Students with traditional surnames such as Darcy and Percy have dominated the roll-calls at Oxford and Cambridge Universities since the Norman Conquest, a new study has revealed, sparking concerns over social mobility.
Despite the upheavals of the last 800 years, there have been Darcys, Mandevilles, Percys and Montgomerys at the two elite institutions for 27 generations.
Researchers found the same names which were associated with great wealth and privilege under William the Conqueror are still found at the top echelons of society today.
Family names which signalled poverty 150 years ago, such as Boorman, Defoe, Goodhill and Ledwell, also tend to remain low on the social scale, the team from the London School of Economic (LSE) concluded.