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Interesting, as always - thank you! For interest, I had a relative whose baptism record shows him as Percy, but his death certificate (when in his 50s) reads Percival. In the family, he was only referred to as Percy; perhaps a bureaucrat filling in the form decided that the "correct" version should be used ... I prefer Percy, but I don't perceive either name as particularly elite or aristocratic; rather the reverse. Solid, working-class names! Piers seems more exclusive than Peter, but I chose Peter for my son without hesitation.

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And those Aubrey-type previously all-male names: I assume it's the -y ending that looks female, so can we expect girls named Antony, Gregory, Jeremy etc to appear? Or am I becoming too logical?