Poshest Names in Britain: Crunching the Numbers
Posh. It’s a term I dread, and try to avoid whenever I can. You see, it’s a very tetchy and subjective word that brings up all sorts of connotations. To call something “posh” can equally be a compliment of elegance and refinement as much as it can be a derogatory slur of aloofness and pomposity.
But, if I avoid the word to avoid offence, I’m in the minority. “Posh” is so bandied around in Britain, it can mean anything from “pertaining exclusively to the aristocracy” to “a little bit fancy.” Though ironically, the aristocracy to which it usually refers don’t actually use the word.
Posh Names in the UK
The fact is, Britain has an upper class, a social elite, who have their own set of habits, preferences and even names. Some names are so indicative, that you may assume as person is aristocratic just from their names. I didn’t need to know anything about fashion editor Pandora Sykes, to guess that she was upper class (sure enough, she is the granddaughter of Lord Buxton of Alsa) because Pandora is one of those delightfully eccentric names from classical mythology that has been used by the aristocracy for centuries
Almost legendary in recent years are the likes of twins Biggles George Fittleworth and Posie Betsy Winifred and their big sister Tuppence; Wulfstan Wallace and his sisters Dorothy, Cleopatra and Elektra; sisters Mimi Magenta Poodle and Ruby Rhapsody Panda; Samuel Badger, who goes by Badger …. I could go on and on, they’re so delightfully eccentric.
The following 100 names are the names most indicative of the upper class in Britain over the last thirty years based on peerage birth announcements compared with national statistics. In other words, these names are uncommon choices in Britain except for among the upper class where they are well used.
Posh British Girl Names
Allegra
Anoushka
Antonia
Atalanta
Arabella
Araminta
Artemis
Augusta
Calypso
Camilla
Candida
Cecily
Claudia
Clarissa
Coco
Cordelia
Cosima
Flora
Hebe
Henrietta
Hero
India
Iona
Jemima
Kinvara
Kitty
Leonora
Lettice
Loveday
Lucinda
Marina
Maud
Miranda
Octavia
Oenone
Olympia
Ophelia
Ottilie
Pandora
Perdita/Purdy
Primrose
Romilly
Rosalind
Rosamund
Tabitha
Tatiana
Theodora
Venetia
Verity
Xanthe
Posh British Boy Names
Algernon/Algy
Archibald
Aubrey
Augustus
Barnaby
Benedict
Bertram
Casper
Caspian
Cosmo
Digby
Fabian
Felix
Fergus
Giles
Guy
Hector
Horatio
Hugo
Humphrey
Inigo
Ivo
Jago
Jocelyn
Jonty
Kit
Leopold
Ludovic/Ludo
Lysander
Magnus
Marmaduke
Montague
Montgomery
Mungo
Orlando
Otto
Ralph/Rafe
Rollo
Rufus
Rupert
Tarquin
Tobias
Torquil
Tristan
Tristram
Sholto
St John
Wilbur
Wilfred
Willoughby
Disclaimer: These names aren’t exclusively used by the British upper classes, and the upper classes don’t only use these names. However, these names have been statistically more common among the peerage compared with nationally in the last thirty years.