Working class names

[alessandrae83]

So on my last threads some people said that some of the names sounded middle class and should only be used if that was the case. So what are working class names? What are nice working class names? Is this actually even a thing? Does it really matter?

I've met a middle class Jayden. As for Kai, there's Kai Neilsen the philosopher, award-winning political journalist Kai Bird, and many, many middle class boys with a Nordic or German parent.

Proseccofuelled yes they are genuinely my childrens names very outing thanks for the compliment

Whatareyoutalkingabout Thank you alrhough I think their names are classless being as they are are all found in the old testament, apart from Sylvie who was named for my (WC) grandmother.

I'm not going to be disingenuous and say that there aren't names which many WC parents commonly choose, there clearly are.
However most WC parents choose names other than those, commonly linked to their cultural/religious background, literary/cinematic/theatrical preferences or family heritage.

@tiramisu1 I don’t understand how you can say tastes are affected by ‘experience and education’ & not class. Class is based on experience & education....

Knowing a middle class Taylor-May or Jaydeyella doesn’t mean those names don’t sound the way they do & have the strong associations they do. Knowing one Emma who is a boy doesn’t suddenly mean that the name will be heard as unisex to all who hear it - it’s the same principle.

And having had the class lists of multiple private schools (10+ schools) I can definitely see the difference & I’m surprised someone here hasn’t seen the same.

The comment about the telegraph announcements isn’t quite true either - there are lots of analytical / stats based blogs demonstrating the difference - you are significantly less likely to have an Amelia & significantly more likely to have an Alice if announcing in the telegraph for example.

This discussion is probably complicated further by the number of working class people who call themselves middle class because they think it sounds respectable & they think of themselves as that, & middle class people who call themselves working class because they think of themselves as grafters etc. I know a couple - neither have parents who have a degree, neither are qualified professionals & regularly refer to themselves as middle class when they are not. It seems that all of the labels are offensive now. Politicians fall over themselves to try and appear working class.

I’d really like to see the barriers broken down - I just don’t think we’re anywhere near that yet.

I find this sort of contribution bizarre (no offence babadoc)

“Our community dentists could always predict exactly which kids, in any school they visited, would have tooth decay needing treatment, without examining them. They just looked at the names in their form register.
So sadly, yes, names do seem to have a class bias.”

In the same way, a family member worked in child protection for 20 years and could immediately tell you a child protection name. So you’re totally right.

However, you seem to be mixing up WORKING CLASS with NEGLECTFUL PARENTING which is just utterly bonkers.

I’ll say it again. The vast majority of this country are working class. The vast majority of children are not called lexi-May, or Chardonnay (how fucking 1996 is that one?) or Jayden.

The most popular names, which are dominated by working class children are, by one of many lists:

Boys

Oliver - 6,259
Harry - 5,031
George - 4,929
Noah - 4,273
Jack - 4,190
Jacob - 3,968
Leo - 3,781
Oscar - 3,739
Charlie - 3,724
Muhammad - 3,691

Girls

Olivia - 5,204
Amelia - 4,358
Isla - 3,373
Ava - 3,289
Emily - 3,121
Isabella - 2,627
Mia - 2,590
Poppy - 2,527
Ella - 2,452
Lily - 2,405

These are working class names. Alright?

Footballers kids names would be a good start.

I know someone who named her DD Maizi. There’s reams of Jayden, Jackson/Jaxon, Kaiden, Summer, Lexi’s nowadays and I do always get a certain image when it comes to these names.

Usually have Rae/Mae/Grace/Leigh as a middle name too.

How about:

Taylor, Mason, Saywer, Cooper, maybe even Carpenter?

I don't see why it matters. I think it's very rude to make judgements based on names.
And of course i fully expected the hyphenated names to come up, always does. Nothing wrong with them, my name is hyphenated. It annoys me when people keep putting that on threads like these.

Middle class doesn't mean posh.

I'm pretty sure there is no wannabe middle class, because middle class is a deeply unfashionable thing to be, yet it is what the majority of people in western countries are.

Lots of people don't admit it and wannabe upper middle class perhaps, but nobody wants to be or aspires to be solidly middle- middle or lower middle. Most lower middle class people pretend to be working class because it is far more fashionable.

Made up misspelt names are not working class, that's under class...

Really off the wall weird name choices are generally unrelated to social class and more about parental personality type or parental identity other than with a social class and a desperate need to signal being different to everyone else.

anothernotherone That’s not true of MN which is full of working class people desperate to be middle class. Although I agree, it’s a deeply unfashionable thing to be. I wouldn’t look to them for fashion really though

@tiramisu1 I don’t understand how you can say tastes are affected by ‘experience and education’ & not class. Class is based on experience & education....

Well that's because I don't understand the class concept. I grew up abroad (European country). I get that some people are more educated, others are better travelled etc. But I don't understand how that 'classifies' people? What class would I be?

Passthecherrycoke only 14% of the UK population are traditional working class. Established middle class is the biggest group.

Hardly anyone, especially under the age of 50, would actively seek to be described as middle class because it's seen as dull, prissy, self conscious, inauthentic, all things bad.

Everyone wants to be elite or traditional working class, but hardly anyone is.

www.bbc.com/news/uk-22007058

And even more confusing is the comment below about working class people's kids having more tooth decay..?!

Everyone wants to be elite or traditional working class, but hardly anyone is.

No, I don't want to be either.

That survey includes way more classes than the traditional, which is working, middle and upper. You certainly don’t get emergent service workers baby names do you?

tiramisu1 you said yourself that you don't understand the class concept and grew up outside the UK, so it's not about you...

Who o earth told you you can't pick a "middle class name". Whatever that is. How ridiculous. Just pick whatever name you like. You don't need to be restricted by other people's snobbery.

That BBC survey is a load of tosh.
If your parents weren't professionals or business owners then you're WC.
The vast majority of this country is comprised of the WC, which is not one homogenous group owing to its comparative size.
Lower/upper WC are more disparate than their middle class comparators.

We have:
Anya
Patrick
Elliott
Felix
Megan

I'm not sure where we fit in class-wise but we're both from decidedly WC families doing ordinary (underpaid) jobs.
Should I apologise to the Class Overlords (definitely exist) that we don't have any Tylers or Chardonnays?

Patrick is not working class!! Not unless George, Andrew & David are working clasd.

I just find it amusing/insulting that WC seems to be shorthand for 'poor taste' on MN.
And if you are WC but managed against all the odds to bestow your DC with 'good' names then you're told that those names sound 'middle class.'

And the assumption that snobbery shouldn't hold you back if you are working class and want to call your daughter Alice (good) but absolutely should if you are middle class and want to call her Summer (bad).

I personally think the idea of "classes" is antiquated - as online and in every day life people can pretend to be something they are not - even if "class" is still a category.

Names should come down to what you like. Not what parents or extended family should think...its entirely upto you. There are lots of names out there that I wouldn't consider for a number of reasons....but its upto you!

We named our little boy in February, a name we liked and thought fitted him. I have since been told it is old fashioned. And have also since come across at least 2 babies with the same name, suggesting it's not all that old fashioned after all. But who cares, it's his name and I love it. My fiance and I chose it and are both over the moon with it (and our little boy!)

I personally think it is upto you. Regardless of class.