Sophisticated old money names

[Aglassaday]

Hi everyone

I am looking for sophisticated or old money style names both boys and girls, I think that’s the right word for my style but correct me if I’m wrong

these are ones I like so far so you know my style:

girls:
Ramona
Estella
Meredith
Clementine
Lotta
Adina
Elena
Adelaide
Seraphina
Pippa
Cecelia
Ada
Daphne
Allegra
Rosa
Cara
Alice
Emilia

boys:
Hugo
Ralph
Jasper
Beau
Sterling
Julian
Hector
Cassius
Felix
Otis
Wilfred

Lettice

Miranda

Rollo

StJohn

There's also an Autumn.

I was going to suggest Lysander and Ptolemy.

Incredibly dull old fashioned names!
What a shame to saddle any child with them tbh.

Since when has Pamela and Daphne been old money. I think people might be having a laugh here tbh op!! 😂

Agree
Some of your list are certainly NOT old money names

This is intriguing but I don't agree with your list. One way to go would be to visit thepeerage.com. These are all people who are - basically - gentry and aristocracy (or 'old money'). Make your list from that. Some quick results from some research that I was doing anyway (I am quite the Excel-eer!)

BOYS
John (346)
William (207)
Thomas (141)
James (139)
Robert (130)
Alexander (74)
George (69)
Richard (61)
Henry (50)
David (49)
Patrick (40)
Walter (37)
Archibald (32)
Edward (29)
Francis (28)
Andrew (25)
Nicholas (16)
Humphrey (15)
Edmund (13)
Alan (11)
Hugh (11)
Adam (10)
Roger (10)
Ralph (9)
Gilbert (9)

GIRLS
Margaret (213)
Elizabeth (211)
Janet (87)
Anne (75)
Mary (51)
Agnes (48)
Isabel (37)
Jane (33)
Katherine (33)
Helen (32)
Catherine (32)
Alice (29)
Joan (28)
Eleanor (26)
Christian (24)
Jean (23)
Marion (23)
Dorothy (14)
Frances (11)
Isabella (11)
Isobel (11)
Ann (9)
Marjory (9)
Barbara (8)
Euphemia (8)
Mariot (8)
Marjorie (8)
Henrietta (7)
Bridget (7)
Grizel (7)
Alison (7)
Maud (7)
Annabella (6)

Penny, Florin, Cash, Lotta-Dolla, Franc,Mark, Rich(ard), Bill

When I was responding earlier I fleetingly thought of the Mitford sisters who were proper gentry and one of them was called Pamela. Though perhaps their names were quite "of the moment" rather than timeless (Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Thomas, Unity, Jessica and Deborah. I think the only two I would have suggested to OP are Diana and Thomas.)

No idea about Daphne.

Or, from a different perspective, names that have stood the test of time, which are easy to pronounce and spell and have interesting historical associations. Better than being landed with a name that's fashionable now but will be dated in 30 years, or a name that's got a non-standard spelling, or a name the parents decide to pronounce in a non-standard way, all of which are going to be a burden to the child as she/he grows up.

On Pointless the other day there was a contestant called Amabel. Alexander Armstrong asked her how often she was mistakenly called Annabel. 'All the time', she said, with great feeling. Her Dad was standing beside her and apologised.

Unity was saddled with the middle name Valkyrie.

Re Daphne, Daphne Du Maurier was quite posh. Not landed gentry, but upper middle class at a minimum.

Only some of those are real old money. If you think back 300 years (if that’s old enough for you) you’ll find a lot of
Elizabeth
Jane
Mary
Katherine
Sarah
Anne
Margaret

and
James
George
William
John
Charles

I don’t think I’ve got a relative called “Ramona” (and my family is very old money). We’re about 6 generations of the above names. Exotic names for us include Amelia, Nicholas, Martin, and Michael!

And my grandmother would have regarded names such as “Ada” as “servants’ names”

Imogen
Camilla
Calissa
Prudence
Harriet
Victoria
Judith
Helena
Blanche
Arabella

Yay! Farthing?

Haven't read the thread but all you need to do is look to the royal family for sophisticated old money names.

Elizabeth, Mary, Alexandra, Alice, Louise, Charlotte, Beatrice, Anne, Victoria, for example

For the boys
William, Charles, John, Louis, George, Henry, Edward, David, Arthur, Albert etc

Don't go for nouveau rich names like Ottilie

I think miniaturepixieonacid's list is pretty much spot on except I think most really posh people would roll their eyes a bit at Tallulah.

I also once met a very posh-seeming boy called Cormac.

What's the problem with Cormac?

Polarnight no problem, just suggesting it as another name that might fit the bill.

Her aunt was Queen Adelaide. Her eldest daughter was Victoria. Her other daughters were Helena, Alice, Louise and Beatrice

Pandora

I always think that Pandora as a "posh" name was Sue Townsend's joke or parody of a certain sort of aspirational middle-class family.

To me, it's a name for a dog or a pony.

Just read some Jilly Cooper.

Though real old money names are mostly biblical and/or royal

Clara
Fenella
Janice
Cassandra
Claudia
Felicity
Sapphire
Charity
Eliza
Janie

Simon
Tony
Stephen
Hugo
George
Cassius
Terrence
Lawrence
Hubert
Howard

Alice
Catherine
Georgiana
Georgina
Helena
Harriet
Elizabeth
Mary
Margaret
Violet
Antonia
Victoria
Beatrice
Beatrix
Diana
Caroline
Susannah
Blanche
Augusta
Sophia
Matilda

Henry
William
Edward
George
Leopold
Richard
John
James
Frederick
Archibald
Ambrose
Barnaby
Charles

Pamela absolutely is.

Just because it has a resurgence in the 70s / 80s doesn't detract from that.

Agree about Daphne, I wouldn't have thought that fitted the bill.