Elite Baby Names

[kittybean]

Noooooooo! Alice is #9, and that is my special name. Why, why, why did that Twilight lady have to go and ruin it for me?

I''m bummed that Owen has become so popular. It has been in DH''s family for probably five generations, and I know he''d absolutely love to name a son Owen. I like the name, but I don''t want our future kid to be Owen LastInitial for most of his young life. [Sigh.]

 

[Steel]

Date: 4/11/2010 6:47:55 PM
Author: Pandora II
Lol - most of those are in the top 50 in the UK!

A friend of mine just named her daughter Elysia which I think is very pretty.

Yup. They seem like beautiful but regular names to me.

But Pandora (or anybody else with an insight into the UK's perspective), if you read this can you let me know what you think would be 'snobbish' girls names? And no, I don't mean the likes of Chelsea. I have always had my boy's name locked down but I am stumped when it comes to any girls name that I like. TIA.

ETA: I take it back, Jas I will fight you for "Snooty Von Uppitystockings". That name is a winner.

Although, it is a shame that it isn't Snooty Uppitystockings Von (SUV).

 

[jas]

Date: 4/13/2010 1:42:23 PM
Author: Steal

Date: 4/11/2010 6:47:55 PM
Author: Pandora II
Lol - most of those are in the top 50 in the UK!

A friend of mine just named her daughter Elysia which I think is very pretty.

Yup. They seem like beautiful but regular names to me.

But Pandora (or anybody else with an insight into the UK''s perspective), if you read this can you let me know what you think would be ''snobbish'' girls names? And no, I don''t mean the likes of Chelsea. I have always had my boy''s name locked down but I am stumped when it comes to any girls name that I like. TIA.

ETA: I take it back, Jas I will fight you for ''Snooty Von Uppitystockings''. That name is a winner.

Although, it is a shame that it isn''t Snooty Uppitystockings Von (SUV).

Bring in on, Steal. I shall beat you with my croquet mallet until I am the sole user of S.V.U.

 

[yssie]

laughing out loud at work

 

[ChinaCat]

I''m with EB. Since when did "elite" become a bad thing? DH actually sent this to me awhile ago and ALL of our boy names were on this list. I''m okay with that. I''d rather be on the "elite" list than on the tacky or stupid list.

Btw, when all of you name your kids Snooty Von Uppitystockings, then THAT name will become popular, trendy, and will be on next year''s "elite" list.

You can''t outwit the zeitgest.

 

[Steel]

Date: 4/13/2010 6:23:52 PM
Author: ChinaCat

I''m with EB. Since when did ''elite'' become a bad thing? DH actually sent this to me awhile ago and ALL of our boy names were on this list. I''m okay with that. I''d rather be on the ''elite'' list than on the tacky or stupid list.

Btw, when all of you name your kids Snooty Von Uppitystockings, then THAT name will become popular, trendy, and will be on next year''s ''elite'' list.

You can''t outwit the zeitgest.

Maybe so. But nobody remembers who was the second person to name their child an unusual/unique name do they? So I take your croquet mallet Jas and raise you a mallet.

On that note, do you guys remember this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7522952.stm


"A judge in New Zealand made a young girl a ward of court so that she could change the name she hated - Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii.
Judge Rob Murfitt said that the name embarrassed the nine-year-old and could expose her to teasing.
He attacked a trend of giving children bizarre names, citing several examples.
Officials had blocked Sex Fruit, Keenan Got Lucy and Yeah Detroit, he said, but Number 16 Bus Shelter, Violence and Midnight Chardonnay had been allowed.
One mother wanted to name her child O.crnia using text language, but was later persuaded to use Oceania, he said.
''Social handicap''
The ruling, in the city of New Plymouth on the North Island, was handed down in February but only made public now.

The name issue emerged during a custody hearing for the young girl - who had refused to tell her friends her name and went simply by "K".
"The court is profoundly concerned about the very poor judgment which this child''s parents have shown in choosing this name," Judge Murfitt wrote.
"It makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap, unnecessarily."
Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii''s name has now been changed and the custody case resolved, court officials said.
New Zealand does not allow names that would cause offence or that are longer than 100 characters, Registrar-General Brian Clarke said.
Officials often tried to talk parents out of particularly unusual choices that could embarrass their offspring, the Associated Press news agency quoted him as saying. "

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
UNUSUAL NAMES



Allowed: Violence; Number 16 Bus Shelter; Midnight Chardonnay; Benson and Hedges (twins)


Blocked: Yeah Detroit; Stallion; Twisty Poi; Keenan Got Lucy; Sex Fruit; Fat Boy; Cinderella Beauty Blossom; Fish and Chips (twins)

 

[jas]

Hmmm, Number 16 Bus Shelter Von Uppitystockings has a nice ring to it.

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 4/13/2010 1:42:23 PM
Author: Steal

Date: 4/11/2010 6:47:55 PM
Author: Pandora II
Lol - most of those are in the top 50 in the UK!

A friend of mine just named her daughter Elysia which I think is very pretty.

Yup. They seem like beautiful but regular names to me.

But Pandora (or anybody else with an insight into the UK''s perspective), if you read this can you let me know what you think would be ''snobbish'' girls names? And no, I don''t mean the likes of Chelsea. I have always had my boy''s name locked down but I am stumped when it comes to any girls name that I like. TIA.

ETA: I take it back, Jas I will fight you for ''Snooty Von Uppitystockings''. That name is a winner.

Although, it is a shame that it isn''t Snooty Uppitystockings Von (SUV).

Chelsea is actually quite a lower-class name at the moment.

If you mean by ''snobbish'' the kind of names that the upper-middle and ''educated'' classes would chose I can give you a list of what appears popular here:

Girls:

- Flower names: Rose, Lily, Daisy, Violet, Honeysuckle, Flora, Fleur etc
- Very classic names: Olivia, Jessica, Sophie, Florence, Tabitha, Hermione, Amelia, Laura, Charlotte, Alexandra
- ''Royal'' names: Beatrice, Elizabeth, Victoria,
- ''y'' and ''ee'' sounding names: Polly, Molly, Tilly, Milly
- Classically inspired: Tacita, Antigone, Persephone, Pandora, Ianthe, Xanthe - these are unusual and tend to be used by academics and eccentrics!

Boys:

- Traditional and ''Royal'' names: William, Robert, Edward, Henry, Oliver, Rupert, Alexander, Christopher
- Biblical: Timothy, Joshua, John, David
- Unusual: Quentin, Tarquin, Montagu, Ptolemy, Crispin

Names that sound like surnames and a lot of those that are popular amongst the upper-middle and ''educated'' classes in the USA seem to be very popular at the lower end in the UK. So, names like Taylor, Jordon, Hunter, Kaiden, Jayden, Madison, Savannah etc

Hope that helps!

For what it''s worth, my DD has a pretty ''snobby'' name when the middle names are included as well: Daisy Xanthe Pandora

 

[Steel]

Date: 4/14/2010 8:16:03 PM
Author: Pandora II

Chelsea is actually quite a lower-class name at the moment.

If you mean by ''snobbish'' the kind of names that the upper-middle and ''educated'' classes would chose I can give you a list of what appears popular here:

Girls:

- Flower names: Rose, Lily, Daisy, Violet, Honeysuckle, Flora, Fleur etc
- Very classic names: Olivia, Jessica, Sophie, Florence, Tabitha, Hermione, Amelia, Laura, Charlotte, Alexandra
- ''Royal'' names: Beatrice, Elizabeth, Victoria,
- ''y'' and ''ee'' sounding names: Polly, Molly, Tilly, Milly
- Classically inspired: Tacita, Antigone, Persephone, Pandora, Ianthe, Xanthe - these are unusual and tend to be used by academics and eccentrics!

Boys:

- Traditional and ''Royal'' names: William, Robert, Edward, Henry, Oliver, Rupert, Alexander, Christopher
- Biblical: Timothy, Joshua, John, David
- Unusual: Quentin, Tarquin, Montagu, Ptolemy, Crispin

Names that sound like surnames and a lot of those that are popular amongst the upper-middle and ''educated'' classes in the USA seem to be very popular at the lower end in the UK. So, names like Taylor, Jordon, Hunter, Kaiden, Jayden, Madison, Savannah etc

Hope that helps!

For what it''s worth, my DD has a pretty ''snobby'' name when the middle names are included as well: Daisy Xanthe Pandora

Thanks for this. I was being tongue-in-cheek about Chelsea!

I did mean more of the Milly/Tilly and Imogen type names. Jessica was the only girl''s name I could stand but I think it isn''t classic enough for me. I love Victoria but hate Vicky, and really liked Charlotte until Sex & the City ruined that one. Last for me was Samantha (Bewitched) but Sex & the City took that too.

The only one left then is Lilly (Daisy is a beautiful name too) but you guessed it, Sex and the city got there first....damned movie.

I have told DH to start thinking ''Y'' for a boy. At least I have a boy''s name I like.

 

[jaysonsmom]

Have you watched the Real Housewives of NYC? One of the ladies named her sons "Francois" and "Johan"! While those are not snooty if you live in Europe, they appear snooty for mid-western farm raised AMericans. I''m surprised neither of those made the list.

I have a question....how is the name "Imogen" on the girl''s list even pronounced? Is it like "Imagine" with a "mo"?

 

[E B]

Date: 4/14/2010 8:34:03 PM
Author: jaysonsmom

I have a question....how is the name 'Imogen' on the girl's list even pronounced? Is it like 'Imagine' with a 'mo'?

I think it's IM-oh-gin.

 

[jaysonsmom]

Date: 4/14/2010 8:41:24 PM
Author: E B

Date: 4/14/2010 8:34:03 PM
Author: jaysonsmom

I have a question....how is the name ''Imogen'' on the girl''s list even pronounced? Is it like ''Imagine'' with a ''mo''?

I think it''s IM-oh-gin.

Thanks! I have no problem with calling an adult that, but a baby?

 

[Pandora II]

Oooh, forgot about Imogen and Ursula (I'm rather partial to Ursula - it means she-bear!)

Imogen is pronounced IM-OH-JURN... the 'jurn' is a tricky one, it's a bit like the 'jour' in 'journal' but a short sound rather like 'john' rather than drawn out like 'journal'. The emphasis is on the first syllable.

Steal - if you like the old-fashioned ones, there's a book of classical baby names that has some lovely ones!

What's wrong with Cinderella? My sister was at school with a girl whose father is a famous artist and whose name was Sadie Anna Cinderella!

 

[waxing lyrical]

I used to wonder if it''s uppity or arrogant that we only like traditional/classic names. Most of my peers tend to like common and trendeigh names. Ugh.

Back when we had dd1, the nurse was surprised by the names we chose because they seemed so grown up or old fashioned for us. We were/are young so I''m guessing she was expecting we''d name her something like Skylie or Taylor or something cutesy--I don''t do cutesy. It was always important to me that my kids have seemingly "elite" names. They must like good on a business card. A name that will grow with them.

I do like eccentric and earthy sounding names, but DH tends to prefer traditional/classic. Pandora, I like it. It helps that Avatar is one of my favorite movies.

Haha. I love Freyja and Willow, but they don''t really go with our style. I still keep going back to Persephone. My husband loves Penelope.

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 4/14/2010 9:05:32 PM
Author: waxing lyrical
I used to wonder if it''s uppity or arrogant that we only like traditional/classic names. Most of my peers tend to like common and trendeigh names. Ugh.

Back when we had dd1, the nurse was surprised by the names we chose because they seemed so grown up or old fashioned for us. We were/are young so I''m guessing she was expecting we''d name her something like Skylie or Taylor or something cutesy--I don''t do cutesy. It was always important to me that my kids have seemingly ''elite'' names. They must like good on a business card. A name that will grow with them.

I do like eccentric and earthy sounding names, but DH tends to prefer traditional/classic. Pandora, I like it. It helps that Avatar is one of my favorite movies.

Haha. I love Freyja and Willow, but they don''t really go with our style. I still keep going back to Persephone. My husband loves Penelope.

That''s one of our top choices if we have another at the moment... although as a second name, we had settled on Xanthe Persephone Claire, but then we liked Xanthe so much we used it this time round. I must admit I am loving Elysia - but our friends are too close to get away with stealing it!

I like names that are pretty, a little quirky and that sound okay with Doctor in front of them!

 

[waxing lyrical]

Imogen pronunciation. Love this site.

I''ve actually heard it pronounced different ways.

Another pronunciation

 

[Steel]

Cinderella, that''s a name that should only exist in fairy stories! haha, I crack myself up. (It is 2.30am here so please excuse my bad joke)

I do love Cynthia (Cindy) & Catherine because of my name ''theme''; C''s. My boy''s name is a C so I wanted the girl''s name to be a C too

. DH is not a fan of the C names or the C theme. I gave up on Catherine because I hate Cathy; reminds me of The Birds and that annoying little brat of a sister. Boo. Cindy is in the running but reminds me of the doll and The brady bunch. Sigh...

I love Ella and Violet but I feel the name needs to be more classic and less ''cool''.

Pandora I laughed at the Dr. comment. I said the exact same thing to DH. Unless the name could be used professionally (ie Dr. Proff. etc) then it is out, really.

 

[Haven]

I think the way people perceive different names is very interesting.

I live in an upper middle class community, and people give their kids super trendy names around here. Trendy seems to be the best way to describe them, but if I'm being completely honest these trendy names sound very lower class to my ear. I can't really say why, they just do.

All of the ten-ish year old girls around here seem to be named: Sydney (or Sydni, Sydnee, Sidney, etc.), Madison, Taylor, Kiley, Riley, Jordyn, and Olivia. (I love Olivia, and thinks it's more classic than trendy.) (By the way--I have about 12 friends who have GRANDFATHERS named Sidney! I hear that and can only think: Old Jewish guy with thick black glasses and a New York accent. Seriously!)

NOW the big baby name for girls around here is BAILEY! That's my dog's name, and we meet another "Bailey" dog about twice a week, too! Funny how it became a popular baby name recently.

There have also been a handful of my former high school peers who have given birth to girls the last year and named their daughters Isabella. I love that name, but wouldn't want my daughter to be one of 20 Isabellas in school.

I love unique names, so the moment something becomes over-used I'm just not that into it anymore. I guess as a parent you never can tell, though. My parents named my sister Allison in 1985 because they thought it was unusual enough. Too bad she spent her ENTIRE school career being known as "Allie H." because there were a million Allies everywhere she went.

And I'm super bummed I didn't think of 'Snooty Von Uppitystockings' first. (I grew up with a guy named Winnie, short for Winfield. I always thought that sounded pretty snooty. He was HOT so he pulled it off pretty well.

)

My favorite "elite" name fails are people who give their children literary names yet they aren't *really* familiar with the source, just proud that it *has* a source.

 

[decodelighted]

EVERYONE knows the REALLY elite name is "Elite"! Alternate: "Elita" also "Classy" "Aristocrat" and "Baron" -- lol ... isn''t a Trump named that ... bwahhahhahha.

 

[Haven]

I came in here to share *one* story, ended up typing a novella, and then didn''t share my story.

I went to college with a girl named Hermione. EXCEPT, she pronounced it "her-mee-OWN-ee". We took a Shakespeare course together and the prof basically told her that her parents were morons. (He was one year away from retirement and kept a bottle of Cognac in his desk. In other words, he was pretty awesome.)

I always wondered if ''her-mee-OWN-ee" was an alternative pronunciation. Anyone? If not, that''s pretty darn funny.

 

[Haven]

Date: 4/14/2010 10:56:38 PM
Author: decodelighted
EVERYONE knows the REALLY elite name is ''Elite''! Alternate: ''Elita'' also ''Classy'' ''Aristocrat'' and ''Baron'' -- lol ... isn''t a Trump named that ... bwahhahhahha.

Hahahahahaha.

I like Upper Crust and Haut Monde, myself. But you''d have to pronounce it "Hot Mondy" to get the right effect.

 

[Steel]

Date: 4/14/2010 11:22:22 PM
Author: Haven

Date: 4/14/2010 10:56:38 PM
Author: decodelighted
EVERYONE knows the REALLY elite name is ''Elite''! Alternate: ''Elita'' also ''Classy'' ''Aristocrat'' and ''Baron'' -- lol ... isn''t a Trump named that ... bwahhahhahha.

Hahahahahaha.

I like Upper Crust and Haut Monde, myself. But you''d have to pronounce it ''Hot Mondy'' to get the right effect.

Based on your selection(s), here are some other name(s) that may be of interest to you:

Hoi-Tee-Toity
Mrs Bucket (pronounced bouquet Link )
Toff Tottington
Lady Muck
Snooty McSnootington

 

[Jas12]

Interesting. Anything goes around here in my middle income city. There is equally a combo of ppl who think they are being classic- cool with names like Henry, Oliver, Claire, Evelyn , Emma when really, using grandparent generation names is just uber trendy right now (a trend i like)
And then there are those around here that love the custom names with the funky spellings....

I don''t think the trend of surname as first names is going anywhere. Esp since a huge proportion of names that are considered classic are also extremaly common surnames (Thomas, Edward, Alexander etc. etc.)
Now we are just seeing more surnames added to the mix (Carter, Morgan, Jackson are some big ones that come to mind) and for many it''s a way of keeping a surname alive (i have a friend and her kids names are Burk and Grayson --maiden names from her family tree). I like it.

 

[akmiss]

Date: 4/14/2010 9:05:32 PM
Author: waxing lyrical
I used to wonder if it''s uppity or arrogant that we only like traditional/classic names. Most of my peers tend to like common and trendeigh names. Ugh.

Back when we had dd1, the nurse was surprised by the names we chose because they seemed so grown up or old fashioned for us. We were/are young so I''m guessing she was expecting we''d name her something like Skylie or Taylor or something cutesy--I don''t do cutesy. It was always important to me that my kids have seemingly ''elite'' names. They must like good on a business card. A name that will grow with them.

I do like eccentric and earthy sounding names, but DH tends to prefer traditional/classic. Pandora, I like it. It helps that Avatar is one of my favorite movies.

Haha. I love Freyja and Willow, but they don''t really go with our style. I still keep going back to Persephone. My husband loves Penelope.

These are two names on my list! But add Ruby, Fiona, and Tuesday

My youngest son was supposed to be Odin but my father practically had a fit so we named him something else and I regret it to this day.

 

[Puppmom]

I''m a big fan of names from our grandparent''s generation as well. It''s okay with me if it''s trendy. The kind of *trendy* I don''t like is the kind where you can basically pinpoint a person''s birth year within a few years just by hearing their first name. I try not to worry about a lot of this stuff as we attempt to choose a name for our son but it''s hard!

As kid who grew up in the 80s though, I HATED having a classic name. I would have given my left arm to be named Jennifer like all of the other girls in my class.

BTW, I had no idea Imogen was a name. My only reference is the musician Imogen Heap and and I thought she made that up to sound exotic!

 

[Haven]

Date: 4/15/2010 6:48:33 AM
Author: Steal

Date: 4/14/2010 11:22:22 PM
Author: Haven

Date: 4/14/2010 10:56:38 PM
Author: decodelighted
EVERYONE knows the REALLY elite name is ''Elite''! Alternate: ''Elita'' also ''Classy'' ''Aristocrat'' and ''Baron'' -- lol ... isn''t a Trump named that ... bwahhahhahha.

Hahahahahaha.
I like Upper Crust and Haut Monde, myself. But you''d have to pronounce it ''Hot Mondy'' to get the right effect.

Based on your selection(s), here are some other name(s) that may be of interest to you:
Hoi-Tee-Toity
Mrs Bucket (pronounced bouquet Link )
Toff Tottington
Lady Muck
Snooty McSnootington

Tee hee hee . . . Toff Tottington, I love it! They''re all fabulous. I shall now plan on having loads of children so I can use up all of these elite names on my own brood.

 

[jewelz617]

I heard a girl at my old job say if she ever had twins, they would be "Lexus" and "Mercedes" because those names are associated with status. It does really depend on what someone's perception of an elite person is.

 

[purselover]

Date: 4/15/2010 2:07:08 PM
Author: PinkAsscher678
I heard a girl at my old job say if she ever had twins, they would be ''Lexus'' and ''Mercedes'' because those names are associated with status. It does really depend on what someone''s perception of an elite person is.

Idk I have to say I''m not a huge fan of "designer" names, is it your child or an accessory you know?

I have been told my desired girl''s name sounds very elitist though - Kensington, although I must say I''m really liking Seraphina.

 

[jaysonsmom]

Date: 4/15/2010 2:07:08 PM
Author: PinkAsscher678
I heard a girl at my old job say if she ever had twins, they would be ''Lexus'' and ''Mercedes'' because those names are associated with status. It does really depend on what someone''s perception of an elite person is.

Heehee, those don''t sound elite to me at all, they sound like stripper names (praying that no one on PS has those names..eeek!!!!)

 

[mayachel]

I guess I''m finally falling into fashion. I have always loved names and took pride in naming the many pets I''ve had over the years. It bemuses me to know end to see "Imogen" on this list, as that was the name of my beautiful giant white lop bunny, of 8+ years,who we just recently put to sleep.

Meanwhile, in an act of love, I allowed my df who has never had a pet, name our new bunny(ies). Our first is "Barley" with the expectation of find a friend for him who will be named "Hops".

On the baby front-I''ve liked the name "Ava Lilliana" for a girl. Is it my education or my pleebian roots showing? I can''t tell.