Rafe - will DS be teased / Is the name too posh ?

[NappyAndNice]

Please help!

So we like Rafe as a name for our DS.
I know others have suggested Raife as an alternative spelling.
And had the warning of Rafe being called R*pe.

Does anyone have the name, or have a child named Rafe or know someone. Has the name been negative? I know being teased can happen with any name, but is it worse with Rafe?

Then is it really a posh name? Does that matter?
We not posh and we dont live in a posh neighbourhood, so would it be out of place?

Thanks

I have a Benedict and a William, not silly names at all, they've never been teased for their names.

Go for it. It’s a perfectly normal name and not posh.

Are you mistaking Ralph Fiennes for someone else? I’ve just googled him and his father went to Eton, if you look up posh in the dictionary you’d find a picture of him!

Yes, @Limonades must be confused. Ralph Fiennes is solidly upper-class. His real name is Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, and he's an offshoot of the Baron Saye and Sele peerage. The title dates from the 1400s. His father farmed, sure, but was an Old Etonian, and his father before him was a wealthy industrialist, attended Repton, was knighted for his contributions to British steel etc.

Ok, maybe I’m mistaken. Maybe he is regarded as ‚posh‘ despite working as a farmer. I’m not from the UK originally so struggle to understand the concept.

Well, I'm not from the UK, either, but surely you have social class where you come from? I certainly do, though it works a bit differently to the UK. You can be an upper-class farmer. You can be an upper-class carpenter.

Yes, farmers can be posh.

Posh isn't about wealth.

I have a 15yo Rafe - full name Raphael - and he has no problems at all with his name

If farmers and carpenters can be ‚posh‘, how many generations will the poshness be inherited? Until the money runs out? Or will they remain ‚posh‘ forever?

Some of the poshest people I know are farmers!

It's one of the weirdest things on MN that people often equate posh with money.

It's manners, connections, tastes, education etc.

So yeah, posh can be posh when the money runs out.

They won't be nouveau riche! 😁One of the poshest people I know is titled and penniless.

I think it works fine as short for Rafferty or Raphael, and I don't think either sounds "too posh!"

Manners, connections, tastes, education… All of these can easily decline over time, especially if they marry a ‚commoner‘, or someone not so intelligent (so the education part declines)? I’m just very intrigued by the UK‘s continued obsession with ‚class‘.

And that people worry about using a name ‚reserved‘ for these so-called ‚posh‘ people, like the op.

Is Rafe pronounced Raff?
if so, there’s one in my sons year. I’ve never thought anything of it.

I have a Raphael known as Rafe or Rafi or Rafa.

I think you can spell it either Ralph or Rafe but I'd go with Rafe if you want people to pronounce it like that. Otherwise they will say Ralph.

It doesn’t make me think ‘posh’, for some reason it makes me think of a Nirvana listening skater type. I like it.

The 3 Rafe's I do know where all privately educated - but I think that's a coincidence, I love the name and I think it's lovely

I am also someone that did not know that "Ralph" is pronounced "Rafe". How interesting!

In my Scandinavian home country we have the name "Ralf", and we pronounce it with the "l".

I believe Rayf is the traditional pronunciation of Ralph in England. The Ralf pronunciation is more recent and comes from American or Continental influence, though well-to-do families continue to use the older pronunciation e.g. Ralph Fiennes.

I don't think Rafe is unattainably posh - especially when spelt that way. It seems fairly mainstream now and I see it popping up on social media etc.

I agree. It should be spelled 'Ralph'.

It’s an old fashioned name and spelling is ‘Ralph’.
Not keen personality - it also rhymes with ‘chafe’.

I’m a lecturer and teach two Ralphs, both of whom pronounce their name as it’s written, with the L. I’m in Scotland so possibly different? I don’t especially like Rafe (or Ralph with an l) but have no negative associations with it.

Having grown up on Judy Bloom books, I could never call a child Ralph. It still makes me snigger. Sorry.

The only rafe I've ever met was the polar opposite of posh.
I don't think rafe is a name that will be teased.

In honesty when I hear it i think of the kids book "middle school the worst years of my life"