[name_f]Anna[/name_f] over Waltzing more than [name_f]Matilda[/name_f] posted about upper class baby names since its a topic that comes up a lot here, I figured that I would share the link. My opinions: My names lower class yet my siblings are upper class? ([name_f]Adele[/name_f] and [name_m]Isaac[/name_m]). I find some of these simply attempts to sound smart after all a [name_f]Florence[/name_f] could be from a worse family then a [name_f]Chantelle[/name_f] you just never really know. I know a [name_u]Jaidyn[/name_u] who’s sister is named [name_f]Janelle[/name_f]. And two Taylah’s board at my school and The only [name_f]Pearl[/name_f] I know is indigenous (not being racist but they tend to earn less) an upper class name. [name_m]Just[/name_m] because your name is [name_f]Penelope[/name_f] doesn’t mean your parents are rich.
In short form I don’t think class effects names at all I’m from a middle class family and my name is [name_f]Ebony[/name_f] which in [name_u]America[/name_u] is considered lower class while my siblings are the upper class [name_f]Adele[/name_f] and [name_m]Isaac[/name_m].
I’m in the middle of [name_u]America[/name_u], and [name_f]Ebony[/name_f] is only considered lower-class if it’s misspelled, and even then she wouldn’t be treated differently solely due to her name–personality and confidence count more than anything else here, I think. Then, perhaps farther down the list, education and material wealth.
I think class boundaries are more fluid these days and it’s hard to really categorise someone as it’s to do with more than just how much you earn. However, I think class -at least in the UK- is definitely still linked with names. E.g. if I was told I was going to meet a family of [name_m]Archibald[/name_m], [name_f]Jemima[/name_f] and [name_m]Montgomery[/name_m], I’d be quite surprised if I was whisked off to a council house with a sofa in the front garden and chavs lurking on the street corners. Likewise, I’d be surprised to find Aydn, Jaxxen and [name_f]Mckenzie[/name_f] at [name_m]Eton[/name_m]. There just are names more popular in each crowd. If you could somehow identify the class of the parent alongside popular names, I’m sure you’d find disparity between the top ranking names.
The only thing we get close to ‘evidence’ is with things like [name_m]BAs[/name_m]- if you look at BBN’s data for the most popular names announced in the Torygraph, they tend to be the classic, formal types favoured by those who would identify with a higher class (which makes sense as broadsheets are more ‘upper class’ newspapers) : Name Data - British Baby Names
I’d also argue that those higher up the social ladder are more likely to go to good schools, more likely to be driven and thus more likely to achieve better results. A study by the Department for Education showed that the names most popular amongst the achievers of the best GCSE were [name_f]Katharine[/name_f], [name_f]Bryony[/name_f], [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f], [name_f]Philippa[/name_f] and [name_f]Madeleine[/name_f]- all classic, ‘middle class’ names who are 8x more likely to pass their GCSEs than Dwaynes or Waynes: ‘Kayleigh, Tyler… this could be hell’ - magazine article - TES
Of course it doesn’t mean that all little Aramintas and Algernons are angels or Jaydens and Courtneys are criminals- that’s definitely not what I’m trying to infer/discuss. Being of a lower class doesn’t mean you’re horrible. And it certainly doesn’t mean there can’t be high-achieving, upper class Tylers or chavvy, lower class Florences. I just think there are popularity differences between social groups just as there are between countries. Nothing wrong with that
I had a look at the trendy middle and upper-class ba names from the Times and Telegraph, and was quite surprised at some of the names that sound unconventional… like [name_m]Jago[/name_m]. I wonder if the upper classes are trying to find yewnique names in larger numbers nowadays?
In my experience/research, names filter down through the classes and cycle through generations. Obviously, there are exceptions, but in general the lower classes will emulate the higher classes, then a name will die for a while.
Class and names are definitely related, but it’s a case of connotation(associated/secondary meaning) rather than denotation(explicit/direct meaning). I think people get caught up in cause and effect, which is not the case at all. Parents are not required to give their children names that correspond with their class, and just because someone has a name that connotes a certain class doesn’t mean that they will be in that class.
I come from a middle class family. My name is decidedly middle class, but it’s a name with a lot of history and popularity, so the middle class “feel” of my name is just due to the popularity it’s had. My sister and one of my brothers have middle-class names as well, but my other brother has a name that definitely sounds upper class. But this doesn’t really do anything to refute the idea that names and class have nothing to do with each other, because it’s all about general perception. Maybe there are a few people who don’t associate the two, but they’re the exceptions. It’s not really a big deal. In a socially mobile society, a name says more about the parents than the child.
Where I live, I’ve noticed that people in the upper class tend to use less ‘younik’ and trendy names and more traditional or popular names (For my generation, lots of Emilys, [name_f]Sarah[/name_f]/Saras, [name_m]Matthews[/name_m], and Alexanders and less Alexises, Briannas, Codys and Devins).
Names that are traditional and long tend to be upper-class. I think the reason that they are is because people who are lower-class tend not to know these names exist or how to spell them, because they haven’t been reading these names in literature.
If you’ve noticed, names like that are popular on this website. I feel that many people here like these types of names because they subconsciously sound sophisticated and upper-class. Although they are not aware that is the reason they like them.
Wow, what a snarky comment. As a proud working/middle class child who has grown up among working class peers, I am extremely offended by that remark. [name_m]Just[/name_m] because you’re not from the upper/middle class, it doesn’t mean that you’re uneducated (at least not here in Denmark where private schools are almost frowned upon as compared to our state schools because it’s seen as an easy way out). Sure, there will always be kids/adolescents/adults who don’t care for school, don’t indulge themselves in the epic world of literature and don’t take their education seriously, but you sure as hell will be able to find those kind of people in the upper/middle class too. [name_m]Reading[/name_m] books is not limited for well-off people only.
Can’t say I agree about the latter of your post either, I personally couldn’t care less if a name sounds upper class, if I like a name, I’ll put it on my list, if I don’t, I wont. I don’t subconsciously like names because they’re posh.
Sorry for being on the defence, it’s an instinctive thing that happens every time I sense classism.
In all sorts of ways upper class folks also poach cultural innovations from working class people, too. Names included. That cultural transfer goes both ways. A general boldness in baby naming is definitely trickling up, for instance. I also think people underestimate the extent to which working class people are trying to sound wealthy when they name their children extravagantly. We are often celebrating our own creative naming traditions, not trying and failing to emulate someone else’s.
I don’t think it’s useful to use the phrase lower class pejoratively, or to assume that others mean it thus. There are very many very awesome things about all of the working class cultures in the world. There is a lot that is great about being and sounding working class. Aspirational naming makes me sad because it seems inherently self hating and assimilationist.
It seems like part of the discomfort that comes up around this conversation is with the idea of class existing at all. In the US, the myth of a classless society is practically the national religion, but social mobility is the exception and not the rule. The largest predictor of a person’s status in life is their parent’s status in life. Class exists. Being poor is not a personal failure worthy of shame.
I wonder, too, if part of the discomfort about baby names implying class has to do with the fact that naming a baby is a very personal act, and it’s weird to think about our personal choices being influenced by larger social factors. Pretty much all of my favorite girl names are trending hard right now. It breaks my heart because I thought I was the specialist snowflake for liking them. But, you know, I don’t like those names in a vacuum, I move in a cultural milieu, and other people move in that milieu, too. We like to think ourselves as independently bouncing balls of pure free will, but really, all of our choices and preferences are shaped by our environment, which includes class, and there is nothing wrong with that.
[name_f]One[/name_f] of the things that I think makes this site interesting is it’s ability to look at baby naming demographically (in terms of style and trends). Class, geography and culture are all part of that.
Also, on a different note, Upper Class is not a monolithic culture. [name_m]Rich[/name_m] people are different from each other. So, just speaking of the us bc that’s what I know, naming trends and traditions in old money southern US families are going to be different than those in [name_u]California[/name_u] entertainment industry circles, and different than among trustafarian [name_m]Vermont[/name_m] bohemians, and different than among liberal arts educated [name_u]Brooklyn[/name_u] hipsters. Which I find totally fascinating.
Let me clarify my post. I don’t actually believe that lower-class people don’t know traditional long names or how to spell them. With the internet and access to media people have these days, pretty much everyone has access to everything. What I really mean is I think that’s the origin of why certain types of names are considered upper-class in the past. Because in the past lower class people wouldn’t have had access to those names or known how to spell them, so only the rich really had them. And that’s why creatively spelled names are considered low class, because in the past if a name was spelled differently, it was because he parents didn’t know how to spell. Now everyone can just go on google and figure out how to spell everything. What’s left from these things is just the connotations these names have, but it’s not based in reality anymore. I personally think the trend on Nameberry to go for names like Araminta, Beatrix, etc, (regardless of what social-class nameberry people come from) has it’s roots in the upper-class associations names like this have, for the reasons I stated. Doesn’t mean everyone on nameberry likes these types of names or for this reason, but I do think it’s a big reason these kinds of names are popular.
I just read the post that OP linked to. I think it was a really good and interesting post. Thanks for posting in ebenezer scrouge.
It got me thinking, I think it’s really a shame that names that are associated with the lower-class are looked down upon. Like names that are made up for example. What is wrong with a made-up name? After all, every name was made up at some point. There really isn’t anything inherently wrong with it, it’s just considered tacky because of the class association. Or “trendy” names like [name_f]Mckenzie[/name_f], [name_f]Kayleigh[/name_f], [name_m]Jaxon[/name_m]. I actually think these names are quite attractive, I like the sound of them, but I do realize they sound lower-class and therefore many people, like nameberries, wouldn’t like them. I just think it’s silly.
