Hey mates! Another question about typical surnames for a British novel, can you give your opinion too?

Posted by ChampionshipLife4211@reddit | AskABrit | View on Reddit | 54 comments

Hi there!! How is everyone doing today? I’d like to ask again for your opinion on a topic, please:

As you can see by my previous post, I’m writing a novel set partly in England and partly in the Latin America. I was choosing between two last names for the family surname in a novel.

I know in England the Norman last names are the poshest, but I want to give emphasis to the Anglo-Saxon origin (and no double barred last names).

For my main characters I need a surname/last name that looks unmistakably England-English, prestigious, and “rich looking, rich sounding”, maybe upper-class? A beautiful surname/last name.

Which one signals more beautiful to your English ears: Birtwistle or Entwistle? And why?

Which one of those gets you an “American English vibe”? And which one of those gets you a “England’s English vibe”? The more “Anglo Saxon feeling” and good seen in UK?

I’d like to thank you one more time for your time! I really appreciate it.

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charlotteypants@reddit

Look up ‘upper class surnames of landed gentry’

Some suggestions:

Cavendish Fitzwilliam Grenville Beauchamp (pronounced Beecham) Montague Lindsay Wedgewood Montgomery

Also look up small villages in Sussex/Surrey

Birtwistle/entwistle are hard to say and have the word ‘wistle’ (toot toot) in them. John Entwistle was also the bassist in The Who, only recently died and not particularly upper class.

weedywet@reddit

Also 2002 I believe. “Recently” is a stretch.

Good god. You’re absolutely right, 2002?!

thechrisare@reddit

John Entwistle died after a cocaine and prostitute party. That could be considered upper class

front-wipers-unite@reddit

The man died doing what he loved.

Getting shot

Touché, chapeau

zezblit@reddit

Both Birtwistle or Entwistle sound very strange to me, not English, possibly since I'm from down south. I would also say that neither sound "beautiful", more the opposite

Hmmm John Entwistle would have liked a word.

But not posh.

ajl_91@reddit

Just ask Google for a list former Eton students and use one of those surnames

Or just go with Eton.

No-Introduction3808@reddit

Or search extended members of the royal family

secretrebel@reddit

Neither. Throw those away and use Beresford.

ChampionshipLife4211@reddit (OP)

Interesting! Thank you for your suggestion! Can you tell me why? Does Beresford sound posh to English people? Thank you

waamoandy@reddit

Proper posh names are Wilkinson-Sword or W.H Smith. Maybe even J.R. Hartley.

SnoopyLupus@reddit

J R Hartley

Wrote the definitive book on fly fishing though.

pm_me_boobs_pictures@reddit

Saville as well. James Saville speaks upper echelons. Maybe he could be called Jimmy to be in touch with the modern man

The posh version has one "L" commoners have 2. Personally I prefer something like Paul Francis Gadd or Frederick West

Katherine_the_Grater@reddit

Wilkinson-Sword. Very swish.

Well spotted. Very sharp

Didn’t we have this earlier?

Sasspishus@reddit

Yeah they seem to have just ignored that post and come up with 2 more random names

TarcFalastur@reddit

In fairness, no they haven't. They've taken on board the feedback not to use an Anglo-Saxon name and have suggested what they believe are Norman names instead.

I don't think those names actually are Norman, but they've tried.

Loads of people suggested actually posh names and they ignored all of those suggestions in favour of something equally not posh/made up

Ok granted. And I'm not saying their post is great. But still.

Yuh. I thought it was a fair question, and got pretty good answers from people who explained their opinions. I went in there to comment, and decided that AskABriters had better thought out opinions than mine so I didn’t.

Asking again - nah.

sammypants123@reddit

I don’t know where you are getting the names you are asking people to choose from. Neither of those are posh.

Serious suggestion I have is for you to look down a list of town names in the South of England. Those are mostly Anglo-Saxon in origin (more or less) but the implication for a family name might be there that somewhere in the ancestral line was a Lord of that place.

Look for wealthy towns and they should have posh connotations. The wealthiest town in England is Windsor and that’s what the Royal family chose when they needed a name that wasn’t German.

Don’t go for the larger cities because they all have specific connotations that might make them a bit laughable as a name.

But places like: Weybridge, Esher, Marlow, Haslemere … would work as names and sound very English.

sparklybeast@reddit

You realise your post basically reads “Ignore how things actually are and pretend they’re like I say they are. Now give me ideas based on that fictional reality.”?

Sounds like an excellent AI prompt. Perhaps they should have started there instead of annoying the real people.

Krzykat350@reddit

Smith & Jones

Lunaspoona@reddit

They both scream American.

I'd go with a Cavendish, Devon, Howard, Byron something along lose lines.

Dangerous-Safe-4336@reddit

They are not likely American. American English surnames come from a much smaller pool than English ones, and are more likely to be Irish or Scottish. i give characters names like Williams or Johnson.

Oh the name are probably English but if read them in a story I'd assume an American wrote it. British authors would go for something more lowkey as you say

twogunsalute@reddit

Just take your pick of the names here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_extant_baronetcies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peerage_of_the_United_Kingdom#

Ede. A fantastic, and frankly underused surname here in the UK.

Maple-Styrup@reddit

One of my friends is a Farnsworth-Britton.

It's probably not a posh name, but it sounds good.

WaveOpening4686@reddit

Hey! Saw your earlier post and I think you’re barking up the wrong tree here. If you’re thinking of the sort person I think you’re thinking of, these names don’t sound right. Entwistle, for example likely references a (probably Northern) place someone was originally from. Also moderately common name. Landed gentry aren’t from small villages, they own small villages, which might be reflected in how they are styled (eg Earl of Arundel) but the names tend to have a certain ring.

That could be a seemingly unusual/off spelling of an apparently common name (e.g. Home not Hume), names pronounced in a particular way (it’s not Beauchamp, it’s Bee-cham), or just something a bit out there.

Of course for every example that proves my point, an equal number totally disprove it.

Shannoonuns@reddit

Not sure why you're still inisiting on anglo saxon but just pick something from here

https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:English_surnames_from_Old_English

FlorianTheLynx@reddit

I had a teacher called Mrs Concannon-Arblaster, if that helps at all.

4737CarlinSir@reddit

Both of those names are from oop north. If you want posh names, use those that aren't pronounced the way they are spelled. E.g.

Cholmondeley

Featherstonehaugh

Althorp

pab6407@reddit

Marjoribanks,

Dalziel

agirlingreece@reddit

Just to say that we don’t say ‘mates’ in plural form unless we’re referring to our friends - like ‘my mates are coming over’ etc. We wouldn’t address a group as ‘hey mates’, it’s really only used in singular form. Pedantic, I know, but you mentioned you were writing book and that might be useful to know.

Drewski811@reddit

I know in England the Norman last names are the poshest

No, they aren't.

lizziebee66@reddit

this. sound like my Yorkshire relatives

WaddlesLament@reddit

Don’t say mates as a plural

leninzen@reddit

Double barreled surnames always seem posh, no matter the combination

nasted@reddit

Like Stephen Yaxley-Lennon?

I mean he's a thug but I definitely think that name sounds pretty posh compared to "Tommeh Robinson"

Nicko5000@reddit

Murphy-Brown has entered the chat

NewbishDeligh@reddit

Absolutely no difference between the two. Sorry, I’m also not a fan of “Appleton” from your previous post - it feels a bit American/Johnny Appleseed.

There isn’t a single category of surname that are the “poshest” but there is a strong Norman presence. You might some old Anglo-Saxon names around places/geography, but also a whole host of random imports (especially German or French) or ones that you would not association with a smart background. Also lots of regional-specific ones - Cornish, Scottish, NI and Welsh all have their own flavours.

For some examples…Churchill, Spencer, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (not used since WW1…), Northcote, B’stard (I kid you not), Trevelyan.

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