Demise of the ‘chav’ name?

[stilllill]

I’ve lived on the same council estate for years. When I was younger every girl was Keeley, Courtney, Charmaine, Chantelle, etc.
Boys were Tyler, Liam, Scott, Riley, Bailey, etc.
Knew 3+ of each in school, and these names generally made our class very obvious.

Now I’ve noticed that the children on my estate have completely different names.

Girls:
Iris, Francesca, Esme, Belle and Elizabeth

Boys:
Roy, Jasper, Anthony, Isaac, Jacob

I think these are really timeless, classic names!

I know MN is very middle class, but anyone else noticed this change?

Klaxon 🤣

Yep, that's what I see. I live in a very mixed area and agree the difference has "flattened" a bit but no one who is MC is calling their kid Boe/Bow/Bowe/Bowee or Ivee-Lei.

My local chav area is definitely truly chav and not gentrified. Still has the odd Chantelle and Liam knocking about too.

Does anyone remember the name Chardonnay? And is Nevaeh still going?

As a fellow northerner I was going to say the same thing. In the North we have been saying 'charva' since the 90s, 'chav' must come from that as it crept down south. It would be interesting to know where it originated

Every name has its time in the sun. Then it fades and dwindles to be resurrected at dome latter date.

Nevaeh still going. Heard of a new one a couple of weeks ago.

@Gilpord79 I’ve got to say most of the people on my estate are as stereotypically chav as can be imagined

I work in a school which is in a predominantly working class area.
About 15 years ago it was all Kayden and Kaci-Mae along with a lot of creative spelling.
Now it’s Oliver, Phoebe, Iris, Oscar.
I think most of the children in my class this year have very traditional English names.

@Wehavealaughdontwe yes I believe it probably did originate up north.

Agreed that there is very little difference now between MC names and the ones listed. The trend for A names that end in ee is fading too around here. A few years ago every other boy was Alfie, Archie, Albie. Also the completely made up names or noun names.

When I was at school, it was

Darren (Daz)
Barry (Baz)
Gary. (Gaz)
Perry. (Pez)
Jeremy (Jez)
Laurence (Lozza)

Double barrelled surnames are the new 'chav' names.

It's a horrible word though OP.

Sharon and Tracey were mates with Karen and Amanda back in the day, they had stickers in the car windscreen “Kevin and Tracey” names come and go with fashion

Definitely think Alfie and Archie are way more “chav” names now. My circle is MC but my best friend teaches in a deprived area and there are so many Alfie/Archie/Isabella’s in her class, but in my social circle there are lots a few years older, so it’s filtered down.

@hotcandle ooh that’s interesting, most people I know in my middle class social circle are giving their kids double barrel names so maybe it’s just a societal change that’s happening across social classes. And good on women for not changing their names! I hope that is a cross-class change.

I’m sure we used to call them Scally’s at school- or something similar. Midlands 25 years ago.

In my bad and poor area of the city the kids had the same names as the more affluent area (not in UK). So if you heard specific names they'd either be wealthy or "trailer trash".

Oh dont......DD shares her class with two Neveahs and have met the parents of another two. WITHOUT FAIL they need to tell you that their childs name is "Actually Heaven spelled backwards!" like this is some fucking revelation.

The irony being that one of them, it later transpired, registered her as "Neveah" which they claim was to make it "more unique".....I do not believe that for one second.

As for Chardonnay, I was having DC6 and was joking with my sister about names and she said "If its a girl, you should call her Chardonnay" as I am a wine drinker. I said "How dare you?! She will be Chablis, we do have standards you know! And if its a boy he will be Sancerre!" DSis still sometimes calls her (Sh)Chabby on the back of that!

Have not met a Ben, Nathan or Emma in recent years but Charlie, Frankie, Hassan, Abdul, Jack, Alfie, Louie and Miles seem to be popular. Khadija and Maisie too.

Mentioned this before but my grandma once said "Never give a child a name that you can't put a title in front of" and I have stuck to that!

Lady Chardonnay? Sir Braydyn? Dame Lily-Mae?

Although for me the worst one was a childhood friend who I saw just after she had her first child. She was named after a season and a plant, and their surname was a colour. Poor kid will spend her life with people thinking she is a Dulux paint shade! Think Winter Snowdrop White.

I guess name trends exist in all areas?

I'm loving Klaxon 😜

Sorry, can’t believe any new babies are being called Roy! Also loving Klaxon :)