Also, a tiny bit upper-class sounding would be a welcome bonus! I’m thinking of late Victorian ladies that live in mansions with greyhounds, but have a telephone and electricity. Cutting edge old-fashioned, but not old-lady. I’ve reread the Eccentric Aristocrats blog post numerous times, but they’re a bit too out there, but I like that style.
I love [name]Araminta[/name], [name]Lavender[/name], [name]Flora[/name], [name]Freya[/name], [name]Henrietta[/name] (although not for myself), [name]Cosima[/name], [name]Penelope[/name] and [name]Octavia[/name]! I love [name]Arabella[/name], but it’d blend in now.
[name]Jocasta[/name] is one I’ve only heard on slightly nutty British people.
[name]Keziah[/name] shows up in old British censuses and it’s Biblical but I’m not sure which pronunciation Brits use, I’m not British and easily confused.
He he. I’m British, but my name isn’t really.
These are girls I know with quirky Britishy names, sorry for any repeats:
[name]Harriet[/name] (nn [name]Hattie[/name], always)
[name]Cicely[/name]
[name]Celia[/name] (not [name]Cecelia[/name], just [name]Celia[/name])
[name]Phoebe[/name]
[name]Genevieve[/name] nn [name]Eve[/name]
[name]Euphemia[/name]
[name]Lydia[/name]
[name]Eliza[/name]
[name]Isobel[/name] (this spelling)
[name]Emilia[/name]
[name]Tamsin[/name] (TAMZ-in, not that old-fashioned but British.)
[name]Beatrice[/name] nn [name]Bea[/name] ([name]BEE[/name]-a)
[name]Poppy[/name]
[name]Della[/name]
[name]Louise[/name] nn [name]Lou[/name]
[name]Georgia[/name] nn [name]George[/name]
I say [name]Keziah[/name] like ke-ZYE-ah. And I know a little girl called [name]Imogen[/name], nn [name]Immy[/name] - adorable!
I know two girls named [name]Keziah[/name] (both around 15/16) in the UK. [name]One[/name] pronounces her name KEE-zee-uh, the other says Kuh-ZYE-uh. It’s a pretty name.
[name]Keziah[/name] is interesting! I’d probably use [name]Ayelet[/name] instead, but I’m not a huge fan of Biblical names in general. I’ve noted [name]Pandora[/name], [name]Cressida[/name], and [name]Felicity[/name], too. Any more suggestions?
I read of [name]Nancy[/name] Mitford’s coinage of U and non-U (used playfully, I don’t take it seriously really), and there was a section in [name]Pam[/name] and [name]Linda[/name]'s British baby names book on it. I made a list of the names from the U list that appealed to me, and would like to see if they still warrant the “U” label, because the book is a bit dated now;
erose, thanks for excavating that. I was living in [name]London[/name] when I wrote it which made it a lot easier to put my finger on the fineries of the British class system. And [name]Linda[/name]'s husband is a [name]Brit[/name]! But we definitely need real Englanders to help us divine the ups and downs.
Ooooh I love these names! They are all pretty wonderful!
I don’t think any of these were mentioned:
[name]Althea[/name]
[name]Anthea[/name]
[name]Prudence[/name]
[name]Drusilla[/name]
Delysia
[name]Minerva[/name]
[name]Melvina[/name]
[name]Melba[/name]
[name]Millicent[/name]
[name]Lavinia[/name]
[name]Eugenia[/name]
[name]Euphemia[/name]
[name]Theodora[/name]
[name]Theodosia[/name]
[name]Honoria[/name]
[name]Freesia[/name]
[name]Lilac[/name]
[name]Lavender[/name]
[name]Jessamine[/name]
[name]Tabitha[/name]
and [name]Edina[/name] and [name]Saffron[/name] (from Absolutely Fabulous!) LOL
My name probably falls into this category as well. It’s [name]Glenys[/name]
Some more:
[name]Verity[/name]
[name]Georgina[/name] (a few, and a lot of Georgias. I also know a [name]Georgette[/name], but I know of no Georgianas)
[name]Emilia[/name]
[name]India[/name] (not exactly old-fashioned, but used significantly here in the UK)
[name]Mathilde[/name]
[name]Tallulah[/name]
[name]Rosie[/name]
[name]Elodie[/name]
[name]Leona[/name] / [name]Leonie[/name]
[name]Saffron[/name]
[name]Isadora[/name]
[name]Lucinda[/name]
Names definitely seem to ‘trickle down’ the class system here in [name]Britain[/name]. I would say that [name]Charlotte[/name] is no longer upper-class, in the least, but a very average name. [name]Felicity[/name] doesn’t strike me as particularly posh, either; [name]Verity[/name] and [name]Amity[/name] are posher alternatives. [name]Allegra[/name] and [name]Clementine[/name] seem to be becoming trendy amongst the middle-classes recently. I’ve never heard of anyone at all named [name]Keziah[/name], so I can’t comment on that. [name]Jemima[/name], [name]Pandora[/name], [name]Cordelia[/name] and [name]Anthea[/name] (which I really like) all seem to fit what you’re looking for though! I’m basing this on general experiences (I know a lot of upper class people, although I’m not that posh myself, one of whom is called [name]Cordelia[/name] but most have very classic names) and the Mumsnet.com name forums, which are popular here with upper-middle class mums. [name]Hope[/name] that’s helpful!
It was, very much! I guess the general consensus is either they use very classic names ([name]Elizabeth[/name], [name]Charlotte[/name], [name]Edmund[/name], [name]Theodore[/name] etc) or slightly Greek ones ([name]Hermione[/name], [name]Pandora[/name], [name]Ophelia[/name]). Or at least that’s my perspective.
I’m loving [name]Cordelia[/name], [name]Pandora[/name], [name]Anthea[/name] and still really like [name]Clementine[/name]!
