What's in a school house name?

Choosing the right house can be important, nay, vital to one's scholastic career. It has the power to alter character, confidence and even physical prowess-sports days are suddenly transformed into interhouse miniature Olympiads, with so much more than impressing parents at stake.

In his autobiography, Moab is my Washpot, Stephen Fry recalls that, at his own school, Uppingham, the houses all had their own distinct charm. ‘Each had its own character, nature, flavour and atmosphere. Some were known for having more than the average number of the academically able, others provided a disproportionate number of athletes. One house might have a reputation for being messy and ill disciplined.'

He goes on to talk more candidly of those noted for their lack of wholesome qualities, but schoolboy chortling aside, the name of a house-generally drawn from from saints to scientists-is often intended to have an impact on its charges, providing a source of both inspiration and aspiration.

The house system has been on the rise across all types of school since the day that J. K. Rowling introduced us to Hufflepuff, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. But, in the absence of snitches and sorcerers, here we take a look at the thinking behind the naming process in British schools. Current names of school houses Wellington, Somerset

Generals Anglesey, Apsley, Benson, Beresford, Blucher, Combermere, Hardinge, Hill, Hopetoun, Lynedoch, Murray, Orange, Picton, Raglan, Stanley, Talbot, Wellesley

City of London Freemen's School

Benefactors and influential Londoners Gresham, Hale and Whittington

Heathfield School, Berkshire

Inspirational women Austen, de Valois, Seacole and Somerville

Stowe, Buckinghamshire

Members of the family of the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos Bruce, Temple, Grenville, Chandos, Cobham, Chatham, Grafton, Walpole, Nugent, Lyttleton, Queen's, Stanhope

Sedbergh, Cumbria

Old headmasters and notable alumni Evans, Hart, Powell, School, Sedgwick, Winder, Lupton, Robertson Charterhouse, Surrey Founders Lockites, Weekites, Hodgsonites, Daviesites, Bodeites, Pageites, Robinites

The King's School, Canterbury, Kent

Past headmasters or people of interest in the school's history Broughton, Harvey, Tradescant, The Grange, Walpole, Galpins, Linacre, Luxmoore, Meister Omers, Mitchinsons, Marlowe, School House, Jervis, Bailey

Queen Victoria School, Dunblane, Scotland

Military commanders, Cunningham, Haig, Trenchard and Wavell

Windlesham House School, West Sussex Explorers Bader, Raleigh, Scott, Hunt

The Marist School, Berkshire Saints St Teresa's, St Catherine's, St Elizabeth Ann's, St Bernadette's

The Holt School, Berkshire Historical guilds Clothworkers, Goldsmiths, Haberdashers, Lacemakers, Spinners, Tanners, Weaver

Cardinal Langley, Lancashire Catholic martyrs Almond, Barlow, Hurst, Rigby, Southworth

Junior King's School, Canterbury, Kent Parrots Cockatoos, Kakas, Keas and Macaws

Four Dwellings High School, Birmingham Local farms Windmill, Beech, Ridgacre, Highfield

Warrington High School, Cheshire Sportsmen and women Simmonds (Eleanor), Ainslie (Ben), Holmes (Dame Kelly), Hoy (Chris), Redgrave (Sir Steve)

Monk's Walk School, Hertfordshire Scientists Bell, Carson, Durrell, Kroto

Norton Canes School, Staffordshire Local collieries Coppice, Grove, Leacroft and Littleton

Chelmsford County High School for Girls Governers Chancellor, Hulton, Pennefather, Tancock

Aintree Davenhill, Liverpool Planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn

Thetford Girl's School, Norfolk Trees Ash, Oak, Beech, Thorn

Harrow, Middlesex

Founders, alumni and notable pupils Bradbys, Druries, Elmfield, The Grove, The Head Masters, The Knoll, Lyon's, Moretons, Newlands, The Park, Rendalls, West Acre and Gayton

Bishop Wordsworth's Church of England Grammar School for Boys, Wiltshire Bishops of Salisbury Jewell, Martival, Poore and Osmund Eton, Berkshire Current housemasters' initials There are currently 25 of these houses. The beauty of this system is that it is constantly in a state of renewal-the physical buildings retain their names, but when referred to around school, it's the initials that are always used

Buxton College, Derbyshire Derbyshire dales Ashwood, Beresford, Dove, Lathkill, Monsall, Wolfscote St Audries (now closed) Social reformers Wilberforce, Selwyn, Keble, Shaftesbury, Churchill

Braunton School, north Devon Devon Beaches Croyde, Putsborough, Saunton, Woolacombe Sedbergh School, Cumbria Founders and early headmasters Evans, School, Sedgewick, Hart-Hart, Winder, Lupton, Robertson, Powell

Davenant School, Essex Surrounding towns Debden, Abbey, Valley, Epping, Nazeing, Theydon Linslade Middle School, Bedfordshire Local country houses Ascot, Claydon, Blenheim and Mentmore

St Mary's Shaftesbury, Dorset Places associated with the life of Mary Ward Givendale, Harewell, Hewarth, Mary Ward, Mulwith, Newby

Radley College, Oxfordshire Socials Radley has Socials rather than houses, from socius, meaning companion. ‘Social' meant a boy who was entrusted to the care and protection of a Don (master). Initially, most boys were living together in college, but they were under the care of six ‘social tutors' and the term Social then referred to all the boys under the care of one tutor. When D Social was built in 1886, all the boys and their tutor were united in their own living quarters and so the word Social (A to ?) came to mean the building, the collection of ‘companions' and the Tutor is their housemaster.

Fictional school houses

Hogwarts Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin Malory Towers North, South, East and West