Cool Names: The Eccentric Aristocrats

This is deffintly my style.

Oh, some of my favorite girl’s names are here: Beatrix, Clementina, Cosima, Daphne, Eugenie, Sybil. I’m not such a fan of the boy’s names except Montgomery.

Names I’d add to this list:
girls: Rosalind, Geraldine, Adela, Maud, Hanne, Clarissa, Engracia.
boys: Lachlan, Tarquin, Thaddeus, Piero, Victor, Fabian.

Orson?

You have absolutely pinpointed my naming style! You have made me very happy I have a son called Felix and many of my favourites are there!

Cosima
Octavia
Clementina
Flora
Jemima
Theodosia
Ursula

Cosmo
Euan
Jasper
Peregrine

Peach, Tarquin was my first thought, too!

Eccentric aristocrat is defiantly my style. I love: Flora, Felix, Inigo, Beatrix, Ottilie, Bertie and Hamish!

Others to add (names of people i know) –
Girls: Euphemia, Hermione, Rafaella, Anastasia, Hebe
Boys: Fergus, Angus, Hector, Ivo, Caspar,

Nico, to me, is definitely male, and not female. I don’t even see it as remotely female!

This list is mostly a bit beyond my style, but I do love some of them on it: Bryony, Beatrix, Cicely (and Cecily), Daphne, Hester, Araminta, Cecil, Edgar, Euan (and Eoin), Lysander, Bartholomew

I would also add: Tamsin, Dorothea (is that too pretty or traditional?), Marthe, Jonquil, Oonagh

I have more trouble with boys, as my taste is a bit more traditional there.

I know what you mean, Stacy. In real life I would have a much easier time naming a daughter Araminta than a son Lysander — and think Araminta would have an easier time than Lysander on the playground too….

Here a few that I would add to your list:

Alastair
Lucian
Orson
Pascal

Arden
Flora
Kitty
Maude
Nell
Polly
Thea

I admire the style, but they aren’t the names I’d use for real children.

I wouldn’t put Georgiana on this list. She’s more of a classic, especially given her use by Jane Austen. She’s one of my favorites, along with Caroline, Louisa and Sabrina.

I agree that Nico is solidly male which breaks your rule #2. However, I think that that is the perfect example of how even when we have very defined criteria for our naming style and how individual names do or don’t fit it…we all have those names that we like/love that just defy our rules.

Oh, and I will also second (third?) the idea that I run more traditional on boy names than girl names.

This seems like my style. These are on my lists: Araminta, Jemima, Ottilie & Sybil (as Sibyl) for girls and Balthazar, Cosmo, Percy, Peregrin(e), Rollo, Valentin(e) & Willoughby for boys.

Some others I’d put on this list:
Fenella
Callisto
Maud
Oona
Elspeth
Amabel
Cleome
Rex (well, maybe too manly)
Durante
Galen
Claud(e)
Philo
Dorian
Cicero

As just a few that crossed my mind!

Oh, fun! Names that might fit in with your list:

Diantha
Gulliver
Rosalie
Victorine
Leta
Lucretia
Byron
Woodrow
Rutherford

I once had a British boss named Peregrine, whose sister was Pandora–definite EccAristos!

I think my style might be eccentric welsh aristocrat, lol. I love most of these names, although I wouldn’t give all of them to a child (sometimes because of cultural connotations, the big one there being Jemima, and sometimes because I live in the redneck part of Canada and kids can be cruel).

These were my favourites: Amaryllis, Araminta, Bryony, Cicely (though I prefer it Cecily), Clementina, Daphne, Eugenie, Georgiana, Jemima (but the syrup, ack, why?), Octavia, Ottilie, Primrose, Sybil, Theodosia, Zanna, Balthazar, Bertie, Cyril, Edgar, Euan, Hamish, Ivon, Jago, Lysander, Montgomery, Percy, Romulus, Valentine. So, basically all of them.

I’d also consider these names in a similar style: Alastríona, Ambrosia, Ariadne, Cressida, Delphina, Fenella, Pandora, Thomasina, Verity, Zara, Alasdair, Alden, Audley, Caius, Edwin, Evander, Hadrian, and Heathcliff (my boys names take a nose dive into the very welsh side of things after that).

yeah, Nico is obviously a male name…

I like Cecil for some reason. Don’t ask my why.

i have a willoughby…so i guess this is my naming style.

I love so many of these! Daphne Georgiana is the name of my daughter, actually, and I have boys named Edgar Fitzroy, Horatio Valentine, and Lysander Bartholomew, and we nearly named Lysander Romulus! A lot from your list, I’d say (even if one’s Horatio instead of Horace)!

I think Nico is unisex. I’m fairly sure that there is a semi-famous (female) designer named Nico. That said, it doesn’t seem to fit in with the rest of your list. I have a brother named Felix and n, I love Willoughby!

I just *love* Daphne, Eugenie, Sybil and Octavia! Also Beatrix and Cosima.

From the boys, Montgomery and Willoughby are great (I know a guy named Willoughby who goes by Wilby). Ditto Edgar, Felix and Barnaby.

I would add:
Enid
Bevin
Yvette
Ingrid
Nova
Ramona
Mona
Zinnia
Phaedra
Xanthe
Sunniva
Zelda
Eudora
Sidra
Toril
Tosca
Trilby
Marit
Berit

Otto
Barrett
Fritz
Remington
Remy
Gideon
Merritt
Arlo
Anders
Angus
Fergus
Tobin
Burke
Tarquin
Soren
Clive

This is a great list, so my naming style!

Two of my children’s names are on it (Octavia and Inigo) and the other two aren’t far off the mark, as a PP mentioned Ariadne, that just leaves Halcyon to add to the girls. There are so many names on there that we toyed with at naming times, so I feel this must definitely make me eccentric (and British) but unfortunately I am nowhere near the aristocracy!

A lot of these are too out there for me, so I guess you might describe my style as more “traditional aristocrat” — names like Josephine, Louisa, Edith, Jack and Edmund. LOL. But I like Eugenie and Alistair.

I guess this must be my parents style because my name’s Primrose and my siblings are Balthazar, Geneviva and Esmeralda.

I love this style and these suggestions. My style and my finance’s style are quite opposite (I’m an eclectic eccentric and he’s an all-around classic guy,) but I think even he would think some of these are cool. Come on, who doesn’t think Montgomery is a great middle name?

This is a great post! I was wondering how you would define the difference between beautiful and attractive? I have my own ideas, but I’m curious to see how you’d articulate it.

This is totally my style. I have a Georgiana (Georgie).

I like these names that are listed:
Amaryllis
Hester sp. Esther
Jemima
Octavia
Sybil sp. Sibyl

Edgar

What about Lucan? Lucan was the nickname of an old Roman poet. It was also the name of the butler for Arthur & his knights, apparently.

Ottilie is my favourite!
My name is kind of aristocrat-ish, but more “I’m gonna inherit the kingdom in your face” then eccentric.

Claire.
Attractive, but not beautiful. Nobody on seeing my name written thought I was a boy, but nobody would think it strange if I was a scientist or banker. Not prissy and princess-y like Clara, but still traditional.
I hated it at the age of five, but at the age of eleven… I’m likin’ it

Claud Maud, Morgan and Morag are my favourite for girls… Hah, maybe THIS is my style!

Kinda of my style. I like Cecily, Pandora, Ophelia, Artemis for a girl and Piero, Cassius, Ruben Montgomery for a boy

I love Georgiana and Ottilie for the girls and Jonty for the boys. I’ll add a guilty pleasure: Chauncey.

Some lovely names there for the girls.
I particularly like: Amaryllis, Daphne, Cosima, Flora, Cicely (prefer Cecily), Jemima and quite fond of Primrose, although I wouldn’t use it myself.
Some of them are too OTT for me: Araminta, Serendipity, Theodosia.
Is Maybelle made up? It sounds like a mish mash of two names to me.

For the boys, I do like some of them: Bartholomew, Cosmo, Hamish and even have a soft spot for Montgomery. However, I think that, in reality, it would be very hard for a boy to carry most of these names. I don’t think a little Balthazar, Peregrine or Valentine would feel too thrilled about their name as teenagers, at least not in the UK!

I /love/ so many of these names! Notably Octavia, Otillie and Theodosia are on my list for a girl, and I find Balthazar, Bartholomew and Edgar endearing.

I consider my style “a little bit of everything,” and this taste is definitely included in it. I love many of the names mentioned in the article/blog post.

[...] well can you define your name style?  Nameberry’s Pam pegs hers as “Eccentric Aristocrat” while Bewitching Names’ Isadora calls hers “Worldly Strega.”  I have a theory [...]

Elodie Isobel and Violet Rosalie
Asa James and Sailor Hope
Denver Lake and Micah Zane

My name is Tamsyn, not Tamsin (my mother didn’t want the word “sin” in my name).

I love almost all the names on the list, although I think that Nico, while a cool nickname for a girl, is, by itself, completely a boys name.

While I’d say this doesn’t pinpoint my style exactly, I appreciate it and there are several names from this list that I would consider, which are:
For girls-
Bryony
Circen(LOVE)
Clementina
Daphne (LOVE)
Emerald
Primrose

For Boys-
Edgar
Euan
Ivon
Jago (LOVE)
Montgomery
Percy

I really like those names, although I would never give them.
We have a French family name and French first names are running in the family.

I would like to add :

– girl -
Celeste
Ariadne
Penelope
Almondine
Genevieve
Evangeline
Cadence
Millicent
Meredith
Mavis
Haggith
Dorith – Dorrit
Aldith
Iseult – Isott
Damaris
Imogen
Mabel – Maybel
Juniper
Tempest
Ismay
Wallis
Phaedra
Talulah
Corisanda
Zephalinda
Tabitha
Ornella
Calantha
Cleo(-patra)
Beulah

- boys -
Ambrose
Constantine
Ezechiel > short : Haskell
Tennessee
Tiberias
Ulysses
Melchior
Ramses
Everett
Orville
Rowell
Ivor
Ephron
Cyriack
Emeric
Emery
Ogden
Hector
Ywain
Ackerley
Latimer
Chadrick
Bingham
Carswell
Ellison
Merrill
Llewellyn
Ansell
Clarence
Benedict
Dorius
Harmon

Yes! My husband always mocks me for my choice in names… especially when we were trying to choose a name for our first kid last year.

We had a boy and named him Gaius.

If we had a girl, my pick was Theodosia.

I love this style!
We need a german name for our 3 day old baby girl,
can you think of any in this style?

So far my husband likes Greta,
my other kids like Heidi.

Any thoughts on this or suggestions for me?
thankyou

Definitely my naming style!

it’s important to note how these names have evolved over time. Fitzroy was the last name French kings gave to their bastard sons. It was a way to recognize their royal paternage but let everyone know that they were conceived out of wedlock. Just imagine the playground teasing the day that’s revealed in history class.

I’ve found my style!
I was having a hard time describing it, and when you said vintage I was hopeful you had a name for my style, too.
I’ll admit it, some of these names, like Waldo, Balthazar, and Ursula, I would never dream of using. They’re just too much for me. I also like to mix in more modern choices, such as Haven and Rory, which I am absolutely loving right now!
Other than a few that I would pass over, this list is full of names that I simply adore.
Thanks for writing it! <3

Glad you like it, Blueberry. Rory is my daughter’s name! But it’s not a “modern” name — it’s an ancient Irish boys’ name. Rory O’Connor was a high king of Ireland in the 12th century; another Rory O’Connor was an Irish republican activist in the early 1900s. Though the name does sound modern!

An important thing to keep in mind that historically, the upper class have been the trendsetters in society. This applies to names, too. The lower classes would soon adopt the prestigious names or some derivative of them, then the upper class had to make up new names, and it repeats.

That is why we see people with questionable names such as “Blue Ivy…” It may seem eccentric, but that will be in a book of 10,000 baby names 20 years from now.

Of course we live in an age where we like to think that the barriers between classes have dissolved… But we can still see the subtle relationship between them.

Nico was actually the name of a very FEMALE German singer who often collaborated with The Velvet Underground (releasing the album The Velvet Underground & Nico). She was friends with Andy Warhol and also appeared in the film La Dolce Vita.

I quite like Cecilia myself, for a girl, and Emmeline. Anneliese is also a good one for a girl.
Another boy name could be Gilbert. Its not one to be mistaken for a girls name and can be shortened to ‘Gil’ or ‘Bertie’.
I think a nice boy name is Eustace. It doesn’t have any complicated syllables and can’t really be shortened. Valentine is a nice one as well.