'Chavvy' name.

[Awandinmypocket]

So for baby no 1 we considered Caleb, however we had a beautiful girl instead. Was considering Caleb again for baby number 2 but saw a post the other day where someone referred to it as a 'chavvy' name 'like Kayden and Jayden' (their words not mine) do people agree with this comment?! I see it as a biblical name (and the singer from Kings of Leon,actually)
Other contender is Rafferty. Middle name will be James.

Rafe is fab.

Laughing at "people with caravans".

Surprised that an educated woman would go for Cohen. Weird. Feel a bit sorry for the kid.

I stand corrected. It is Jadon. Nehemiah 3:7.

Asked her about it and apparently it's Cohan and it's because it's an old family name (Irish)

Go with James, and either Caleb or Rafferty as a middle name. I love the name James.

I think people of older generations who don't realise that Old Testament names are trendy might have different cultural associations. Before they became popular, OT names were more widely used by the travelling community or American evangelicals. Now they are used across the board, so I wouldn't worry (or take pleasure in busting the stereotypes).

Caleb is distinctly more middle class than Rafferty in my part of the world!

I wonder why it is that some people think Rafferty is a posh name. Does it perhaps remind them of a raffish young man in Raffles bar drinking singapore slings?

Or have there been some posh fictional Raffertys I'm just not thinking of?

Anyway, Rafe is a much better choice!

Rafferty is a girls name isn't it?

Rafe is lovely!

Rafferty is much nicer. Caleb cones across as either 'chavvy' or American which isn't much better.

What's so wrong with American?

Wow! American. So awful. When I had my Caleb I actually thought it was an old mans name. Which was appropriate as he looked like a wise old man when he was born (like most babies really!)

My image was an old American man sitting on a porch! (Ok, maybe I'm weird!)

Not sure how Caleb can be American when it's Biblical... or how being American is a bad thing

I like the "sound" of Caleb as in its arrangement, I think it's got a nice soft sound to it, but where I live it would go hand in hand with Kyle, Jayden, Kayden etc. If I called my dc Caleb my sister and friends would think it was chavvy (for want of a better term, which I can't think of right now). They would not at all associate it with anything biblical or churchy. My sister would think I'd lost my mind and would probably tell me so to my face. Everyone else would smile and nod.

They would not at all associate it with anything biblical or churchy.

Are they a bit dim?

No squoosh, aetheists and different religions if that's ok with you. Not everyone reads the bible or takes an interest in the Christian religion.

Uninformed then. And dim to use a term like 'chavvy'.

I never said American was a bad thing, of course not, just that the religious people in the US were ahead of the trend for Old Testament names. I don't think being a traveller is bad either, I was only trying to guess why different people might make different associations.

I have a neighbour whose grandchild has one (Eli) and she said she was surprised they chose a Jewish name, which I'm sure is a MIL thread in the making!

My aunt asked my mum if we'd converted to Judaism when we named our twins. No, still atheists. Just chose names we liked.

MyWhat, I don't see how you can be offended by someone saying that the name was historically more common in America, yet you also picture a Caleb as an old American man on a porch swing. These are very similar things to say and neither offensive.

Sorry LetsSplash, I was being sarcastic about Dina1234's post.

I don't think sounding American is awful. They're an English speaking country, so they're going to have the same names as us. Like Donald.

LetsSplash not you but the person who said 'Caleb cones across as either 'chavvy' or American which isn't much better.'

Squoosh - they wouldn't use the term chavvy. We don't use that word in our conversation. Which is why I said "for want of a better term". What is that term?

Also, can you explain why using the word chavvy is "dim"? Rude, snobby or whatever I would understand, but not dim. Out of interest, is it the use of the word chavvy you think is "dim", or believing in the existence of what it represents?

People who bandy the word 'chavvy' around do tend to be dim in my experience. It's their only descriptor for things they feel are beneath them. Their sluggish minds think 'working class - bad' and out pops 'chavvy'.