DH has vetoed my girls names because they’re “too middle class”

[MonicaFaloolaGeller]

I’m gutted!

We have a son called Edward, I’m currently pregnant with no. 2. Pretty much got a boy’s name locked in but still shortlisting girls.

Two girls names I said I loved are Ophelia and Arabella. Both go fine with our surname.

He said no to both on account of them being too posh/middle class. Nothing wrong with the names themselves, just the association (in his mind).

He has a thing about anything he thinks is too middle class (even though he is, by definition, middle class himself.)

Can anyone think of names in the same vein that I would like that won’t offend DH’s ridiculous class sensibilities?

Other names I like are

Alexandra
Evelyn (with a short “ev” like in never)

DH so far has said he likes Orla and Georgia. I’m not into Orla, and don’t like Georgia.

Middle names Mary, Rose.

I like
Elsie
Francesca
Katherine
Arabella

Margot. Excellent name

Philippa
Estelle
Harriet
Belinda
Deborah
Christina
Natasha
Beatrice
Lydia
Victoria

Some nice names from my girls' school class

Sorry wrong thread!

Amelia??

Daria
Elena or Helena
Daniella
Marion

When our dc were born 25ish years ago posh was:

Hugo, Rupert, Horatio, Hector, Arthur
Olympia, Christabel, Cicely, Genevieve

Now I imagine posh is more:

Merlin, Gawain, Magnus;
Isolde, Ottilie, Mabel, Meriel

Having said that most of my dc's chums are: Milly, Molly, Tilly, Ellie, Sophie, Jess; Will, Huw, Christian, Tom, James, Oscar, Fred.............

I have an Arabella and we are very much a working class family and proud to be so- no middle class aspirations!

I know a couple of other young Arabellas and it is becoming more popular, they are both from working class families.

But in reality, the MC give their chidren names that will work in everyday life, and the WC aspire to being posh. Has Arabella started dressage yet?

Sorry OP but I have to laugh at the idea you could read a book about a girl at boarding school and still say “there was no class link for me at all”.

I had no notion of the concept of class as a book-mad six year-old... 🤷🏻‍♀️

They are both perceived as being 'posh', not 'middle class'.
All pony club and private school.

It’s entirely possible that our kids could ride horses. I used to...

They could end up going to private school. DH and I both did...

@ZednotZee

I have a Sylvie and I'm common as muck.

Hth

Oh wow that's a gorgeous name. I shall store that for imaginary baby 3!

Snickers? Bounty?

I’m not keen on either of those names, but love Sophie Sophia Olivia Betsy. Elsie, Imogen Lydia juliet

Dislike both your main choices.

You should both make longer lists!

Rather than middle class, I wonder if he means they sound a bit pretentious. If so, this would explain why he was ok with Edward.

Like Sophie but not Sophia.

Little Arabella mella, found a tiny caterpillar; First she put it on her mother, then upon her baby brother. All said "Arabella mella, take away that caterpillar!"
Reminded me of this rhyme!
You both need a long list - no holds barred - as in don't pick names you think your DH might like.
Then swap lists and see if there are any in common - and an X next to the ones that you loathe.
We already had 4 kids when choosing names- to narrow down the options we didn't consider anything starting with the same letter as another sibling. You could rule out anything beginning with E. Helps narrow down the field.
Interested to know the boy name you have settled on if it's a boy - sometimes boy names can be girl names too...

Staying with an Irish theme

Aveen
Cora
Cara

Evelyn is nice, but if you want to pronounce it a certain way, you will spend many years either being intensely irritated when people pronounce it their way or correcting them.
I say this as a person with a name that isn't pronounced exactly as it is spelt (and doesn't obey the 2 vowels separated by a consonant rule about long vowel sounds either). I had to accept at a very young age that people will pronounce it however they want and I can neither control this or care too much.
Also would you allow it to be shorted to Evie, which I guess always has a long 'E' at the start?

Btw, in my mind, names that 'go' with Edward are Harriet and Charlotte.

Ophelia is nice but makes me think of Ed Ball’s joke that he had a sister called it... Ophelia Balls 🤭😆

I think it’s sad he gets to veto. That happened to me and I look back and gave up on the names I’d loved forever, when my ex-DH hadn’t thought twice about it but liked to stay in control. Arabella could be Bella which is completely normal. Ophelia would end up being shortened to something cute. Tell him again how much you’ve thought about this. X ps I know I’m not answering the question, just sounds like veto is more he chooses.

TBF I have a bloody awful posh name: Cressida/Henrietta genre but not that. I get a frisson of excitement when I buy a coffee from Starbucks and they ask for my name. I always say "Anna" with a tinkly laugh. They can't get Anna wrong in the way that Ann can also be Anne.

Ophelia is OK as long as she doesn't marry a Mr Balls!