Is YOUR child's name lower class? Mother provokes furious debate by claiming hyphenated monikers such as Ava-May belong on council estates where parents 'sit at home on benefits' (10 Pics)

A mother has provoked a furious debate over baby names by claiming that hyphenated monikers are 'lower class'.

The argument was provoked by a post on the British parenting forum Netmums by a mother who said her partner is insisting on a double barrelled name for their child, but she's seen some negative reaction to the idea in the past.

A fellow mother was quick to explain her dislike, saying that all the children she knows with names such as Ava-May live on council estates.

'There's considerable number of girls with May, Rose, Leigh etc tagged on the end,' she said. 'So yes, I see them as lower class.'

Another agreed that the names appear 'chavvy', saying: 'Every child I know with a double barelled name has parents who don't work and sit at home on benefits, shout, swear and smoke at the school gates and expect everyone else to shell out for them.' 

Another said that in her opinion, double-barrelled names are either 'pretentious or common' and she's never seen one that doesn't make her 'cringe'.

Naturally the comments provoked a furious response from people who insisted that a 'name doesn't define a person. 

Others took issue with the poster branding anyone who lives on a council estate as 'lower class' and on benefits.   

Meanwhile, other commenters took issue with the concept because of names that become a 'mouthful' for children to live with, such as Olivia-Georgia.