Honest thoughts - would Brits consider this OTT?

[crowsnest99]

Firstly I'd just like to prefix this by mentioning that I'm very new to mumsnet and whilst I reside in the UK, my husband and I aren't entirely British (He's 1/2, I'm only 1/4) and our respective heritage is very important in choosing the names for our prospective children (we're trying as of June!)

We both feel quite strongly about multiple middle names - more as a formality to honour heritage, relatives, etc, and as we both share Italian, French and Greek roots, some of the names we consider 'worthy of honouring' may seem a little... over the top?

We live in London and the ideally the children will attend a pembridge/wetherby type school and they both so English and I worry about them sharing classes with many George and Charlottes...
Anyway. Here are the fateful top names drum roll

Boys:
Augustus Stefan Priam Charles
Ptolemy Alexander Hector St John

Girls:
Octavia Beatrix Persephone Monique
Genevieve Inés Miuccia Céline

I really hope I don't get eaten alive for this - we really love the names!

Hah! cross-post. What you intend and how it comes across could be quite different. But I may not be your audience really.

X-posted with you, OP. OK, then I think you need to research schools much more carefully. I realise that I have in fact come across those schools via a teacher friend, but wasn't making the connection - there is a Wetherby-Pembridge (Pembridge-Wetherby?) school opening in NY, and a friend who interviewed for a teaching job there formed the impression that it was primarily selling a semi-parodic version of Englishness (boaters and little girls in gingham, blazers and plaits etc etc) to wealthy Americans. This may not apply to the original schools, obviously, but maybe something to think about.

I don't disagree about the boys names, they do come accross as you say "self conciously grand"
We aren't set in stone and I will be revising the list intensely - I won't end up with John and Mary but as many are saying they see the names as pretentious or dramatic (rather than historic & after our relatives as intended)
I'll also mention that DH's family is a big fan of classical studies and it was my minor in universtity.
If it makes the boys seem less "named after emperors" let me break it down:
Augustus (historically first emperor of rome) - husbands middle name after his great uncle
Stefan - Italian heritage, more of a 'name we like'
Priam - (historically last king of troy) - suggestion of husbands grandfather, very important that it be included as only explicit request of his family
Charles - After my father
Ptolemy - Middle name of my uncle, historic accounts attribute many qualities i'd like for my son if that makes sense, also like how different it is
Alexander - more of a 'name we like' that keeps tradition
Hector (son of Priam) - for husbands family, also love the name without historic connotations
St John - For a close childhood friend of my husband, who passed away sadly

I'm very proud my children won't have British upper-class names

Erm I'd say Ptolemy and Augustus are very British upper class-type names. Very very much so

Ott and try-hard. Perhaps just go for one middle name - that would improve things immeasurably.

Ott and try-hard. Perhaps just go for one middle name - that would improve things immeasurably.

Sorry, bitout, I disagree. They're Upper-middle, or aspirational middle-middle.
British upper classes likely named Peter, John, Frederick, Charles, Phillip etc. these days.
Augustus maybe, 100 years ago.

I think we should forget the school things and stick to names. People seem to have gotten rather twisted about my intentions because i used the fateful term pembridge wetherby. It was only a phrase to describe (what I thought) represented highly academic english schools, nothing to do with class.
I do consider diversity to be in some ways an opposite to being sheltered; not direct opposites no, but I mean I don't want to raise children who only know one kind of background as the norm. May I note to you that the children will begin attending state integrated international schools in places like argentina and beijing in later life? I dont even want to address accusations of class aspirations, simply ridiculous and outdated if there ever was such a thing. The names for my children should represent our families heritage and culture as well as being a name we like, imo. Don't get it twisted!

If they in any way seem aspirational names then we will have to do a lot of rethinking - entirely unintended. Very grateful to have all of your opinions right now - I feel far more confident understanding a different perspective and am pleased with the changes I've made to the plans so far

Yes corrobee I think you're right, I didn't explain very well. I'd think it was someone trying to be upper class with those names.

Just beware of adding loads of names in official documents don't always have room for more than one middle name my son has two and he is called ds x or ds y but never ds xy iyswim tax credits have just acknowledged his two middle names he is 7

OP I find it off that you wish to honour your Greek heritage with only these ancient Greek names.

I mean, I haven't called a son Aethelred or Cnut to honour my English heritage.

Why not chose a more modern Greek name if you want to acknowledge your Greekness in your child's name? I mean, I assume you are not claiming Priam as an actual direct ancestor? I just think the ones you've gone for are a bit, I don't know how to say this, try hard

Totally pretentious, sorry. And yes, I know you want us to forget the class thing, but will tell you that it comes across as desperately social climbing nonsense. I went to a respected private school. I'm not short of a name or three myself but these are totally OTT.

Ptolemy is not a British upper class name!

OP, you are right, they are 'self consciously grand'. And that is a problem in Britain and in the circles you want to move in. There tends to be a British preference for understatement rather than being in your face. It's very 'in your face' that these names are intended to announce that the person with them is grand. But the need to so loudly imply grandness to the British achieves the exact opposite - it implies a person who is not really grand but is absolutely desperate to be. And that really does knock you visibly several social pegs down. You seem like someone to whom social cachet is important so you might want to consider that.

Unless your children are minor royalty or Mills and Boon characters, then yes, OTT.

Mind you, if your surname is Brown then it's worth doing it, just for the comedy effect.

Seasonalvag - I too went to a respected private school, but would never say 'respected' private school because it sounds a tad snobby and stuffy imo. I've heard quite a few as well "tarquinius magnus laurent van der XYZ" type things and from your perspective i can see the social climbing aspect but really, if i wanted to social climb I would have "George Charles XYZ and Victora Catherine XYZ" - far more upper class brittish to me. The names are historic. Not some bizzare claim to lineage!
Bitoutofpractise - Because normal greek names (or at least the greeks ive met) are "konstantina" "Staelios" - equally "fake posh" and complicated. The most common greek boys name is George lmao - kinda throws it being posh here but whatever :)

I honestly believe you're over thinking this. Personally I would go with not discussing names for your prospective children with your family at all, or at least not until it's more imminent. Sorry to state the obvious, but there are a gazillion other things to think about first, including getting pregnant and getting through a pregnancy and birth. Names and schools are much much further down the list surely?

And if you're concerned that the sorts of schools you mention would judge you and your DC as 'pretentious foreigners' based on their names, then it seems to me that there's nothing aspirational about them at all. You said you wanted 'manners' from a British education - picking on kids for having the wrong names is the very opposite of that.

I honestly believe you're over thinking this. Personally I would go with not discussing names for your prospective children with your family at all, or at least not until it's more imminent. Sorry to state the obvious, but there are a gazillion other things to think about first, including getting pregnant and getting through a pregnancy and birth. Names and schools are much much further down the list surely?

And if you're concerned that the sorts of schools you mention would judge you and your DC as 'pretentious foreigners' based on their names, then it seems to me that there's nothing aspirational about them at all. You said you wanted 'manners' from a British education - picking on kids for having the wrong names is the very opposite of that.

The most common greek boys name is George lmao - kinda throws it being posh here but whatever

Posh names are often some of the most commonly used ones in the U.K.

Unusual doesn't necessarily mean posh. In fact I would say that in Britain unusual names are most associated with the lowest rungs of society.

I dont even want to address accusations of class aspirations, simply ridiculous and outdated if there ever was such a thing. The names for my children should represent our families heritage and culture as well as being a name we like, imo. Don't get it twisted!

OP, if you've lived in England and hung around on Mn at all, you'll know that however ridiculous and outdated (I agree on both points) you may consider social class to be, it's alive and kicking here, and where you educate your children AND what you name them are two of the most obvious flashpoints.

And I think you should also bear in mind that names have other associations for other people, other than the family and home culture associations you have. A name that is utterly ordinary in, say, Greece will have a different set of associations in England - obviously, you may choose to ignore that, especially if you are only here temporarily.

Ptolemy, for instance, is, along with Persephone and Jocasta, a sort of Mn talisman for 'try-hard' aspirational naming. I actually like it, and know a little Ptolemy, known as Tolly), but it has become a slight joke in general as code for 'privileged brat' - in that if a journalist wants to, say, illustrate a privileged child behaving badly in Waitrose, the parent will invariably call out 'Ptolemy, keep away from those aubergines!'

The explanation regarding the names is all well and good OP, but why do you feel the need to use so many names for each child, that is where it stops being a celebration/honour of heritage and strays into the pretentious 'look at us aren't we special' category.

The children will begin attending state integrated international schools in places like argentina and beijing in later life

But...but...but....

You're not even pregnant yet. I don't mean to be unkind, but you do seem to be counting your chickens, rather.

in Britain unusual names are most associated with the lowest rungs of society

Exactly.

What a shame that Ptolemy means that to people! I knew that long frilly names were considered pretentious but all the reactions to the girls names were positive and the boys (far more historic) were negative. I can see how it comes across as aspirationa,l however - as if you want the child to become these things. For me all that means is that you love your child and the name represents him/her, but it is becoming clearer and clearer that is not the reaction many of you have.
Agreed it is a simple detail of children and pregnancy comes first etc but it was important to consider - you can probably tell how much I over think this by now :)

I am not British but do think those names, especially the boys, are OTT. To me they read more like a history book than a cultural heritage.