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?

This thread is FULL of sneering. Laughing at people for misspelling Nevaeh. Calling 'chav' spellings 'yuck'. 'Trailer trash''council housed and violent'. Horrible

I think sometimes people read or perceive judgement in others observations.
There wasn't anything sneery or judgemental in the OP, but you can't discuss names with mentioning said names so there will always have to be an element of being class-ist.

We live in an ex council house on an estate that was originally all council and maybe now 50/50. We got priced out of the village we were in previously (but also in an ex CH) when we had children and needed more space. My upbringing was probably lower MC but we are definitely WC and lower income but university educated. Class divides are changing and COL blurs the lines. This will impact who we mix with and the names we come across, the schools our kids go to etc.

I want a "better" school for my kids, but don't want to put them in a situation where they compare lifestyles and we fall short. Anyway, my kids all have traditional names that I consider class less and this was intentional. I think many name their baby without necessarily thinking about the baby as a child/teen/adult. I always wanted names which wouldn't age them on a CV or raise negative preconceptions.

All names date with generations. I've got a very typical 70s name and DH has got a very typical 60s name. I was very aware of this when naming our DC so went for names from classical literature instead but think old fashioned names are now really common! So I've just repeated my parents' mistake lol.

Use of the word ‘chav’ is pretty much the definition of ‘sneery and judgemental’.

It's being working class and living on a council estate. Not all working class people live on council estates

Not all people who live on CH are chavs.

I went to school in the 70s with quite a lot of last-names-as-first-names kids.

It's a tradition in parts of Yorkshire to use your mother's or grandmother's maiden name as the first name of your first son.

The tradition had more or less died out by the 50s, but gets occasional revivals.

Are you for fucking real

For me the quotes around the word 'chav' stopped me from reading it as judgemental. I don't think the OP intended it to be.
I may be wrong, of course, but the tone of the post didn't come across as badly intentioned.

Your chav names are spot on.
Riley is the worst 😂

This thread is actually vile. But the again MN is full of people sneering at people not lucky enough to be born with the privilege that they have.

Same in Northern Ireland. Mother's surnames are often used. I know a Robson, Coulter and an Atchison, they're between their 60s 70s and one is 90.

Liam is the Irish form of William. Not sure what's chavy about that.

I've a Robert James very traditional the midwife when he was born said I shouldn't call him that as it was an old man's name 🥴

Are you for fucking real

No, I'm not for real. I was being sarcastic.

@swinginwind , It's being working class and living on a council estate. Not all working class people live on council estates
It's neither of those.

Cross-posted with your update.

Liam isn't a 'chav' name but it's a name that appealed to the sort of person who'd name their child after a celebrity.

Probably not a popular opinion, but I don't really approve of naming a child a name (or word) from a culture, religion or language that you have no connection with. The names tend to date badly, or will cause tedious misspellings, mispronunciations or questions, or might just seem bizarre.

Since names began people have had surnames as first names.

That's quite offensive and not even true. Chav is a word that travelers use to describe a bloke that's all. Nothing awful.

😮😮😮 A man once told me "Congratulations on the chavi" when I was pregnant. I thought he was calling me chavvy (I am) but now realise I probably got it very wrong!

Yes the word chav has traveller origins as it's the word for a child. The travelling community is regarded as an underclass by mainstream society. The word chav has now taken on a different meaning & is used to denote a socially inferior person. The modern interpretation is far removed from its original meaning.

So to all the posters saying you have to live on a council estate to be “a chav”
If said person won the lottery would they stop being a chav even if they had exactly the same taste in everything?
what about wc people who live in private rentals or own a house that have the same taste in names /decor whatever?
Or has this thread just turned into sneering at a stereotype of people based on Shameless and the Daily Mail?

Names come full circle and I’d agree it’s mainly classic names on trend now across all ‘classes’. I think sneering at names is cruel but I think it’s also really interesting looking at names and who chooses them and assumptions made.
The only name thats ever made me roll my eyes is an ex colleagues grandchild called ‘Aisake’ (pronounced Isaac). Why do that to a kid!

@ClassicStripe I agree. If anyone reads older books they’ll find firstborn sons with mother’s maiden names no matter how strange— but then I suppose there’s a difference between using a family surname and any old surname as a first name

My son's name has been called chavvy/common before. It's biblical, and his grandfather's name. His best friend at school was laughed at when she told another kid her name, who then came in the next day and said 'your name is a chav name my dad said so'. This was a while ago, but hurtful. People aren't their families. I know a Charmaigne who is a self made millionaire and philanthropist. I also know a Neveah who is the sweetest thing. They're just names.

I know mc Rileys and Archies, I also teach wealthy students and quite a few have been -Mae or -Rose over the years.

I'm laughing at the idea of Liam being either a 'chav' or a celeb name. Here in Ireland it's a very traditional, perennially popular name; there are lots of middle-aged Liams, and 2 in my 10yo's fairly middle-class class at school.

The boys names your have listed are alive and thriving in the school I teach in, and yes, council estates surround it.

Also extremely popular are Alfie, Archie, Jayden, Henry, and Taylor.

The girls names you mentioned aren’t popular there though.

Lily, Macey, Gracie, Ellie, Isabelle/a, Ruby and Sophie are very opulent for the girls here.