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Original poster

Demise of the ‘chav’ name?

193 replies

stilllill · 11/11/2023 19:07

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?

OP posts:
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Original poster
stilllill · 12/11/2023 08:12

I’m so surprised by the shock at Roy, I know of one teenaged one and one primary-aged. I think it’s quite sweet somehow

OP posts:
calimali · 12/11/2023 08:20

Boys names with an X in them for no reason, surnames as first names, double barrelled names, old lay names with an ie added to the end to make them 'cuter'.

Yuck.

YaWeeFurryBastard · 12/11/2023 08:24

Definitely surnames Huxley/Jackson/Cooper etc. bonus chav points for a youneeq spelling!

Girls I think used to be anything hyphenated but that seems to be dying out now. If anything I think it’s gone the other way and the ones that are too try hard posh have ended up chavvy.

Yogagrandmum · 12/11/2023 08:24

I think long eyelashes when I hear the word chav…

Ibizabar · 12/11/2023 08:25

Ugh what a horrible thread.

Kitcaterpillar · 12/11/2023 08:28

Gilpord79 · 11/11/2023 21:29

Being from Newcastle the original term for Chav was ‘Charva’ and used to describe a certain type of person how they talked, what they wore etc. It wasn’t a generalisation for people living on council estates. The word Chav is relatively new as I recall saying Charva when I was at school and that was over 20 years ago.

I hate that these things always descend into the origins of chav but... it's been in use in Kent for much longer than 20 years.

Dowhadiddydiddydum · 12/11/2023 08:30

Names just follow trends don’t they?
And different social groups sometimes have slightly different trends.
I think it’s always been that way hasn't it? It’s not a new phenomenon. it’s interesting to recognise but would be nice if it could be recognised without the judgement.

DustyLee123 · 12/11/2023 08:30

The hyphen girls names I’ve seen lately have progressed from -Lee to -Lea. And the Porsche/Mercedes have become Tesla.

nightinorout · 12/11/2023 08:34

AllProperTeaIsTheft · 11/11/2023 19:36

Read Freakonomics. He talks about names floating down social classes. Starts with the posh, then the MC wants to seem posh and so on. As soon as Tyler and Rae name their child Margot, it's done for the MC.

Yep. I haven't read Freakonomics, but this is a normal process. Same thing happens with goods/fashion regarded as posh. Once the 'lower classes' start buying/wearing them, the posh people ditch them and move onto the next thing.

This is fascinating, I presume this is what happened with Burberry for example?

Isn't it funny the way the world works!

ChristmasFullHouse · 12/11/2023 08:40

I know a Roy, named after family. Parents are MC ish though.

FanofBusted · 12/11/2023 08:53

The chavs when I were younger were called something-Leigh like Kayleigh shayleigh
now chavs have made up names and spellings Like jaxon
common names near here are Sienna (2 very rough families)

thecatneuterer · 12/11/2023 08:59

PyongyangKipperbang · 11/11/2023 23:15

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.

Summer Jasmine Green?

Toddlerteaplease · 12/11/2023 08:59

Shpeech · 11/11/2023 19:15

Round here's it's still Jayden, Cayden, Braydon type names, or surnames as first names, Jackson, Harper

Same here.

IDoughnutKnow · 12/11/2023 09:03

Another name which has done the crossover is Ottilie. Beautiful name, when pronounced correctly. Chav City when pronounced Otterly.

HairyToity · 12/11/2023 09:04

Not a clue. I can think of kids living on council estates called Hugo, Miles, Toby, Joseph, Olivia, Isabella and Sophia.... I think it's fab that you can't pin their names to a class or where they live!

Bobtheamazinggingerdog · 12/11/2023 09:05

This thread is vile. Middle class sneering at people who generally have lower levels of education and opportunities than you do. Lovely.

AllProperTeaIsTheft · 12/11/2023 09:08

This is fascinating, I presume this is what happened with Burberry for example?

Exactly the one I was thinking of. But there's also a more general thing where it becomes more middle-class to shop in Aldi, dress your dc in hand-me-downs and use scuffed old pushchairs etc and look down on working-class people for buying Silver Cross prams and the latest fancy travel system.

ilovechristmas2023 · 12/11/2023 09:08

Bobtheamazinggingerdog · 12/11/2023 09:05

This thread is vile. Middle class sneering at people who generally have lower levels of education and opportunities than you do. Lovely.

Glad someone else agrees

Ibizabar · 12/11/2023 09:09

So you all think that living on a council estate makes you a chav?

Have I got that right?

AllProperTeaIsTheft · 12/11/2023 09:10

This thread is vile. Middle class sneering at people who generally have lower levels of education and opportunities than you do. Lovely.

Noticing things isn't necessarily the same as sneering at them, although these kinds of threads do have an element of that.

Ibizabar · 12/11/2023 09:13

I'm going to ask another question.

Do you all think that being WC makes you a chav because that's what I'm getting from this thread.

susiedaisy1912 · 12/11/2023 09:13

heetud · 11/11/2023 19:44

It's hyphens and quirky spellings now. And names more commonly known as surnames.

This

FluffMagnet · 12/11/2023 09:14

Wehavealaughdontwe · 11/11/2023 22:05

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

Show quote history

We were using the word chav extensively in the 90s in Kent. I rarely hear it now.

susiedaisy1912 · 12/11/2023 09:15

Saw the name Courtney spelt Kortnee the other day.

YaWeeFurryBastard · 12/11/2023 09:16

AllProperTeaIsTheft · 12/11/2023 09:08

This is fascinating, I presume this is what happened with Burberry for example?

Exactly the one I was thinking of. But there's also a more general thing where it becomes more middle-class to shop in Aldi, dress your dc in hand-me-downs and use scuffed old pushchairs etc and look down on working-class people for buying Silver Cross prams and the latest fancy travel system.

I don’t look down on anyone and if people do then they’re absolute nobs.