Names and class

[LuciaRose]

Please can you give me some examples of names you consider middle class and names you consider upper class - thanks.

Everybody knows all WC kids are called Kayden and Chardonnay

Are there really boy named 'St John'? Really truly?! I must have shed a sheltered life so far.

Names destined for Harvard

Maria..the name St John is pronounced Sinjun. Really.

Sinjun??? It gets better & better.

My son has a name that is very common in France (Quentin) - it's been in the top 10 for a few years. However, some mumsnetters have commented that they find it 'posh'....

We are certainly not posh, ds goes to the local state primary and he seems very happy with his name, both here and when we go back to France.

So I agree with previous poster... why are the Brits so obsessed with 'labelling' names according to class?? (I'm French by the way ).

oh go on bellissima, what is a name 'destined for harvard'?? probably something like lexington tertius .

ah I see it. Graydon sounds like hardon to me.. well a bit. I wouldn't choose it. and schulyer is very melsrose place or something.... but interesting list!

Lynette provided the list of names destined for Harvard - I knew I'd seen it (and other US lists like it). Phew - I'm actually on it. Nice to have some options still available for when 'rock star' doesn't work out.

The OP hasn't come back after asking this rather fatuous seeming question. Hmm.

I don't really understand the relevance of this question either.
No name is the exclusive right of any class anyway.

Most Classic (British) names that have been well used in the UK over centuries eg James/ William, Eleanor, Katherine, etc appeal equally to everyone and make v good choices as they don't date.

I love how British people get so offended by any reference to class as though their society isn't massively affected by class and hereditary privilege.

Why should the question have any relevance? Relevance to what?

It's a straightforward query - what class associations do people on MN have with certain names? I'd be interested to know, although it would have no impact at all on what names I would choose for my own children.

I guess people object, as by 'classifying' names we are reinforcing the whole (ridiculous) concept of class.

It annoys me when people say "your child will be bullied unless he goes to private school" if his/her name is seen as 'upper class'... children don't care about these things and neither should we!

A few punters on Mumsnset talking about how names relate to class doesn't "reinforce" class in any meaningful way.

Some people in Britain have more money, own more land, have access to massive privilege and connections that mean they have easier lives.

Pretending that is not so doesn't make it go away. Refusing to talk about it isn't making society any more equal.

skidoodle- of course class exists in British society in a way that it doesn't appear to exist in many other countries (at least not to the same extent).

The point of relevance is that this board is mainly used to discuss names that people are considering for their own DC.
I don't really see that whether people on mn perceive a name to be upper or middle class is particularly relevant to naming ones own children. That's why I queried the relevance of the question.
I think you agreed with this yourself too in your last para.

'I don't really see that whether people on mn perceive a name to be upper or middle class is particularly relevant to naming ones own children. '

But what is relevant to naming children depends entirely on the namer, surely?

If I decided I wanted to call my children names perceived by mumsnetters to be posh, then that would be my choice, I would have thought.

How is it any more or less relevant than asking whether people think names are nice/unusual/timeless/ridiculous?

Yes, some people do have more money than others, either through inheritance or through hard work. Thats ok and the case in most countries.

But why do we need to 'classify' people and, more importantly, label them by giving them names belonging to a certain 'class'?

"But why do we need to 'classify' people and, more importantly, label them by giving them names belonging to a certain 'class'?"

Finding out what associations a self-selecting group on an Internet forum have with names is not "classifying" people in any meaningful sense. Do you know what the word "classify" means?

Names are labels. Some are associated with certain classes by some people. Finding out what those associations are isn't creating the associations.

when i say 'my average life' i just mean, we're hardly under privileged but we don't have connections, land, titles, trust funds... i obviously don't feel that my children are average!!! just to clarify what probably came out sounding odd

ps, I never had to be talked out of Chardonnay! that was a joke!