History Analysis / PreppyName

* For the Hispanic culture equivalent, note the constant use of the two first names, the emphasis in the last names (specially in countries where a bastard can have one ''if'' [[HeroicBastard (s)he's worthy of]] ''[[HeroicBastard any]]'' [[HeroicBastard sort of respect]], where more legitimate children have two), or for some ridiculousness, certain kinds of nicknames. Nicknames ending in "-ina" are sometimes used to indicate a RichBitch of the airhead type (e.g. Paulina from ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'').

* In Filipino literature, Spanish names (especially of Basque, French or other Mediterranean origin) often serve as the equivalents, owing to some 300+ years of colonial occupation—[[OverlyLongName the longer]] and more European-sounding, the better. Bonus points if they have the titles "Don" or "Doña" appended to them.

* In the eastern part of the Arab world--the part formerly controlled by or under the influence of the Ottoman Empire--names of Turkic or Caucasian origin have historically been seen as the "upper class" names.

** Arabic-origin names historically common in Turkey--and especially names of old Ottoman sultans like `Uthman/Osman,[[note]]An extremely old Arabic name--one of the four Rightly Guided Caliphs under Sunni historiography--but also the name of the founder of the Ottoman dynasty[[/note]] Selim,[[note]]An Arabic name meaning "peaceful" or "secure", it was borne by three Ottoman sultans, most notably Selim I [[TheMagnificent the Grim]] who won the Ottomans most of the Middle Eastern part of their empire[[/note]] and Suleyman[[note]]The Arabic form of "Solomon", borne by the greatest Ottoman sultan of the lot, Selim I's son Süleyman I TheMagnificent[[/note]]--are also seen as old-school high-class.

** Arabic-origin names historically common in Turkey--and especially names of old Ottoman sultans like `Uthman/Osman,[[note]]An extremely old Arabic name--one of the four Rightly Guided Caliphs under Sunni historiography--but also the name of the founder of the Ottoman dynasty[[/note]] Selim,[[note]]An Arabic name meaning "peaceful" or "secure", it was borne by three Ottoman sultans, most notably Selim I [[TheMagnificient the Grim]] who won the Ottomans most of the Middle Eastern part of their empire[[/note]] and Suleyman[[note]]The Arabic form of "Solomon", borne by the greatest Ottoman sultan of the lot, Selim I's son Süleyman I TheMagnificent[[/note]]--are also seen as old-school high-class.

** Arabic-origin names historically common in Turkey--and especially names of old Ottoman sultans like `Uthman/Osman, Selim, and Suleyman--are also seen as old-school high-class.

* In the eastern part of the Arab world--the part formerly controlled by or under the influence of the Ottoman Empire--names of Turkic or Caucasian origin have historically been seen as the "upper class" names. This is especially true with names for girls and ''especially'' true with names for girls with the "v" sound in them (which [[UsefulNotes/ArabicLanguage doesn't exist in Arabic]]) like "Nivin" and "Mervat". Arabic-origin names historically common in Turkey--and especially names of old Ottoman sultans like `Uthman/Osman, Selim, and Suleyman--are also seen as old-school high-class. Christians in that part of the world have their own variant, with wealthier Christians often taking Western--especially French--names essentially unmodified (e.g. "Georges" and "Michel").[[note]]More working-class and rural Christians tended to prefer older names taken more or less directly from Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek like Butrus (Peter, from Greek ''Petros'' via ArabBeobleTalk) and Yuhanna (the Arab Christian rendering of the Hebrew/Aramaic "Yochanan", i.e. "John"), or invented within the Arabic-speaking Muslim-dominated milieu (like Abdulmasih, literally "Slave/Servant of Christ", modeled after Muslim names that take the form of Abdul[Insert One of the 99 Names of God in Islam] like Abdullah or Abdulrahman).[[/note]]

* In American works, this is for those names like Chase (or [[MyNaymeIs Chace]]), [[Literature/GossipGirl Blair]], or in older programs, [[AlphaBitch Libby]] (which is a name more strongly associated with commoners now). For extra pretentiousness points, add a Roman numeral at the end to indicate that the name itself is a legacy. "The Third" seems to be the most popular. Occasionally, first or middle initial is seen (as in, for instance, "V. Marcus Wellesley" or "Harrison E. Vandenberg"). Girls may also be given [[GenderBlenderName traditionally male names]] such as [[Series/PrettyLittleLiars Spencer]], [[Series/GilmoreGirls Logan]], or [[Series/GossipGirl Blake]]. Men with names like Stacey or Ashley also apply. The character may also have more than one middle name. Their last names will often be of more than one word such as St. John, St. Claire, or a Dutch heritage name like Van (de/der) -something or Something-son/sen (even all in one), especially if the character is supposed to be a New Yorker, (see, e.g., [[Series/MadMen Dyckman]], [[Series/GossipGirl van der Woodsen]]). Most often, the last name will suggest a [[BritishStuffiness British heritage]] to lend that all-important [[WhiteAngloSaxonProtestant Founding Fathers]] touch, and will often be derived from a British place-name -- Hastings, Winchester, or Montgomery, for example.
* If the setting and characters ''are'' British, these types of names would be described as "posh", "rah" (as in "tally-ho, rah!", a stereotypically posh exclamation), or "Sloaney" names, the latter named for London's ''Sloane Square'', an upper-class haunt. Unlike in the US, Roman numerals would ''never'' be used, and would be viewed as uppity and ''extremely'' vulgar. Given names will be either ''very'' traditional -- think [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishRoyalFamily Royal]] names like William (Wills), Henry, Rupert, Catherine, Elizabeth, Victoria OR more unusual, quite eccentric names like Rafferty, Rollo, Crispin, Finnbar, Tarquin, Torquil, Candida, Arabella, Pandora, Binky (yep) and Cressida (etc) that sound like something straight out of Arthurian legend or Shakespeare. The surname will ''usually'' be [[MyNaymeIs peculiarly spelled]], often in a way that defies sense, and will ''always'' be hyphenated -- commonly known as a 'double-barrel' surname -- sounding as though it could be the name of a particularly expensive law firm if you slapped "LLP" on the end -- [[Series/CallTheMidwife Cholmondeley-Browne]], [[Series/ToTheManorBorn fforbes-Hamilton]], [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Wyndham-Pryce]], etc. Essentially, an English girl called something like "Araminta Fortescue-Thompson" probably has a flat on Sloane Square, does a bit of light PR as a "job", spends most of her time shopping on the King's Road, and has a family that owns half of Yorkshire.
* Note -- although preppy ''last'' names in the US and UK will be very similar (as mentioned above, preppy last-names in the US will often suggest a British heritage), it's worth mentioning that there is a ''huge'' degree of cultural dissonance between the nations in terms of what are considered to be preppy / upper-class ''first'' names. For example, girls' names thought of as being preppy in the US, like the aformentioned "Chace" or "Blair", would be thought of as being tacky, overly "trendy", and at worst, flagrantly nouveau riche in the UK (especially "Chace" spelt with a 2nd "c"). Sometimes they will even be thought of as ''lower''-class. But equally, to a US audience, "Sloaney-pony", posh English girls' names like "Henrietta", "Jemima", or "Arabella" sound parochial, old-fashioned, and evoke down-home, country-bumpkin types -- funny, ain't it? There's also a whole segment of Celtic (mostly Irish) boys' names that are considered "[[GhettoName chavvy]]" in England and quite smart in the New World -- Aidan, Liam, Kieran and the like.

* In Filipino literature, Spanish names (especially of Basque, French or other Mediterranean origin) often serve as the equivalents, owing to some 300+ years of colonial occupation—[[OverlyLongName the]] [[OverlyLongSpanishName longer]] and more European-sounding, the better. Bonus points if they have the titles "Don" or "Doña" appended to them.

* France is unusual in that although the particle "de" (non capitalised, detached particle) is strongly associated with the old, even medieval aristocracy, the nobles who didn't emigrate to England during UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution often changed names or slightly modified the spelling to "blend in" -- and some republicans either chose new names mocking the old establishment or already had similar names which simply used "de" to indicate a place-name (so largely like "von" in German). See Dupont, which is one of the most common surnames in France, compared to, say, du Pont de Nemours (the American industrial group--and the fabulously wealthy family, descended from minor French aristocrats, who founded it), or Dominique Galouzeau de Villepin, or Philippe de Villiers. If they're worth their money their name is probably a castle somewhere.
As for French first names, medieval names or names of obscure saints such as Enguerrand, Foulque, Hubert or Eudes are far more common than among the general population; vaguely Victorian-sounding names like Joséphine or Apolline for girls. Oddly, High Middle Ages-sounding names like Clovis or Harald seem to be making a comeback among the ''middle class''. Or, using the opposite of the most common usage of a unisex name: Camille, but only for a boy, or Claude, but only for a girl. Stock Preppy Names (or at least "BCBG" names) in French fiction will usually include unusual combinations of hyphenated first names, such as Jean-Gabriel or Marie-Chantal or Charles-Édouard or [[WebAnimation/TheMostPopularGirlsInSchool Saison-Marguerite]]; note that if you have "Marie" in a hyphenated boys' name, like "Jean-Marie" or "Charles-Marie", you're dealing with someone who may be an aristocrat, is likely rather conservative, and almost certainly a very serious Catholic--and if not, his parents were. On the opposite side of the social spectrum, Kevinism is in full swing, generally attributed to working-class mothers from the late Cold War drawing baby-names from poorly-produced American soap operas, Kevin and Vanessa being the most stereotypical examples possibly due to ''Series/TheYoungAndTheRestless'' being extremely well-known in France (as "Les feux de l'amour") and syndicated to this day.

* In Nicaragua, the name "Chamorro" indicates upper class, especially if a relation to the political and business empire of the family of that name actually exists. German derived last names are still upper class more often than not, despite Somoza's expropriation of many Germans during the 1940s. In first name there is a certain tendency towards exotic names and/or spelling among the lower classes with Ruswel (sic!) just one example. Some people even give their child a PortmanteauCoupleName. During the 1980s, names like Lenin or even Russian derived names like Mijail were reasonably popular among leftists and Sandinista sympathizers. The upper crust has mostly stuck with traditional Spanish names, though occasional English names like Hope (instead of the more pedestrian Esperanza) can also be found. Double names are a must for every class, so triple and quadruple names are not unheard of.