New Post
Search
Help[Opinions] Barnaby
Lately I'm loving the name Barnaby. I've always had a bit of a thing for 4 syllables and a Y ending (Bethany, Tiffany, Diggory ... you get the idea) but I've steered clear of Barnaby for one main reason.
I hate names that are too tied up with class. I avoid Rupert, Julian, Ralph "Rafe", Arabella like the plague. In Britain anyway, these are still public-schoolboy, home-counties, "toff" names which is as damning as "trashy" if like me and most people, you don't fit into either category. I suppose I need Britons to tell me whether Barnaby is workable for someone in-between ... And just opinions on Barnaby from everybody else! Thank you in advance :-)
I hate names that are too tied up with class. I avoid Rupert, Julian, Ralph "Rafe", Arabella like the plague. In Britain anyway, these are still public-schoolboy, home-counties, "toff" names which is as damning as "trashy" if like me and most people, you don't fit into either category. I suppose I need Britons to tell me whether Barnaby is workable for someone in-between ... And just opinions on Barnaby from everybody else! Thank you in advance :-)
Archived Thread - replies disabled
1
Replies
Well I'm in the U.S., but I think Barnaby is fabulous. :)
1
Barnaby is a top ten name for me. My dh, who usually hates anything to do with aristocracy / upper crust society, loves it too. We are American, if that makes a difference.
Barnaby has an energetic bounce to it, probably that "y" on the end.
Names that some consider British upper-class names are, to me, more like historical names. Anything that transports me back in time gets my name-nerd engine running. Names like Barnaby, Clement, Phineas, Bertram, Eustace, Rupert, Swithin, Jasper, etc. make me think of historic personalities or literary characters, not modern day snobs. Of course most people who make it into the history books are not going to be working class, but somehow the snobbery doesn't come across so much through the years. (I'm not sure if that makes sense, but it's the best I can do to describe my attraction for the names.)
Barnaby has an energetic bounce to it, probably that "y" on the end.
Names that some consider British upper-class names are, to me, more like historical names. Anything that transports me back in time gets my name-nerd engine running. Names like Barnaby, Clement, Phineas, Bertram, Eustace, Rupert, Swithin, Jasper, etc. make me think of historic personalities or literary characters, not modern day snobs. Of course most people who make it into the history books are not going to be working class, but somehow the snobbery doesn't come across so much through the years. (I'm not sure if that makes sense, but it's the best I can do to describe my attraction for the names.)
1
I like it, but I dislike Barney too much to consider it, I think. Also my problem with Bartleby/Bart. And yeah, the do sound somewhat pretentious even to a non-Brit, so I don't know. I do like it, though. (I also like Rupert because it's the teddy bear on Family Guy, and I think that's adorable, and I've never seen Rafe before, but I think I like it. Don't like Ralph, though. Love Julian. Arabella is too frilly, though. I guess this was kind of OT, but anyways . . . ) :)
1
I really like it. Then again, I named my son Willoughby and it sounds like that would be considered "toff", too (whatever toff means).
1
eh in Britain I'm not sure if it would work... but I still love those names that are deemed public school *sigh* so I tend to use those as characters instead of (I don't have kids yet though!) real people. Barnaby is a good name, perhaps a mn? Though in a few years it might not be so bad. Look at the Freya and Imogen trend! There's so many of them!
1
I love Barnaby. There is a lad at my brother's school (state grammar) with this name and he gets along fine. I don't think it would pose too much of a problem. And it is just such a handsome name.
Maybe I'm not the best person to say though, I am quite a fan of toffy names. Blame Cambridge. I come across Arabella, Rupert ("Rups"), Cosmo, Persephone, Cressida everyday.
Maybe I'm not the best person to say though, I am quite a fan of toffy names. Blame Cambridge. I come across Arabella, Rupert ("Rups"), Cosmo, Persephone, Cressida everyday.
1
I don't like the name Barnaby.
1