Is Rafferty incredibly posh?

[stuckinthehouse]

I just came across this in the ONS data and was surprised how far down the list it was. Is it very very very posh? I quite like it...

It's quite posh but you don't have to be to use it. Friend of mine named her DS it (he's now 15) and known as Raff. Attended mix of state and private schools so mixes with posh.

Honestly OP, if you and your partner love it then use it. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks - surely people around you have sometimes used names that you dislike? But once they're attached to a cute little person it's not an issue.

Everyone seems to be dismissing anything Irish or Glaswegian as "definitely not posh at all". There are well to do people in both places, you know. Southern England doesn't have the monopoly on all posh people.

This made me laugh, Aye. I'm Irish by birth and yes I know posh Irish people (but their kids aren't called Rafferty).

Giddy lots of those are cute but they sound like shortening of a longer name to me. (Kit short for Christopher is something we like, for example.) As our child will have a 7 syllable surname we're trying to avoid such long names for the birth certificate however.

Natalia thanks - a boy balances my family nicely, and we're very excited. Unfortunately it's fired MiL up about the double barrelled surname again, alas. DH is barely speaking to her at the moment over it. I plan to sit down with them both and bang their heads together discuss it properly.

Rafferty is a fairly common surname round my way, it has large Irish heritage community. I've only cone across it as a surname rather than a first name. I think it makes the name sound incomplete, like it's missing the first name iyswim. For eg. Rafferty Baker looks incomplete to me whereas David Rafferty Baker sounds like a complete name. I hope this makes sense.

Haha, I knew it Belle!

I have a 7 year old Rafferty. I love it (obviously) and don't think it's at all posh. We're both from working class families! And I don't think we're pretentious try hard twats but some people probably think we are.

He calls himself Raffy, but his friends tend to call him Raff which he doesn't mind. FYI at age 7 he thinks he has a cool name and likes that he isn't one of the four Thomases in his school year.

Well Gerry Rafferty wasn't posh, was/is he?

Surnames as first names don't tend to be 'posh'...

We have a Rafferty.

It's not posh, IMO, but there are definitely more Raffertys about since we had him.

There have been 3 now at our tiny village primary and we have met several at Center Parcs 😂

In our case, I'd only ever heard of Jude Law's son but we just liked it and I pushed it hard because after years of teaching I had taught kids with most of the other names we liked and they were twats 😁

I joke, but in several cases, not.

I think it's the opposite of posh.

What about calling the baby Raphael, nn Raffy?

As someone who is sometimes referred to by pals as a “mental posho”, I would say it is the opposite of posh. But it sounds a bit posh. It’s the sort of name that people who aren’t at all posh would think is posh. But genuinely posh people would be busy looking down their noses at it. But I do think it’s a lovely sound. I imagine quite a friendly, cool, slightly bohemian Rafferty.

Assuming OP was pregnant, he's well into his primary school years by now.

yes, but who knows how many currently pregnant readers I may have helped with my excellent advice? 😉

@neveradmit17 , 'what to name your child when he's 8' or 'read the OP before posting'?

FWIW, I think it is anything but posh.

I don't think Rafferty is posh - I quite like it. Taught a Montgomery before, not posh, really suited him. Monty for short. All these names are fairly standard now, I think, so I wouldn't be too concerned.

No, I don't see it as posh at all really. More Boho/ MC.

Woodrow is American-sounding to me, rather than posh

I know a few reasonably posh Montagues, known as Monty. Not so sure about Montgomery. To me that's a surname ( as in Viscount Montgomery) or Montgomery Clyde from Paddington fame.