny, Paul, Victoria and James

Fergus not uncommon here in Scotland along with Hamish and Angus. Middle class rather than seriously posh.

Yes there's always someone called Johnny in every posh family.

Ludo
Cosmo
Mungo

Seems there's a theme-o

Yes I agree the Greek myth names are posh, I know a lot of upper middle class who use them. Maybe not the upper class who tend to have very traditional names like George, John, Lucy, Alice. But I hear Hector, Iris, Hermione a lot.

The 'o' thing is funny. In Dublin if someone's name ends in 'o' it means they're the polar opposite of posh.

DH suggested 'Peregrine' for our 2nd DC, and I was a little taken aback! (DH is very down-to-earth, his other suggestions were things like Theo, Charles, Oscar)

That said, his father's name is on this thread (as is mine).

We used to call DC2 'Rupert' or 'Rupes' as a nickname, but there are no Ruperts in our extended families either side... DC2 was nn after Rupert Bear because as a very small boy he was overly attached to a pair of yellow trousers, and a red sweater!

Hero.

The only Jonty I have ever known was an utter arse and a bully to boot

The 'o' thing is funny. In Dublin if someone's name ends in 'o' it means they're the polar opposite of posh.

I agree with this to an extent ie the polar opposite of posh but in Dublin the names that end with 'o' are usually nicknames rather than proper names e.g. Anthony becomes 'Anto', John becomes 'Johno', Damien becomes 'Damo' etc. The 'o' is usually only used by working class people. The 'o' names in the UK are actual names e.g. Hugo is a name in itself if that makes sense?

Richard..Tarquin...

Mungo always makes me think of someone who eats dirt.lol

I know looki, I was only joking.

You forgot Deco though, there's always a Deco. Declan to his mother of course.

Actually, all the really smart people I know are named Joanne, Caroline, Victoria, Leonard, Phillip, Francis... names that seem fairly commonplace nowadays.

I know a posh Julian and a posh Francis and a posh Johnny (from landowning families, that sort of posh).

There are a few names - like Mungo and Tarquin - that are only really used by posh families (because everyone else pisses themselves laughing at the thought), but then there are all the names that posh families do not touch with a barge pole. It's not so much what your cousins are called that slots you in as peasant or posho, but what your cousins are NOT called.

Glancing around my particular tree, I am definitely NOT posh.

Here's some minor Royals Born in the last 10 years.

Savannah
Isla
Mia
Xan
Cosima
T?ne
Senna
Rufus
Lyla
Louis
Estella
Maud

Not sure what to make of that list. Poor Maud.

Oh and George!

Thought of some more: Cressida, Tristram, Candida, Jolyon, Percival, Cosima, Horatio, Perdita...

Also I agree that many of these 'posh' names are actually more upper-middle class, while the real upper class / aristocracy use more classic names such as Emily, Alice, John, William

Many said by others but:

Benedict, Bertie, Crispin, Crispian, Casper, Darius, Dominic, Giles, Guy, Isambard, Jasper, Jeremy, Jonty, Maximilian, Miles, Monty, Raphael, Rafe, Rupert, Rollo, Sebastian, Timothy, Toby, Warwick. Ones like Charles or Samuel if not shortened.

Arabella, Araminta, Beatrice, Belinda, Camilla, Clarissa, Claudette, Claudine, Clemency, Clementine, Coco, Henrietta, India, Veronica. Also for girls, often the posher version ending in -a instead of -e, e.g. Julia instead of Julie, Emilia instead of Emily, Lucinda not Lucy, Sophia instead of Sophie, Isabella instead of Isobel, Helena instead of Helen. None of those especially posh though, and lots of names like Olivia once posh now fairly common.

Basically many names you might find belonging to a debutante, 'IT-girl'/socialite or in the pages of Country Life or The Lady magazine! Hyphenated too, e.g. Chloe-Jasmine, though that sort of thing has become more chavvy in recent years.

There is posh=established landowning gentry sort of posh (James, Katherine, Christopher, Lucy, Camilla) and posh=nouveau rich jet ski sort of posh (Tarquin, Arabella, Hugo, Persephone, Bronte).

Xpost awfuldaughter

Cressida
Pixie
Bunty
Bunny
Martha
Daphne
Johnny
Jonty
Horatio