Ask Axios: What's a "Boston Brahmin?"
Thanks to the New York Times mini crossword puzzle Tuesday, lots of people in Massachusetts were googling "Boston Brahmin types" to find the right five-letter answer.
Why it matters: The Brahmins were about the closest early America came to aristocracy. Their inherited privilege and wealth shaped the country's idea of the upper class.
The term describes the area's historic elite English families who came to dominate the culture and economics of Massachusetts from the 18th to 20th Centuries.
Think old-money families like the Adamses, Cabots and Lowells.
They mostly lived around Beacon Hill and the Back Bay, and usually had strong ties to Harvard and other exclusive private schools.
The phrase is a play on the top class in the Hindu caste system.
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No Corrections: June 22, 2025
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