Reginald is only "cliched British aristocrat" in the USA. In Britain itself
Reginald evidently was not seen as particularly upper-class and working class blokes called
Reg or
Reggie were not hard to find. Of course
Reginald was out of fashion in the UK among all social classes for a couple of generations, though the data on this site show it may be increasing again in England the last few years.
Reginald is one of several names which had "British upper class" stereotypes in the USA which were especially popular in the African-American community during the 20th century. Other examples include
Cedric,
Nigel, and
Percy. I believe this came from the same motivation that later led to African-Americans being the group most likely to invent brand new names for their children -- parents wanted to send a message to their children they were just as good as anyone else and could aspire to great things.
This message was edited 11/15/2021, 9:35 AM