I used to have a big crush on wanting to use preppy names. Maybe they’ve fallen out of favor with me because while I generally don’t love unisex names (which is what I’d qualify a lot of these as), its mostly because I think its a shame how many names have gone over to the girls because of the trends.
I hadn’t thought about it too much for a while, but today I was looking back on one of my favourite old sources for them and for fun wondered what everyone’s thoughts were on some of my top ones-- too upper crust? Too unisex? Trying to hard?
[name]Atherton[/name]
[name]Archibald[/name]
[name]Archer[/name]
[name]Allaire[/name]
[name]Brighton[/name]
[name]Brooks[/name]
[name]Briton[/name] [name]Carlisle[/name] Carrington
[name]Claiborne[/name] [name]Callahan[/name]
[name]Campbell[/name] [name]Calloway[/name]
Clairemont
[name]Ellery[/name]
Espy
Foxhall - I adore this name, but it has no meaning to me so I’d never use it
the [name]Fitz[/name] names ([name]Fitzhugh[/name], [name]Fitzgerald[/name], [name]Fitzwilliam[/name])
Fenwick
[name]Forrester[/name]
[name]Greer[/name] - this one I know gets a good amount of love on NB. I really like it.
[name]Grant[/name]
[name]Greene[/name] - happens to be a street I lived on when I was younger, so I’ve considered mn potential here [name]Gardner[/name]
Holbrook Hallowell
[name]Hartwell[/name]
[name]Hart[/name]
[name]Harrison[/name]
Harkness
[name]Hartley[/name] Hawkens [name]Hadley[/name] I know this one is getting a bit more popular for girls
[name]Hollis[/name]
[name]Howell[/name]
Janeway - I’d never use it, since [name]Jane[/name] is just perfect on its own, but it would be fun if it was a family name!
[name]Kingsley[/name]
[name]Kingston[/name] Kittredge Keating
[name]Keene[/name]
[name]Larkin[/name]
[name]Lachlan[/name] [name]Leighton[/name]
[name]Montague[/name]
Merriweather [name]Miller[/name]
[name]Noble[/name]
[name]Parke[/name]
Pemberton
[name]Remington[/name] [name]Sloane[/name] - I do like how this is coming up more and more these days
[name]Stone[/name] [name]Sterling[/name]
[name]Sumner[/name] - had a crush on this for years, but I think its kind of effeminate, even though I know its a boy’s name.
[name]Thatcher[/name]
[name]Whitney[/name]
[name]Wilder[/name]
[name]Willoughby[/name]
Oh my goodness. Wow. So many names that make me…wow.
Yeah, not a fan of the preppy names.
A few of them I don’t HATE. [name]Wilder[/name] isn’t bad. [name]Archer[/name] is actually nice. [name]Larkin[/name] is a guilty pleasure name for me. But the rest…
Well, to me, these types of names only come off as preppy if they are truly family names. Otherwise, they seem very pretentious and striving. The only ones I think are fairly usable are
[name]Archer[/name]
[name]Grant[/name]
[name]Greer[/name]
[name]Harrison[/name]
[name]Hadley[/name]
[name]Sloane[/name]
[name]Whitney[/name]
Mostly just because they have more history as first names and thus, don’t sound as much like 80’s sitcom ‘rich’ characters.
From this list I like the following. But wow, I definitely associate myself with preppy, and I don’t even think I could come up with a list like this! Maybe it’s because I live in the South, but a TON of these names are last names where I live.
[name]Allaire[/name] - I like this name…it reminds me of allure.
[name]Carlisle[/name] - I know a girl with this name.
Carrington - I know a girl with this name.
[name]Callahan[/name] - last name
[name]Campbell[/name] - a family name for me.
[name]Calloway[/name] - sounds like the golfing brand
Clairemont - oh, I like this one, but could never use it as a firstname!
the [name]Fitz[/name] names ([name]Fitzhugh[/name], [name]Fitzgerald[/name], [name]Fitzwilliam[/name])
[name]Greer[/name] - I grew up with a girl named [name]Greer[/name].
[name]Grant[/name] - I know a few boys named [name]Grant[/name]. I think another preppy name is [name]Graham[/name].
[name]Gardner[/name] - a lastname
Holbrook - lastname
Hallowell - lastname
[name]Hart[/name] - [name]Hart[/name] [name]Hanson[/name] is the producer for the tv show Bones
[name]Hollis[/name] - I know a girl with this name.
[name]Howell[/name] - a lastname.
Kittredge - a lastname (for an American Girl doll). I know a Kittrell.
Keating - last name
[name]Larkin[/name] - middlename.
Merriweather - ooooh, I love this one!
[name]Miller[/name] - I know a girl named [name]Miller[/name].
[name]Parke[/name] - with the e, I just want to add an r.
[name]Remington[/name] - I’ve seen this in a book somewhere, I believe. Nickname [name]Remy[/name]?
[name]Sterling[/name] - really like this one.
[name]Sumner[/name] - really like this one, especially compared with [name]Summer[/name].
[name]Whitney[/name] - I know a [name]Whitney[/name]. [name]Love[/name] the nn possibility of [name]Winnie[/name]!
[name]Wilder[/name] - lastname.