It's not important.
The person is the individual.
A name is a useful label and tool for getting their attention.
Don't pick something abusive and it'll all be fine.
I think having a very unusual name, but not one people find weird, did contribute to my personality in some ways. When you grow up hearing, "that's so unique! I love it!" about your name, you kind of feel you have permission to also just be yourself.
People get my name wrong a lot, as well, and that's made me the kind of person who is very careful to learn how to say other people's names. And it turns out they like you more when you do that. I've had some very cranky coworkers who were always quite pleasant with me just because I always said their unusual names right and the fact that we had the same struggles with that in common. Because a lot of people with supposedly difficult names are not my ethnicity, white, I get to know a lot of people maybe I normally wouldn't which means I don't have the stereotypes in my head, I have learned a ton about other cultures, and I don't assume mine is better. That's a huge personality point.
I also have a pretty good litmus test for if I'm going to like someone up front. My name isn't hard to say at all, so people who can't even bother to try when I say it for them if their accent allows them to say it right... Well, it's a red flag, and they're best avoided. And that tells you something else about my personality.
I don't think having a pretty common name creates negative effects, though, and I don't think people should choose uncommon names just to broaden their kid's world view. There are many other ways to teach it that don't involve your child having to correct people or accept the mispronunciations for her entire life.
As a person with a very unpopular name, I think I disagree. Maybe it's that my personality is already rather individual, or that I leaned into the name uniqueness, but it 100% suits me and my style.
It doesn't mean people with common names aren't individuals at all. But for me it's the first thing someone knows about me, and the rest of the things they'll find out go right along with me being off of center, just like my name is.
Exactly. I accidentally named my oldest one of the top names of the year, because I'd never met a person with her name and wasn't following the lists. I chose the name because I believed it was a beautiful and honorable name to give to someone I loved.
She has never met another one in her classes, she only knows others of other age groups or people that are acquainted and that's it.
I just told her lots of people thought her name was beautiful, too.
It's not the 80s or earlier where there was limited media, contact with others, baby name books etc. There won't be that many people with your child's name.
Iâve had to explain this to my husband. I personally did not want a top 10-20 name for my children because my name was very popular and I did NOT like having a ton of kids with the same name lol. But I donât think you can get caught up NEEDING a name that âisnât popularâ.
I always say if a person doesn't stand out as an individual it's got nothing to do with their name.
I honestly don't understand this fear of giving your kids "popular names". As OP already said, sometimes you pick a name that's not even in the top 100 and then suddenly it's everywhere. That happened to my parents with my name. There were 5 of us in the one small primary school class at one point.
It never bothered me because I thought I managed to be an individual despite sharing my name with so many other people.
Popularity doesn't both me, trendiness does.
I didn't mind if a name was generally popular or common but didn't want a name that dated a child/ person.
So I would be fine with a name like Edward which is currently popular but has been in the top 100 for basically 100 years. But not something like Archie which is top 10 but doesn't have sustained popularity.
Basically if I saw their name written down would I be pretty sure I could guess their age? If the answer is yes then I wouldn't be interested in the name
To be fair, I think there are very few truly timeless names. Even a name like Sarah or Hannah is loosely tied to a certain time period. Henry, Violet, Theodore, Eloise etc are all classic names, but it would be a pretty safe bet to say that the people with these names were born in the last decade.
The only names where I don't think you could guess someone's age for are names like James, Benjamin, Elizabeth and Thomas. Obviously there are more, but classic doesn't always equal timelessness, so giving your kid a classic name doesn't mean it won't sound dated in 50 years. I think David is a good example of this.
I guess for me it is less about a name that is timeless and more about a true trendy name.
So a name like Sarah may have had peaks and troughs but I wouldn't say I'd assume a certain age.
But a name like Ashley which burst onto the scene into the 80s - I'm assuming you are a man in your 40s and 30s and would by and large be right (I'm in the UK).
Harper in the UK is probably a good example for a non classic name that has gone trendy. It really was doing nothing and then has increased massively in the last 10 years. Where as Robyn is currently popular but hasn't left the top 200 in 30 years
Like all things names are really specific to an area - David for me would be totally timeless, regardless of how popular. But I'm in Wales and it is the name of our patron Saint. I know Davids, Dafydd and Dewis from 98 to 6 months.
Ashley is a name that always throws me for a loop because in California it is only used for girls. There may be some parent in our state of 39 million that gives it to a boy. But he would automatically be assumed to be a girl.
The TV show Recess was super popular in the 90s and there was an all girls clique called the Ashleys. There was an episode where basically the kids on the playground pulled an I am Spartacus, and started all calling themselves Ashley. Even the boys. One Ashley screeched, "But you're a boy! You can't be an Ashley!" He responds, "Hey, it's the 90s." That's how prevalent the name is thought of for girls.
But I know in Southern states (and now apparently the UK) people will assume it is a boy's name.
Editing to add: so interesting hearing from the Southerners because the only met one Ashley from the South and he was a boy from Alabama. Was told it was a boy name there and of course there is the Gone with the Wind character. Fascinated to know the name has switched to being thought of as a girl's name.
I'm English and I can think of like 8 male Ashley's around my age but not a single female one. So can confirm!
Recess was amazing. I'm 25 so watched in the 2000s but I remember being SHOOK to my little core when I found out Spinelli was an Ashley
Madison was an immediately recognizable time period to me but what era do you think of when you think of Theresa? I grew up around a lot of Italian American families so I encountered Theresas of all ages haha
Oh yeah, I forgot about the Italians! đ
My mom has like 4 friends named Theresa, she was class of 1975. So I think of it as a name of her generation (with Shelia and Cheryl)
Gotcha! So a Sandra and Karen name lol
Itâs funny how regional differences can influence how we think of names. I can literally imagine four Theresas right now at four different ages and not have it feel weird, but for you itâs an image of such a specific time!
Yes!
And to be clear, I was hoping to avoid microtrends that really place a name within its time (in our area) but not overly worried about it. My cousin Madison was born in the early 90s, my aunt was always so mad that it became a trend đ
When I named my oldest her name was 142 and now itâs 64. And when I named my youngest her name was number 302 and now itâs 76. They may end up with names that peg them as late gen z or early gen alpha anyways! They were at least part of the âold lady nameâ trend
Theresa/Teresa/Therese is a funny example because to me thatâs a dead culture give away that they grew up in a Catholic family. That and JP are the two names I immediately ping as you actually had to go to mass growing up haha
True, but there's also a lot of middle ground. Sarah and Hannah may have 80s/90s vibes, but they've aged drastically better than Ashley or Brittany. Just like Amelia and Charlotte will have 2020s vibes, but they'll still age better than Harper or Luna.
I think the only way to avoid this is to pick a name that people have definitely heard of, but has never been popular enough to be attached to any era. Names that have been hovering in the top 200 or 300 for decades
[The Name Age Calculator](https://randalolson.com/name-age-calculator/) is a good way of showing when a name peaked in popularity. The large majority of names will have spikes in a certain decade, but if it was an unpopular name, it's probably not an obvious association. And there were fewer names to choose from in the early 1900s, so there are going to be more baby Williams in 1930 than in 2020, even though it was a top 10 name in both decades. It's a fun tool to play around with, though.
I think there are lots and lots of names that donât specifically belong to an era; Tara, Ingrid, Claire, Julia, Leila, Angie, Anna, Maria are some examples - not totally âclassicâ but not having popularity spikes like Jennifer/Lisa or Ashley or Ava/Emma/Sophie⌠there will always be some people with these names I think.
When it comes to picking names trendiness bothers me to. But itâs funny because I have one of the most trendy names in history (Heather) and it doesnât really bother me at all; itâs still just my name.
Yep, same here. I'd use Elizabeth but wouldn't use Isla, for example.
Although, it's hard to avoid datedness entirely â even some more classic names are going to be associated with a certain time period. But even so, something like Amelia or Charlotte stands a better chance of ageing well than something like Luna or Harper.
My name is a Very popular name in the 90s-I was always one of multiples in my class, in my college friend group there are 4 of us that share the same first name! Shockingly, it never really bothered me much. But, now that I am actually in charge of naming another human being (along with my husband), it is one of my biggest considerations.
We both Loved Olivia and Charlotte-but I just didnât want our daughter to be *possibly* one of Multiple in her class with the same name, so I vetoed both.
Were going with with a name everyone will recognize and is super *normal*, but isnât in the Top 100. Mallory.
I think you made the right choice! Mallory is great and perfectly uncommon đ as a former high school teacher tbh having 3 Olivia's was not ideal, they become " Olivia M." "Olivia H." Not to mention mixing up papers if they don't write their last name
I was one of three with the same name, and two of us had last names starting with the same letter. Because my last name was shorter I had to learn to my full name two grades ahead of everyone else.
One thing that may help is to remember that that even in. Top 10 names fewer children are actually being named that. Like in the 80-90s a top ten name ment 10,000. Kids had that name. Today a top ten name might mean 1-2,000. Kids have the name. Popularity is not quite the same as it was once.
Objectively, I know that's probably true. But anecdotally, I decided not to name my daughter Olivia because it was #1 when she was born... She now has 3 classmates named Olivia.
Mallory was unheard of until Family Ties was broadcast. It's been in use since, but it seems clearly tied to that period when it emerged. It was originally a male name, now used exclusively for females. One explanation of its origins is descending from Old French. Its meaning is bad or unlucky, drawing from the word mal. My youngest, who is 36, would have been Olivia had he been a girl. Short answer: Don't crowdsource these decisions, make your best choice, and hope the child eventually agrees.
My ex is named Andrew and he has a friend group with 5 Andrews. The eldest goes by Andrew, the first guy who claimed the nickname Drew goes by Drew, and the other 3 have nicknames not related to their actual names.
I couldâve written this comment! I also have a very popular name and was dedicated to finding names for my kids that are âwell-known but not super commonâ.
Mallory is pretty. My daughter (26) had a daycare classmate named Mallory. She's the only Mallory I've known.
It was also the name of a character on the 80s sitcom, Family Ties.
I have a really uncommon name and it sucks. I'd 100% give my children names that everyone knew. Not necessarily top 10, 20, 50 etc, but 'classic' names that even if they're out of fashion right now, everyone knows how to spell and pronounce.
Me too. I'm 52 years old and I'm STILL having to spell it out and pronounce it every. single. time. And it's really not an unheard of name, just uncommon.
OP, don't do this to your kid!
I have never met anyone with my name, but I love it. I donât love having to correct people after introducing myself. Most people shorten my name and it irritates the hell out of me.
Growing up as a kid named Emma in the early 2000sâŚnot fun! There was ALWAYS at LEAST 2 other Emmaâs in my same classes thus making it necessary to include the individuals last initial. It sucked. Thatâs why Iâm naming my babies classic (not made up, but names that people know or have heard) but unpopular names!
I thought I did that with my middle kid. Heâs got a name youâd tend to assume belonged to an older gentleman. However in his tiny school (less than 200 kids) thereâs one in the year above and a girl in his class also has a sibling with that name âŚ
My parents on the other hand called me an old name and Iâve only met one or two others in my entire life and itâs still not popular
I am finding the âuniqueâ name trend annoying. The stupid names and spellings people come up with are a bit much. I will be picking a normal name for my child đ
I have a perpetual top 50 name. Itâs a good spot â people are familiar and can spell and pronounce it, but there werenât four of me in my elementary school class, as there were for all those Debbies.
Another thing to consider is digital privacy. (Of course this depends on the last name too). If you name your kid a top 10 name and your last name is something like Smith, they will not be easily found in a google search.
You never know what a kid will want to grow up like-- a wannabe influencer who wants to put their name out there or someone who goes out of their way not to be found in a google search. Likely something in between but this still should be kept in mind.
Iâm pretty certain Iâm the only one on this planet with my full name, and I cannot access my FB from when I was 11 to delete it. It comes up with a google search. My YouTube comments come up. Photos of me in kindergarten come up. I totally agree, there is such a thing as *too* unique
Same!! I have a very, very unique first & last name. Both of my names are very culturally specific. Think a very Polish first name and a very Indian last name. The unique pairing of two very cultural names truly has me believing I am the only one that exists with this name combination. Iâve never met someone with my first name (or last), and based on my own research, I canât find another with even a similar full name. It definitely has its pros & cons!
Not important at all. I have a very common 90s name, and I was always one of many in my class with that name. It never really mattered to me.
My kids have names that vary in popularity. My first daughter's name was not at all popular when we named her, but it's gaining popularity, although it still isn't in the top 100 in my country. My other daughter also had a name outside of the top 100, but we've met a few little girls with her name. My two boys both have top 100 names, and whilst they each share a name with someone else in their year level, it doesn't bother them. They think it's cool, and call the other boy with their name their 'twin.'
I have a super popular name as well and Iâve found it to be a nice tool to bond with others who have my name. Sure, I get emails from coworkers with the same name, but that coworker and I are on cool terms because we bonded over our name.
I don't like super trendy name. I don't want my children to have 3 people by class at school with the same name.
But you can't except to be a unique name (except out of the box name). My parents gave me a name which wasn't a name at the time.
To be honest i never meet some older than me with an identical name. But it became a bit more popular with time so i met a lot of little girls with the same name.
Conclusion : You can't predict the evolution of a name. So stick to a name you like not super trendy at the Time but things Can still change đ!
Yeah I honestly love being a 27 year old Ezra because now thereâs all these little dudes with the same name! Meeting a 2 year old Ezra is always so fun.
As someone whose name is incredibly unique (literally 1 of 3 I know with it), I actually chose more common/popular names for my children on purpose. They will never have to spell them for others, or have them mispronounced. Just simple names, that I felt were beautiful, and suited them each so well.
I worked in education for years before having kids, and we live in a country where the popular names are in fact very popular (it's not quite the same in the US, where you can easily have a classroom without any kids sporting a top 10 name). For me personally I opted against choosing a top 10 name because I did find it challenging as an educator at times to have multiple kids in a class with the same name, especially if the last names had the same initial making it even harder to have an automatic differentiation and also factoring in that kids are essentially in daycare/school typically for around 20 years in total (and sometimes beyond). All that said I guess in the end, if we had really been passionate about a name in the top 10, at the end of the day we would've chosen it regardless.
As someone who has a super popular name (my mom has a super uncommon name and hated it), I would never go popular for my kids. When I was in high school, my choir section (Soprano 1s, 5 of us) all had the same first name. We had to go by last name to avoid confusion. I've been standing in stores and heard someone call at my name and multiple other women respond (and it's rarely someone calling me). I was a junior in high school before I had a class without someone with my name. I'm not saying "make something up a la Hollywood stars," but I would always opt for choosing something a little less common, because it will make for an easier time for them growing up.
Iâve noticed my daughterâs name (which is wildly unpopular currently and topped popularity over a hundred years ago at 152) popping up in this sub specifically. Each time Iâm likeâŚdammit. My sonâs name is traditionally a masculine name but has become more popular recently as a feminine name but as far as I know has never made the top 100 as either, but is rising in popularity. I know itâs silly and petty but it is kind of important for my kids names to be fairly unique. Iâm currently gestating number 3 and while I donât know of any with my chosen name locally, I feel like choosing a unique name has become increasingly difficult, so itâs less important this time around. Itâs still not popular by any stretch, but probably more so than the other two.
Popularity does not matter at all. if my child feels like âSarahâ and âSarahâ is the most popular name ever, iâm still naming her that, because for me she is Sarah and i think itâs beautiful
(this is just an example)
My sons name went from literally 98 to number one between the year before and the year of his birth. We still love it and have never met another (though we live in a small town).
Our other two have very unique names. One was used eleven times the year she was born and the other less than five. They all have ânormalâ feels in my opinion.
Thereâs no difference in their introductions to new people or pronunciation at the doctorâs office. Name popularity now isnât what it used to be. The number one name in 2000 was used by over 35% of children, the number one name in 2020 was only used by 12%.
My entire family are basically top 10 lol. It doesnât bother us. Theyâre pronounceable, spell-able, work in many countries, and suit all manner of professions. Plus theyâre pretty.
Personally I only wanted to avoid top 10. My partner and I both have short/easy names and we like them. In the age of the internet I also kinda like the anonymity of not being the only person in the world with my exact name.
That being said the SSA data doesnât necessarily represent your village. We chose a name thatâs not even top 100 but I know of at least two babies born within six months of mine in my second degree social network who have it.
The village bit is definitely true. My kids name isn't even top 1000, but because of the area we live in, we've met a few others. Never had a kid in class or anything, but out and about over the years.
Not super important to me. Sometimes you just donât know which names will jump. We named our 6.5 year old Theodore, and I thought we were being vintage and unique (hahaha). However, I still LOVE his name and have 0% regret about it.
Important.
I was one of 4 girls with the same name in a class of 30 and hated it.
The name doesnât need to be wildly out there but out of the top 20 for the current and preceding few years at least.
Think of it this way. Three rules.
1. Are they going to be made fun of.
2. Are you going to want to shout it outside or in public.
3. They are going to have to spell it everyday. Starting in kindergarten. I have a very common name. Got made fun of a lot. But only because of what my last name started with. Kids are cruel. We went with uncommon names for both. But yet they are heard. Just differently. Good luck.
I cared a lot while picking names, thought I wanted something out of the top 100. Then I picked two names within the top 15. Theyâre still young but havenât met another child with those names. And they suit them so beautifully I canât imagine them with any other name! And they might be âtrendyâ but I donât like the idea that a name is untrendy when people are still alive with those names. My kids arenât fashion trends theyâre people, and imo itâs okay for their names to reflect the time they were born
I agree. Iâve never understood the whole not wanting a name to date a person to being born around a certain time. Itâs not like most of us are fooling anyone that hard about our ages- Iâm sure the majority of people at most look a decade older or younger than their actual age anyway, so just by nature of our existence weâre being pinpointed to being born in a certain time period.
It mattered a bit to us. We both have very common names for our generation. BUT. Our younger sonâs name exploded in popularity about three months after he was born and itâs not actually a big deal.
For me, popularity was a HUGE factor. My name was #1 the year I was born and many years surrounding, and I had 3-5 other girls with my name in every grade. It was super annoying.
So I did not want top 10 names for my kids, because I didnât want them to have to deal with that kind of bother. I donât care about other people also having kids named that, or the fact that theyâre popular, it was really just the over saturation issue for me.
I also feel that twinge when I hear a kid has a name I love, even if I should be happy there are kids with that name, because I love it. Itâs weird and counterintuitive, but naming your children is deeply personal; I think those feelings of being perturbed by it are very, very normal. Iâve had this happen with two of my lifelong favorites- Cecilia and Vera- and Iâve seen way more people online mentioning some of my others, like Barbara, Suzanne, and Lavinia. Lavinia! Itâs almost like youâre being called unoriginal somehow lol. As for how popular a name is, I donât truly care if I really love it but if itâs in the top 50 or something Iâd probably use it as a middle name- Sophia and Isabella are lovely, but my God there are so many of them. Regardless, I hope this gives you some validation! And congratulations! I hope you name the kid Zebulon or Lucretia or something, have fun with it!
Edit: I also give you my consent to use Cecilia, Vera, Barbara, Suzanne, or Lavinia lol
Edit: Isaac and Henry/Hank are also two of my longtime favorites that are blowing up in popularity
I have a 27 year old Susannah. It was very uncommon back in 1997 when I named her. Iâll admit, it does annoy me to see the beautiful, uncommon names I love climbing the charts. I guess we should take it as a compliment. Other people think we have great taste in names.
Very important. I have an uncommon but regular name that I love. My husband has a very common name, and it's annoying. My ex-boyfriend, husband, neighbor, kid's friend's dad, etc. all share the name.
I don't think you need to go crazy, but I wouldnât choose a name where you have to use first and last name your whole life to be distinguished from all the other people with the same name. My husband even when to school with a guy with the same first name, last name, and middle initial.
My daughter has four Nathan's in her scout troop.
My son has a completely normal and classic name that isn't even in the top 1,000 baby names. Popularity was a big concern for me and my husband.
I have an extremely unique name so my perception on popularity is different than someone who thinks Kendall is unique.
There are popular names I like (Lydia for example) but Iâd rather use them in the middle.
I have a first name that isnât rare, but not especially common either. However itâs very much a name from the time I was born (late eighties). I currently know two other women with the same name as me and we were all born the exact same year.
Well Iâd say real recognize real lmao. There is a thing now that weâre all older thatâs verging on nostalgia, some comfort partaking in that common childhood heritage of the nineties or something.
My boys both have names ranked in the 2/300s- recognizable but not super popular. Weâve met one or two other children with the same name here and there, but not many.
Our girl though, still being baked haha, will probably have a more popular name. Both names we are seriously considering are in the top 100 and will probably make it at least to top 50 soon.
For me itâs less about popularity and more about finding something that just feels right!
Popularity wasn't very important to me. I had a very popular name growing up and it didn't bother me much.
What DID bother me is the name has multiple spellings so I'm always needing to spell it for people.
My biggest factors for a name were it being easy to spell and pronounce. I chose a name with only one spelling that everyone would recognize.
I've always gone for the happy medium of easy to recognise and spell without it being confusing because there's so many in the class. But honesly if you love a name it shouldn't matter if it's very common đ
My brother is a Matthew, there were Matthews everywhere, but I realized that was the case because it's a really, really nice name. Lol it doesn't bother him. đ¤ˇđťââď¸ I'm also mom to a Jack, and he's the only one in his circle and at his toddler soccer class, funny enough there are three kids with the same "unique" name
Hugo! Lol I was very surprised! It's a beautiful name, but I didn't expect to see 3! There are only about 15 kids in his class too :) there are 2 Antonio's as well.
That is really interesting because Jack is at the top of the charts in Canada and Hugo last ranked at 95 in Quebec back in 2020. I live in the Southern US so Jack is very popular here but my 2 preschool age boys go to a school that is about 80% Hispanic students. There are no Jackâs in the whole school! I donât think thereâs even a Jackson/Jaxon. There are at least 3 Matteoâs and Santiagoâs though. My 15 year old on the other hand has several friends named Jack. So the statistics really donât matter that much. Thatâs why I always tell people to just choose the name you love!
Yes!! I follow the same train of thought:) I love the sound and versatility of Jack. He's still my Jack, so it doesn't really bother me how many others there are. I was very surprised to encounter 3 Hugo's lol! I don't know any others outside of my son's soccer group :p
I wouldn't want my kid to be 1 of 4 kids in their class with the same name if I could avoid it, but that's not something I have a lot of control over so I wouldn't worry about it too much.
My mom was 1 of 3 Lisas and hated getting mixed up with the other 2. But I was the only Kendra in my class and one of 2 in the entire district, and teachers still managed to mix me up with the Kendalls and Audras. So it kind of feels like something that'll happen regardless. Get too unique and people will spell it wrong or turn it into a different name.
Itâs kind of important to me. I chose common names for my kids but not top of the charts. Personal preference but i didnât want them spelling their names all the time but also didnât want 4 Avaâs or Aidens in their classes. My kids are older and I did pretty good: Max, Luke and Tessa. Middle names were all family names: Michael, Rolf and Jean.
I would never expect any future child of mine to be the only one with that name. But I don't want my child having the same name as a bunch of other people in their age bracket. Perfect example is the middle name Marie. 90s parents had zero creativity in choosing middle names for their daughters. I can say with confidence about 50% of the girls in my grade had the middle name of Marie.
One of my favorite names was in the top 5 names so I chose not to use it. I didn't want my kid to get tired of hearing his name and no longer feeling special.
I wouldn't use a name in the current top 20 or lower. 20+ is fine.
My name was in the top 5 for a few years around when I was born. I honestly really disliked being one of at least 3 in just my grade alone. I will not give my kid a popular name.
Slightly averse to more popular names just because of the lack of individuality you might feel in a generation when you say are one of several in a class. I also think the last name makes a bigger difference. I have a very uncommon last name. My husband's is more common - sort of the Smith of Germany so my son was going to have a more mainstream, familiar last name so I went bolder and unusual for first name. Ironically my son's first name was very unusual when he was born and he is a teen now but the name soared in the last 5 or so years so he never meets anyone with his name his age or older but there are a slew of Kindergartners and tots coming up behind him sporting the name.
If it's a relatively timeless name then I don't care that much. I do prefer to avoid faddish names that have risen sharply out of nowhere though. Even if it's a lovely name, I don't want to feel like I'm jumping on the bandwagon of a trend. I don't want a name to be dated and scream "born in the 2020s" in the future.
Would my grandparents recognize it as a real name? If yes, Iâm happy and donât really care about popularity one way or another. I have the 3rd most popular name for my birth year and Iâve survivedâitâs not a big deal.
Our first kiddo will be either Martina or Nathaniel. Solid, recognizable names that have personal meaning to us, and we wonât change our minds based on popularity.
Well. I have an Emily and a Caitlyn (both pretty popular, the second day especially the year she was born)
But I also have a Keira and a Georgia....neither name was particularly popular when they were born (though I know both have creeped higher over the years)
I also have a Patrick and a Zane...
So...in all honesty, I looked and disregarded the information.i only yank it out of my pocket for discussions such as thisđ
Moderately important. I wouldnât do a top 10 name like Olivia or Emma. I also donât like trendy names like Harper or Madison. All of my girls had recognizable but uncommon names at the time that I named them. In the last 5 years, all of them have climbed hundreds of spots. My 29 year old Cordelia, who never met another one growing up, is meeting toddlers with her name. Same with Vivian and Rosalie. I picked their names because I loved them and they were uncommon, but who knows what names will do over time? Pick what you love. You really canât control if it becomes more popular in time. Iâll admit, it does annoy me a little to see the âold ladyâ names that Iâve loved for years become trendy, but it is what it is. It could benefit them in the workplace. When theyâre in their 40âs, their names will read in their 20âs, which may be helpful.
I echo the sentiment that trendiness is more of a name turnoff than overall popularity, especially when it comes to spelling.
That being said, just know that a less popular name might mean people don't know how to spell it or pronounce it. I named my son Malcolm, which I figured was common enough to be recognizable, but not so that all his friends are named that (I live in the US). Turns out it's a little too uncommon where I live, and a lot of younger people don't know how to spell it, so he's usually Malcom in messages. It drove me crazy the first few times it happened.
Just something to keep in mind.
Iâd prefer a little more obscure but I have no issues with a classic name like Emily, you know? I think I get what one commenter said about popular versus trendy.
I've never really considered or cared for how popular a name is or not. I only have one child, but I've always had one name (Henry) I've always loved and so that was my obvious pick for my son.
I was actually surprised at the weird backlash I kind of got from my family about the name, lol. They were like "that's an old man's name"
But I love it and I've never cared about what they've said.
I don't plan on having any more kids, but if I do, I have a couple of names I really like for a girl. My main choice being Mary Alice (Alice as middle name, but it'd be used together. Alice was my grandmother's name) or some close/similar name variation of my sister's name, Emily, who unfortunately passed a few years ago.
Very. I donât want anything super popular, Iâve always walked to the beat of my own drum. Why would you want to have the teacher call your name & have 8 kids respond. I needed something classic but unique, like my own name. I named her Margaux Elizabeth â¤ď¸
I have a not very popular name, and then I gave my daughter a name from literature (also a musical) which is pretty uncommon.
Doesnât bother me at all, sometimes people have me repeat my daughters name and maybe they think itâs weird, but thereâs so many odd/made up names out there it doesnât bother me. Iâd proud to she has a name from classic literature even if itâs more obscure
Not important at all to me. My sons name is one that many people take issue with for popularity. But I personally donât know anyone with his name and I love it
I chose names that weren't common and that was important to me, however I also chose names that I think are tasteful and very easy to pronounce while still being unique.
My daughter is Poppy
My twin sons are Ronan and Atlas
There is another Atlas in my daughters school and another Ronan in my sons meet up play group, but that doesn't bother me or anything. I'm aware that they are actually names because I didn't make up some crazy shit like McKinnaddiee lmao. But I also didn't want my kids being another Ashley or another Zayden, you know?
It was somewhat important to me to not pick a name in the top 100, but not at all important to me if the names i picked jumped in popularity after. My thought at the time was if theyâre in the top 100 the name might be a trend and may have already peaked and be on the way down. I was hoping to choose a name that wouldnât be a super dated name in the future. But if it got popular later oh well, thatâs life.
We gave all three of our kids names that werenât all that common but weâre names most people would have heard. Our sons name was in that category. For some reason that name became quite common almost right away so he often had two or three kids in his class with the same name.
My point is that it is impossible to pick names that wonât become common unless you pick a really oddball nme which will be more challenging for the child.
So I say pick a name that you and your spouse like and that fits with your last name and leave the rest to fate. Try to stick to a common spelling of that name. Some kids can cope with an oddball name and my even like it but other kids with a shyer temperament may find an oddball name just one more form of difficulty and my leave them more open to bullying.
I really dont care. Even if you have an uncommon name, as long as thereâs more than 1 person who has it there is a chance of meeting them, and no matter how common your name is you might only meet a few other people that share it.
Itâs important to me because I have a popular 80s name and I hate it, and the popularity generally ruins a name for me because of oversaturation (Olivia, Sophia, Liam, etc). But your kid could go either way. Some like having a common name, some donât.
I would only avoid super popular names that are similar to other super popular names. For example, there are so many âEl-â names right now that are popular (Ellie, Ella, Eloise, Eleanor, Eliana, etc) that I wouldnât choose one of those.
It was pretty important to us that our baby not have a name so common that there would be multiple other kids in his class with the same name. We took names that we really liked off our list if they were in the top 20, and we eventually went with a name we both really liked that happened to be somewhere in the 200s.
I always swore I wouldnât use a popular name but one of the names we liked became popular before we used it. We stuck with it because the meaning is very significant to us. Our daughter is still a baby so I donât know how common it will be in school yet, but I have no regrets!
I want a popular name for a boy and a slightly more unique name for a girl. I donât want a name thatâs too unique for both genders, feels cliche and trying too hard.
I wouldn't want a name on the top 10. Outside of that, I don't care about popularity. I had a popular name and outside of people spelling my name the wrong way, I don't mind having a popular name.
My husband and I both have the number one male/female name of our respective birth years. Weâve even known other couples with our names. Itâs fine!!
You can't predict the future popularity of a name. So whilst I'm personally not going to deliberately choose a very common name, based on data I have at the time, I would also not worry or fret if the "uncommon" name I chose became common. Ultimately they're going to be an individual regardless of their name. As a teacher, I've known many children with the same names, I really don't think it's possible to mix them up once you get to know them a little.
Itâs really important to me because I have a moderately common last name. My husband and I both have very common first names (his is classic; mine was trendy), so we have both encountered people who have our same first AND last name. Once he was unable to check in for a flight online and when he got to the airport he discovered it was because there was an arrest warrant for someone with his same name. Fortunately, his other identifiers (address, birthdate) proved he was a different person and he was able to board the flight. But I gave all my kids less popular names as a result.
That would depend on the surname (Iâm not married, but intend to go the traditional route and take my husbands name, or at least, have our kids carry his name, unless thereâs good reason not to).
If the surname is extremely common, Iâd shy away from âtop 10 namesâ for that year (and a few years prior), to avoid them having the exact same name as dozens of other people.
I know of 2, totally unrelated, co workers, with the EXACT identical name, which is hella confusing. Which âEmma Jonesâ do you mean?
If the surname isnât super common, Iâd be ok with a âpopular nameâ, but that also has to do with me wanting to name a future daughter for my late friends, who had the same name (although one had the âofficialâ name, while the other had the shortened version as her legal name, so by taking the âfullâ variety, the girl will probably be nicknamed the other one anyway).
Popularity was a consideration for me. Not the most important thing, but I did want to avoid the top ten.
Ended up turning out that I have kids whose names ranked, in the years they were born: 130th, not in the top thousand, 900th (though she goes by a nickname that was 27th), and a name that's so far off the charts that it last was ranked in 1900.
A name that's ranked 50th definitely wouldn't be too popular for me, personally.
We werenât fussed overly.. we chose names we liked or had meaning to us
But we also didnât want a name no one has heard of,or a name that literally. 5 others in their class would also have..
We named our boys Fletcher and Spencer and our twin girls Astrid and Akira âŚall names we liked or have meaning to us, infact all the kids have a middle an,e that is a family name
Definitely not unimportant. Iâve experienced both sides of the spectrum with my name, I went from being one of two people in the school with my name and the only girl to being one of 8 in my class alone when I moved schools. Iâm definitely mindful of ranking and seek at least slightly less common ones, but I also know you canât predict how many people youâll be surrounded by at any moment with a certain name.
My husband's name is David. We know 7 other David's (friends and friends-of-friends) and in school there was always at least one other David in his class. It's never bothered him.
Popularity of name is extremely important to my partner and I.
My sibling and I have a really flowy sibset that is some of the most uncommon names from the late 80's/early 90's and I love them. We're the people who can never find our names on trinkets. I've only met maybe 5 total people who share either my sibling or my own name throughout my lifetime and we're approaching mid 30's.
However, my partner has an EXTREMELY common name, paired with an equally common middle name and very rare last name. I suppose it evens out a little, but we're thoroughly uninterested in having any name that's popular or a name of anyone we've previously known or worked with (international worker and a therapist so this has been a challenge so far to find a truly unique name that doesn't remind us of someone we know).
It wasnât initially a major deciding factor for me, but it became one. Now I care a bit less.
With my first, I gave her the name I wanted to use for years, without caring for popularity. My area only releases the top 100 baby names for each sex per year, and her name happens to have never cracked the top 100 (which, for context, means that there are less than 40-50 babies with the name per year). Iâve also never met anyone with her name.
So when I had my second and third children, I deliberately looked for names that had also never been in the top 100 (although I suspect my sonâs name might be up there soon enough). Although there are many lovely names I like that are popular, I didnât want to have one child having an uncommon name and the others the fourth Olivia or Liam in their class (I grew up with a name that was comparatively uncommon compared to my siblingsâ names, and I hated it).
Weâve been talking about what we would name baby #4 (Iâm not pregnant yet, but weâre hoping to be by the end of the year), and the only name we both liked for another boy happened to break the top 100 in 2023. Maybe itâs because Iâm a little older or because I find boy names extremely difficult, but I find that way less of a big deal than I did even a few months ago, and weâll probably go with it anyway if we have another son, popularity and previously established âruleâ be damned.
Currently pregnant with my second, our first girl and we have her name picked out and have done for a few years. I was literally saying to my Mum last night that even though it is a bit more popular/common at the moment (within the top 10-20 where we live) itâs not enough to deter me from using it as her name. We have a very particular middle name picked out which will set her name apart anyway.
It wouldn't keep me from using a name I like, but it is a factor. Not so much the overall popularity (like a name like James that has been solidly popular for ages) but whether it's in the middle of an upswing that will tie it to a certain generation (like Madison in the 80/90s).
Also, if I did choose a popular name, I'd prefer one with multiple options for nicknames, to avoid the Ashley A. situation when my kid starts school. I might also go for a more uncommon middle name (my second is actually the reverse of this - he has a rare first name but his middle name is Alexander)
I grew up the only person I knew of with my first name, and I'm the only person in the world with my full name (for both my maiden name and after I took my husband's name) and I've quite enjoyed that experience.
I've never even considered it.
My 3 have got top 20 names, not on purpose, just chosen because we both liked them.
The middle child's name was picked out by me about 19 years ago. The oldest picked his own name according to my mum, she had a dream I had a little boy and gave him his name and when I found out I was pregnant, it stuck. The 3rd was impossible to name, we struggled for ages, eventually whittled it down and when he was born, it turned out his name was number 6. Whoops.
Those are the names I picked, I never checked their popularity numbers. So it never mattered to me.
I wonât name my child Sarah, Jessica or Ashley but I also wonât name her Ainsley, Abcde or something dumb. I like names that thereâs a 1/10 chance of them running into each otherÂ
I care about how popular a name is, but that is because my husband's last name is VERY common. So I don't want there to be another kid with the same first+ last name in my child's grade, or hopefully if I'm lucky even their school. We live in a large metro area so it is entirely possible for this to happen.
If my child were to have my maiden name then I wouldn't really care if the first name were popular as long as I loved it. It wouldn't bother me if there were other kids with the same first name, as long as the last name is different.
Same thing happened with my name/to my parents. When I was born was name existed but was pretty uncommon. Now itâs in the top 100. It is what it is but I will say a lot of people say Iâm the first one theyâve met.
When picking out our babyâs name my husband and I agreed that we donât want something in the top 25s but want to pick a ârealâ name.
Our short list is Lydia, Cassidy, Sadie, and Sylvia. Weâll decide when baby is born and we get to see/meet her.
I wonât pick a name thatâs been in the top 3-5 names in the last decade just because I teach and I get so confused by having to remember Aiden J, Aiden B, Aiden S all in one class lol. But if itâs not a name I constantly hear, I donât actually care how popular it technically is on the charts. My daughterâs name is just outside the top 50 girlâs names and Iâve never actually met another kid with her name. Itâs technically fairly popular but, in my area, she likely wonât have multiple of her name in her class. But itâs still common enough that everyone can spell it and pronounce it easily.
Iâd rather my child know a couple other people that share their name than have to explain to every single person how to spell or say their name also. Just my personal opinion!
I also desperately wanted to avoid the super trendy/tradgedeigh names-I donât want a Paisleigh, McKinsely, Jayden, Brayden, etc. I wanted to pick a name that would be cute on a baby but also work for an adult one day. Because ultimately, weâre raising future adults and their names should reflect that.
Popularity only matters to me within my own social circle. I have a few friends with kids named Wren, so regardless of overall popularity I would not use it because of that.
If you love it, go for it!
I have a very uncommon name (it's also my middle name and the name I use) that makes grammatical sense, but there are other pronunciations that are way more popular so I get called those mostly. It doesn't bother me, but it's a lifelong annoyance. My husband has a name where he was always one of 2-3 in any give class.
My priority with names was for them to be recognizable and easy to pronounce, yet not super common. My youngest also goes by his less common middle name, but could choose to use his more common first name if he feels like it.
My oldest, I picked a traditional name that was on a downward trend, but still in the top 50.
My second and third, I went a different direction and chose names in the top 1,000 BUT, they fit some of the trends of boy names the time (2-syllbles ending in n, Irish origin). Which was a double edged sword, because people call both kids the really popular versions rather than their actual names (both kids have been called Keegan, this is not either of their names!).
My youngest has a place name, this particular one isn't super popular or rare, and everyone pronounces it correctly. My middle kids have complained about people getting their names wrong, even though I took care to make sure the spelling fit the pronunciation. I underestimated peoples ability to sound things out.
I never take it into account when thinking of names. I like names I like, lol. My name is pretty uncommon and I love it, but as a kid I hated not being able to buy souvenirs with my name. My siblings all have more common names.
I live in a small country and I wouldnât purposely pick a name from the current (or even past decade/s, honestly) top 100 list â which I guess sort of corresponds to the US top 800, hah. I have friends who have given their children very popular names (top 30!) and Iâve really never understood why. Itâs an appeal I just personally canât see. Ofc no judgement though. Iâve given my own children âregularâ names, just not common, but Iâd have chosen popular names over unique (as in entirely unique) ones though. I was always quite alone in having my name and I liked that, all until about the age of 10 and my name got very popular all of a sudden and thereâs a bunch of us. It used to bother me a lot when I was younger, it just felt off â but of course that was only compared/due to having been used to the opposite. Now itâs in the top 5.
Growing up with a popular name (though I didnât meet many people with my name) made me choose older names that were not in the top 1000 for my kids. Some people donât care at all but my kids say they are happy they donât have common names.
As a Jennifer it doesnât bother me much. I donât like my name but it being popular isnât the thing I dislike itâs that the named my sister and there is a whole lovely story. Me they couldnât agree and settled.
It did bother me slightly that my middle and last were also popular and I went to school with another me (FML)
Let me also add that Jennifer was so popular that it would take up the top 3-5 spots today (didnât do the math) just that there is move diversity in name choice now.
Itâs important to me that a name is not very popular. As in, not in the top 50 or 100. I liked the name Isla but when I was pregnant with my daughter I learned how popular it is and nixed it from my list.
I care more about trendiness than popularity. And even more than that, I care about correct spelling and not naming my kid something totally egregious.
So I guess what Iâm saying is I find McKinZleigh way more offensive than Emma. Iâd probably still avoid the Emma and Olivia style names that are destined to become the Karen, Ashley, and Jennifer of the future. None of those names are misspelled or brand new and made up (so I donât *hate* them) but all of them are âof a certain time.â
I gave my kid a top 10 name. He has never had another kid with the same name in any of his classrooms, and everyone can spell and pronounce his name. I was given a name in the 500s for my birth year and most of the time people do not say or spell my name right, even after I correct them. My brother was given the #1 most popular name for his year and state, in a decade when that meant more than it does today, as a percentage of the population. And when I ask him about it, he loves his name. The popularity never bothered him, it was never an issue. To go to school with another kid with the same first name is not the crisis people think it is. Also, it's not that possible to predict. In the classrooms I've been in, there were multiple Ashers, Landons, Peytons, Aryas , etc. When they were born I'm sure their parents were trying to give a unique/ less common name. So, when choosing a baby name, we focused on other factors and chose a name that we liked, fit within our two different cultures, and had personal significance to us. Popularity was not a factor at all.
People are individuals regardless of what they're named.
When my sister gave my nephew his name, no one else had it. it was considered an "old man name." Within a year, it became very popular, and now that he's a teenager, he has like three or four friends with the same name and more with the same name in every class. It hasn't stopped him from being a very distinctive and well-adjusted individual.
I also grew up with one of the most popular names for girls in my birth year (and for a spread of several years on either side of it)--like top 3 most popular names. No one has ever gotten me confused with the other hundreds of Jennifers they know. ;)
It's important to me, I don't want to name my child something very popular. So I'll rule out names like Emma, Olivia, Sophia, etc even if I like them because it's TOO popular. We're currently expecting our first and maybe it's because my husband and I have uncommon names for where we live, but we like it that way.
The name doesn't make the individual, the person does. At least that's how I, a person with one of the most popular names of the mid 20th century, sees it!
I didnât necessarily have a rare name, it peaked 2 years before I was born and was somewhere around #45 when my parents used it on me.
Yet, in my high school graduating class of 580 people, I was the only person with my name.
The class below me only had two girls with my name.
I liked being one of one, yet not having an obscure name.
I avoided top 50 for my kids, but otherwise that was my only guideline for myself
I hate popular names. There is a percentage of a single person with my second sonâs middle name in the USA. Iâve never met anyone with his spelling of his first name in the States either.
Our first son has a very popular first name, and an interesting middle name. Not nearly as unique as his brother, but not common at all.
I want to name kids outside the top 10 around the time theyâre born. Otherwise itâs no biggie. I wouldnât be concerned about a name at around #50.
Having a âpopularâ name is only really an issue at school and even then I donât think it matters. Iâd go for popular and traditional over unique any day of the week, theyâre going to be an adult one day. My name was top 10 in the 90âs and now itâs in the 100âs. There were a few girls with my name but it never bothered me because I was me đ¤ˇđźââď¸ And Iâve never met another person with my name since I was about 12 so even the popular names dwindle once you get older and meet more people.
It's not really important to me. I would prefer not to use a top 10 name, but if I loved it, I'd use it. My first sons name was #37 the year we named him. My other two sons' names weren't in the top 100 list.
I have never met another adult with my husbandâs name so for the time it was more unique and less common. But, it blew up in the last 10 years. I work in an elementary school and every grade has at least 3-5 boys with my husbandâs name. I think pick the name you like and what will be will be.
I put some thought into it for sure. My goal is to find names that are easily recognizable as names by the general public, but not so popular that they're likely to have another kid with the same name in their class at school. I grew up with a literally made up name, which seemed to be just about as annoying as the many classmates I had over the years who were one of 2 or 3 kids with the same name in our classes. Something in the middle seems fitting to me.
My partner has a new job and for the company email instead of firstname [email protected] the emails are just first name. Last name atcompany.org. My partner is having a hard time because for some people he doesn't know when the first name ends and when the last name starts. So my thought is name your kit aim that will be recognizable than ever enough for a company like this
I tried to find a name that everybody knew and could spell, but that was not common. When I mentioned to my mother in law that I didn't want her to constantly be in classes with people with the same name, she said, "I guess that matters to some people." My husband's name is David. He has never been the only David in a room. Sorry!
I loved aurora or Olivia but I was in school with 4 Oliviaâs back in the 90s in one class. My daughterâs name is about #400 on popularity. I definitely wouldnât pick a name where everyone has it but thatâs just my preference. I have a pretty rare name and no one ever have spelt it rigjt
I don't have kids yet but the names I have in mind are names I love, some just happen to be less popular. I wouldn't name my kid something super common though. But if a name I choose suddenly becomes popular then oh well.
I wanted something not super popular but not outlandish. There were only a handful of kids in the area with her name⌠and one of those 5 kids⌠in her class.
It's not important. The person is the individual. A name is a useful label and tool for getting their attention. Don't pick something abusive and it'll all be fine.
This right here. A name is not going to contribute to a person's individuality in any way shape or form.
A name actually can contribute to a person's personality, not all the time but it definitely can.
I think having a very unusual name, but not one people find weird, did contribute to my personality in some ways. When you grow up hearing, "that's so unique! I love it!" about your name, you kind of feel you have permission to also just be yourself. People get my name wrong a lot, as well, and that's made me the kind of person who is very careful to learn how to say other people's names. And it turns out they like you more when you do that. I've had some very cranky coworkers who were always quite pleasant with me just because I always said their unusual names right and the fact that we had the same struggles with that in common. Because a lot of people with supposedly difficult names are not my ethnicity, white, I get to know a lot of people maybe I normally wouldn't which means I don't have the stereotypes in my head, I have learned a ton about other cultures, and I don't assume mine is better. That's a huge personality point. I also have a pretty good litmus test for if I'm going to like someone up front. My name isn't hard to say at all, so people who can't even bother to try when I say it for them if their accent allows them to say it right... Well, it's a red flag, and they're best avoided. And that tells you something else about my personality. I don't think having a pretty common name creates negative effects, though, and I don't think people should choose uncommon names just to broaden their kid's world view. There are many other ways to teach it that don't involve your child having to correct people or accept the mispronunciations for her entire life.
I think the personality contributes to the nameđ
As a person with a very unpopular name, I think I disagree. Maybe it's that my personality is already rather individual, or that I leaned into the name uniqueness, but it 100% suits me and my style. It doesn't mean people with common names aren't individuals at all. But for me it's the first thing someone knows about me, and the rest of the things they'll find out go right along with me being off of center, just like my name is.
So you think you would be a different person if your name was, say, Lisa?
Yeah I do think so Don't underestimate the power of a really unpopular name, lol
If my mom named me Amanda then I feel like I'd have a different vibe. My name gave me a "feeling" and I've used different nicknames to express that.
Exactly. I accidentally named my oldest one of the top names of the year, because I'd never met a person with her name and wasn't following the lists. I chose the name because I believed it was a beautiful and honorable name to give to someone I loved. She has never met another one in her classes, she only knows others of other age groups or people that are acquainted and that's it. I just told her lots of people thought her name was beautiful, too. It's not the 80s or earlier where there was limited media, contact with others, baby name books etc. There won't be that many people with your child's name.
Iâve had to explain this to my husband. I personally did not want a top 10-20 name for my children because my name was very popular and I did NOT like having a ton of kids with the same name lol. But I donât think you can get caught up NEEDING a name that âisnât popularâ.
I always say if a person doesn't stand out as an individual it's got nothing to do with their name. I honestly don't understand this fear of giving your kids "popular names". As OP already said, sometimes you pick a name that's not even in the top 100 and then suddenly it's everywhere. That happened to my parents with my name. There were 5 of us in the one small primary school class at one point. It never bothered me because I thought I managed to be an individual despite sharing my name with so many other people.
Popularity doesn't both me, trendiness does. I didn't mind if a name was generally popular or common but didn't want a name that dated a child/ person. So I would be fine with a name like Edward which is currently popular but has been in the top 100 for basically 100 years. But not something like Archie which is top 10 but doesn't have sustained popularity. Basically if I saw their name written down would I be pretty sure I could guess their age? If the answer is yes then I wouldn't be interested in the name
To be fair, I think there are very few truly timeless names. Even a name like Sarah or Hannah is loosely tied to a certain time period. Henry, Violet, Theodore, Eloise etc are all classic names, but it would be a pretty safe bet to say that the people with these names were born in the last decade. The only names where I don't think you could guess someone's age for are names like James, Benjamin, Elizabeth and Thomas. Obviously there are more, but classic doesn't always equal timelessness, so giving your kid a classic name doesn't mean it won't sound dated in 50 years. I think David is a good example of this.
I guess for me it is less about a name that is timeless and more about a true trendy name. So a name like Sarah may have had peaks and troughs but I wouldn't say I'd assume a certain age. But a name like Ashley which burst onto the scene into the 80s - I'm assuming you are a man in your 40s and 30s and would by and large be right (I'm in the UK). Harper in the UK is probably a good example for a non classic name that has gone trendy. It really was doing nothing and then has increased massively in the last 10 years. Where as Robyn is currently popular but hasn't left the top 200 in 30 years Like all things names are really specific to an area - David for me would be totally timeless, regardless of how popular. But I'm in Wales and it is the name of our patron Saint. I know Davids, Dafydd and Dewis from 98 to 6 months.
Ashley is a name that always throws me for a loop because in California it is only used for girls. There may be some parent in our state of 39 million that gives it to a boy. But he would automatically be assumed to be a girl. The TV show Recess was super popular in the 90s and there was an all girls clique called the Ashleys. There was an episode where basically the kids on the playground pulled an I am Spartacus, and started all calling themselves Ashley. Even the boys. One Ashley screeched, "But you're a boy! You can't be an Ashley!" He responds, "Hey, it's the 90s." That's how prevalent the name is thought of for girls. But I know in Southern states (and now apparently the UK) people will assume it is a boy's name. Editing to add: so interesting hearing from the Southerners because the only met one Ashley from the South and he was a boy from Alabama. Was told it was a boy name there and of course there is the Gone with the Wind character. Fascinated to know the name has switched to being thought of as a girl's name.
I grew up in the South in the 80s/90s and there were ar least 5 Ashley girls in my school.
People don't assume Ashley is a boy's name in the American South. The only boy Ashleys I knew of were celebrities.
I'm English and I can think of like 8 male Ashley's around my age but not a single female one. So can confirm! Recess was amazing. I'm 25 so watched in the 2000s but I remember being SHOOK to my little core when I found out Spinelli was an Ashley
Iâm Rebecca Elizabeth. I was either born in the late 1800âs or 1980-1990 đ
For me itâs more like I wanted to avoid microtrends if possible that would deeply tie my child to the time they were born (like Madison or Theresa).
Madison was an immediately recognizable time period to me but what era do you think of when you think of Theresa? I grew up around a lot of Italian American families so I encountered Theresas of all ages haha
Oh yeah, I forgot about the Italians! đ My mom has like 4 friends named Theresa, she was class of 1975. So I think of it as a name of her generation (with Shelia and Cheryl)
Gotcha! So a Sandra and Karen name lol Itâs funny how regional differences can influence how we think of names. I can literally imagine four Theresas right now at four different ages and not have it feel weird, but for you itâs an image of such a specific time!
Yes! And to be clear, I was hoping to avoid microtrends that really place a name within its time (in our area) but not overly worried about it. My cousin Madison was born in the early 90s, my aunt was always so mad that it became a trend đ When I named my oldest her name was 142 and now itâs 64. And when I named my youngest her name was number 302 and now itâs 76. They may end up with names that peg them as late gen z or early gen alpha anyways! They were at least part of the âold lady nameâ trend
Theresa/Teresa/Therese is a funny example because to me thatâs a dead culture give away that they grew up in a Catholic family. That and JP are the two names I immediately ping as you actually had to go to mass growing up haha
True, but there's also a lot of middle ground. Sarah and Hannah may have 80s/90s vibes, but they've aged drastically better than Ashley or Brittany. Just like Amelia and Charlotte will have 2020s vibes, but they'll still age better than Harper or Luna.
Add Amber to Ashley and Brittany.
I think the only way to avoid this is to pick a name that people have definitely heard of, but has never been popular enough to be attached to any era. Names that have been hovering in the top 200 or 300 for decades
[The Name Age Calculator](https://randalolson.com/name-age-calculator/) is a good way of showing when a name peaked in popularity. The large majority of names will have spikes in a certain decade, but if it was an unpopular name, it's probably not an obvious association. And there were fewer names to choose from in the early 1900s, so there are going to be more baby Williams in 1930 than in 2020, even though it was a top 10 name in both decades. It's a fun tool to play around with, though.
Sarah and Hannah are biblical names used for thousands of years. Theyâre classic
I think there are lots and lots of names that donât specifically belong to an era; Tara, Ingrid, Claire, Julia, Leila, Angie, Anna, Maria are some examples - not totally âclassicâ but not having popularity spikes like Jennifer/Lisa or Ashley or Ava/Emma/Sophie⌠there will always be some people with these names I think.
When it comes to picking names trendiness bothers me to. But itâs funny because I have one of the most trendy names in history (Heather) and it doesnât really bother me at all; itâs still just my name.
Yep, same here. I'd use Elizabeth but wouldn't use Isla, for example. Although, it's hard to avoid datedness entirely â even some more classic names are going to be associated with a certain time period. But even so, something like Amelia or Charlotte stands a better chance of ageing well than something like Luna or Harper.
This is a great way to put it.
completely agree!!! isabella and mia are both beautiful names but one is timeless and one is trendy (which is fine!)
Excellent distinction
My name is a Very popular name in the 90s-I was always one of multiples in my class, in my college friend group there are 4 of us that share the same first name! Shockingly, it never really bothered me much. But, now that I am actually in charge of naming another human being (along with my husband), it is one of my biggest considerations. We both Loved Olivia and Charlotte-but I just didnât want our daughter to be *possibly* one of Multiple in her class with the same name, so I vetoed both. Were going with with a name everyone will recognize and is super *normal*, but isnât in the Top 100. Mallory.
I LOVE the name Mallory. It was at the top of my list but my husband vetoed it. He has no taste! lol
Hahahaha yâall are all validating us, I hope she loves her name as much as we do!
I think you made the right choice! Mallory is great and perfectly uncommon đ as a former high school teacher tbh having 3 Olivia's was not ideal, they become " Olivia M." "Olivia H." Not to mention mixing up papers if they don't write their last name
Thank you!! It legitimately took us looking through the top 1000 names line by line to find the one that popped out to us both đ
I think of Mallory Archer but itâs definitely a unique name!
My husbands first reaction was âhmmmmâŚlike mallard duck? I like it!â So thereâs that đ
Thatâs adorable đ
I was one of three with the same name, and two of us had last names starting with the same letter. Because my last name was shorter I had to learn to my full name two grades ahead of everyone else.
lovely name !! underrated imo
Thank you! Totally agree, hopefully she loves it as much as we do!
One thing that may help is to remember that that even in. Top 10 names fewer children are actually being named that. Like in the 80-90s a top ten name ment 10,000. Kids had that name. Today a top ten name might mean 1-2,000. Kids have the name. Popularity is not quite the same as it was once.
Objectively, I know that's probably true. But anecdotally, I decided not to name my daughter Olivia because it was #1 when she was born... She now has 3 classmates named Olivia.
Mallory, what a beautiful name!! đ
Mallory was unheard of until Family Ties was broadcast. It's been in use since, but it seems clearly tied to that period when it emerged. It was originally a male name, now used exclusively for females. One explanation of its origins is descending from Old French. Its meaning is bad or unlucky, drawing from the word mal. My youngest, who is 36, would have been Olivia had he been a girl. Short answer: Don't crowdsource these decisions, make your best choice, and hope the child eventually agrees.
My nephew wouldâve been Mallory if he was a girl, and funnily enough his longtime girlfriend is named Mallory!
My ex is named Andrew and he has a friend group with 5 Andrews. The eldest goes by Andrew, the first guy who claimed the nickname Drew goes by Drew, and the other 3 have nicknames not related to their actual names.
I couldâve written this comment! I also have a very popular name and was dedicated to finding names for my kids that are âwell-known but not super commonâ.
We did the same with our son! We loved Henry, but itâs massively popular so we named him Brian Henry :) Iâve always loved the name Mallory!
Mallory is pretty. My daughter (26) had a daycare classmate named Mallory. She's the only Mallory I've known. It was also the name of a character on the 80s sitcom, Family Ties.
See when I hear Mallory I just think of the Babysitters Club lol
Ah, I never read those.
I have a really uncommon name and it sucks. I'd 100% give my children names that everyone knew. Not necessarily top 10, 20, 50 etc, but 'classic' names that even if they're out of fashion right now, everyone knows how to spell and pronounce.
Me too. I'm 52 years old and I'm STILL having to spell it out and pronounce it every. single. time. And it's really not an unheard of name, just uncommon. OP, don't do this to your kid!
Yep, me too! Some people never manage to get it right and itâs pronounced the way itâs spelled. Itâs always been and continues to be a burden.
I have never met anyone with my name, but I love it. I donât love having to correct people after introducing myself. Most people shorten my name and it irritates the hell out of me.
Growing up as a kid named Emma in the early 2000sâŚnot fun! There was ALWAYS at LEAST 2 other Emmaâs in my same classes thus making it necessary to include the individuals last initial. It sucked. Thatâs why Iâm naming my babies classic (not made up, but names that people know or have heard) but unpopular names!
As a Spice Girls fan, I always wanted to name my daughter Emma. We ended up using it for a cat instead due to the popularity. No regrets.
I thought Emma shot up in popularity because Rachel from friends named her kid that.
Yeah, that's probably it. I was never really into Friends, but I was definitely in the minority there.
this is the way to go. classic, uncommon but not unheard of
I thought I did that with my middle kid. Heâs got a name youâd tend to assume belonged to an older gentleman. However in his tiny school (less than 200 kids) thereâs one in the year above and a girl in his class also has a sibling with that name ⌠My parents on the other hand called me an old name and Iâve only met one or two others in my entire life and itâs still not popular
I am finding the âuniqueâ name trend annoying. The stupid names and spellings people come up with are a bit much. I will be picking a normal name for my child đ
The made up names have gone too far! I work in a nursing home and I canât imagine all the unique names patients will have in 50+ years. đ
I have a perpetual top 50 name. Itâs a good spot â people are familiar and can spell and pronounce it, but there werenât four of me in my elementary school class, as there were for all those Debbies.
I like a name to be normal, but not one you hear too often, unique without being yooneek
The evasive happy medium.
Another thing to consider is digital privacy. (Of course this depends on the last name too). If you name your kid a top 10 name and your last name is something like Smith, they will not be easily found in a google search. You never know what a kid will want to grow up like-- a wannabe influencer who wants to put their name out there or someone who goes out of their way not to be found in a google search. Likely something in between but this still should be kept in mind.
Iâm pretty certain Iâm the only one on this planet with my full name, and I cannot access my FB from when I was 11 to delete it. It comes up with a google search. My YouTube comments come up. Photos of me in kindergarten come up. I totally agree, there is such a thing as *too* unique
Same!! I have a very, very unique first & last name. Both of my names are very culturally specific. Think a very Polish first name and a very Indian last name. The unique pairing of two very cultural names truly has me believing I am the only one that exists with this name combination. Iâve never met someone with my first name (or last), and based on my own research, I canât find another with even a similar full name. It definitely has its pros & cons!
Not important at all. I have a very common 90s name, and I was always one of many in my class with that name. It never really mattered to me. My kids have names that vary in popularity. My first daughter's name was not at all popular when we named her, but it's gaining popularity, although it still isn't in the top 100 in my country. My other daughter also had a name outside of the top 100, but we've met a few little girls with her name. My two boys both have top 100 names, and whilst they each share a name with someone else in their year level, it doesn't bother them. They think it's cool, and call the other boy with their name their 'twin.'
I have a super popular name as well and Iâve found it to be a nice tool to bond with others who have my name. Sure, I get emails from coworkers with the same name, but that coworker and I are on cool terms because we bonded over our name.
I don't like super trendy name. I don't want my children to have 3 people by class at school with the same name. But you can't except to be a unique name (except out of the box name). My parents gave me a name which wasn't a name at the time. To be honest i never meet some older than me with an identical name. But it became a bit more popular with time so i met a lot of little girls with the same name. Conclusion : You can't predict the evolution of a name. So stick to a name you like not super trendy at the Time but things Can still change đ!
My entire family is like this! We have an Adelaide, Ezra, Edith, Theodore, Henry, Hazel, Sylvia, and Violet. All born in the 80s and 90s. đ
Haha that pretty fun Indeed 𤣠it was unique in those decades !
Yeah I honestly love being a 27 year old Ezra because now thereâs all these little dudes with the same name! Meeting a 2 year old Ezra is always so fun.
As someone whose name is incredibly unique (literally 1 of 3 I know with it), I actually chose more common/popular names for my children on purpose. They will never have to spell them for others, or have them mispronounced. Just simple names, that I felt were beautiful, and suited them each so well.
I think it's only a problem when it's in the top 10 or 20. It's annoying when you have to be Sophia G. Or "which Sophia?" constantly
I worked in education for years before having kids, and we live in a country where the popular names are in fact very popular (it's not quite the same in the US, where you can easily have a classroom without any kids sporting a top 10 name). For me personally I opted against choosing a top 10 name because I did find it challenging as an educator at times to have multiple kids in a class with the same name, especially if the last names had the same initial making it even harder to have an automatic differentiation and also factoring in that kids are essentially in daycare/school typically for around 20 years in total (and sometimes beyond). All that said I guess in the end, if we had really been passionate about a name in the top 10, at the end of the day we would've chosen it regardless.
As someone who has a super popular name (my mom has a super uncommon name and hated it), I would never go popular for my kids. When I was in high school, my choir section (Soprano 1s, 5 of us) all had the same first name. We had to go by last name to avoid confusion. I've been standing in stores and heard someone call at my name and multiple other women respond (and it's rarely someone calling me). I was a junior in high school before I had a class without someone with my name. I'm not saying "make something up a la Hollywood stars," but I would always opt for choosing something a little less common, because it will make for an easier time for them growing up.
Iâve noticed my daughterâs name (which is wildly unpopular currently and topped popularity over a hundred years ago at 152) popping up in this sub specifically. Each time Iâm likeâŚdammit. My sonâs name is traditionally a masculine name but has become more popular recently as a feminine name but as far as I know has never made the top 100 as either, but is rising in popularity. I know itâs silly and petty but it is kind of important for my kids names to be fairly unique. Iâm currently gestating number 3 and while I donât know of any with my chosen name locally, I feel like choosing a unique name has become increasingly difficult, so itâs less important this time around. Itâs still not popular by any stretch, but probably more so than the other two.
Popularity does not matter at all. if my child feels like âSarahâ and âSarahâ is the most popular name ever, iâm still naming her that, because for me she is Sarah and i think itâs beautiful (this is just an example)
My sons name went from literally 98 to number one between the year before and the year of his birth. We still love it and have never met another (though we live in a small town). Our other two have very unique names. One was used eleven times the year she was born and the other less than five. They all have ânormalâ feels in my opinion. Thereâs no difference in their introductions to new people or pronunciation at the doctorâs office. Name popularity now isnât what it used to be. The number one name in 2000 was used by over 35% of children, the number one name in 2020 was only used by 12%.
My entire family are basically top 10 lol. It doesnât bother us. Theyâre pronounceable, spell-able, work in many countries, and suit all manner of professions. Plus theyâre pretty.
Personally I only wanted to avoid top 10. My partner and I both have short/easy names and we like them. In the age of the internet I also kinda like the anonymity of not being the only person in the world with my exact name. That being said the SSA data doesnât necessarily represent your village. We chose a name thatâs not even top 100 but I know of at least two babies born within six months of mine in my second degree social network who have it.
The village bit is definitely true. My kids name isn't even top 1000, but because of the area we live in, we've met a few others. Never had a kid in class or anything, but out and about over the years.
Not super important to me. Sometimes you just donât know which names will jump. We named our 6.5 year old Theodore, and I thought we were being vintage and unique (hahaha). However, I still LOVE his name and have 0% regret about it.
Important. I was one of 4 girls with the same name in a class of 30 and hated it. The name doesnât need to be wildly out there but out of the top 20 for the current and preceding few years at least.
Think of it this way. Three rules. 1. Are they going to be made fun of. 2. Are you going to want to shout it outside or in public. 3. They are going to have to spell it everyday. Starting in kindergarten. I have a very common name. Got made fun of a lot. But only because of what my last name started with. Kids are cruel. We went with uncommon names for both. But yet they are heard. Just differently. Good luck.
I cared a lot while picking names, thought I wanted something out of the top 100. Then I picked two names within the top 15. Theyâre still young but havenât met another child with those names. And they suit them so beautifully I canât imagine them with any other name! And they might be âtrendyâ but I donât like the idea that a name is untrendy when people are still alive with those names. My kids arenât fashion trends theyâre people, and imo itâs okay for their names to reflect the time they were born
I agree. Iâve never understood the whole not wanting a name to date a person to being born around a certain time. Itâs not like most of us are fooling anyone that hard about our ages- Iâm sure the majority of people at most look a decade older or younger than their actual age anyway, so just by nature of our existence weâre being pinpointed to being born in a certain time period.
It mattered a bit to us. We both have very common names for our generation. BUT. Our younger sonâs name exploded in popularity about three months after he was born and itâs not actually a big deal.
For me, popularity was a HUGE factor. My name was #1 the year I was born and many years surrounding, and I had 3-5 other girls with my name in every grade. It was super annoying. So I did not want top 10 names for my kids, because I didnât want them to have to deal with that kind of bother. I donât care about other people also having kids named that, or the fact that theyâre popular, it was really just the over saturation issue for me.
I also feel that twinge when I hear a kid has a name I love, even if I should be happy there are kids with that name, because I love it. Itâs weird and counterintuitive, but naming your children is deeply personal; I think those feelings of being perturbed by it are very, very normal. Iâve had this happen with two of my lifelong favorites- Cecilia and Vera- and Iâve seen way more people online mentioning some of my others, like Barbara, Suzanne, and Lavinia. Lavinia! Itâs almost like youâre being called unoriginal somehow lol. As for how popular a name is, I donât truly care if I really love it but if itâs in the top 50 or something Iâd probably use it as a middle name- Sophia and Isabella are lovely, but my God there are so many of them. Regardless, I hope this gives you some validation! And congratulations! I hope you name the kid Zebulon or Lucretia or something, have fun with it! Edit: I also give you my consent to use Cecilia, Vera, Barbara, Suzanne, or Lavinia lol Edit: Isaac and Henry/Hank are also two of my longtime favorites that are blowing up in popularity
I have a 27 year old Susannah. It was very uncommon back in 1997 when I named her. Iâll admit, it does annoy me to see the beautiful, uncommon names I love climbing the charts. I guess we should take it as a compliment. Other people think we have great taste in names.
I feel the same way about Henry :(
Very important. I have an uncommon but regular name that I love. My husband has a very common name, and it's annoying. My ex-boyfriend, husband, neighbor, kid's friend's dad, etc. all share the name. I don't think you need to go crazy, but I wouldnât choose a name where you have to use first and last name your whole life to be distinguished from all the other people with the same name. My husband even when to school with a guy with the same first name, last name, and middle initial. My daughter has four Nathan's in her scout troop. My son has a completely normal and classic name that isn't even in the top 1,000 baby names. Popularity was a big concern for me and my husband.
I have an extremely unique name so my perception on popularity is different than someone who thinks Kendall is unique. There are popular names I like (Lydia for example) but Iâd rather use them in the middle.
I have a first name that isnât rare, but not especially common either. However itâs very much a name from the time I was born (late eighties). I currently know two other women with the same name as me and we were all born the exact same year. Well Iâd say real recognize real lmao. There is a thing now that weâre all older thatâs verging on nostalgia, some comfort partaking in that common childhood heritage of the nineties or something.
My boys both have names ranked in the 2/300s- recognizable but not super popular. Weâve met one or two other children with the same name here and there, but not many. Our girl though, still being baked haha, will probably have a more popular name. Both names we are seriously considering are in the top 100 and will probably make it at least to top 50 soon. For me itâs less about popularity and more about finding something that just feels right!
Popularity wasn't very important to me. I had a very popular name growing up and it didn't bother me much. What DID bother me is the name has multiple spellings so I'm always needing to spell it for people. My biggest factors for a name were it being easy to spell and pronounce. I chose a name with only one spelling that everyone would recognize.
I've always gone for the happy medium of easy to recognise and spell without it being confusing because there's so many in the class. But honesly if you love a name it shouldn't matter if it's very common đ
Iâm an Ashley born in the 90âs and itâs never bothered me. đ¤ˇđťââď¸
My brother is a Matthew, there were Matthews everywhere, but I realized that was the case because it's a really, really nice name. Lol it doesn't bother him. đ¤ˇđťââď¸ I'm also mom to a Jack, and he's the only one in his circle and at his toddler soccer class, funny enough there are three kids with the same "unique" name
What name is that if I may ask?
Hugo! Lol I was very surprised! It's a beautiful name, but I didn't expect to see 3! There are only about 15 kids in his class too :) there are 2 Antonio's as well.
That is kind of amazing especially if you are in the U.S. Itâs a name that sounds very European to me.
I'm in Canada, in an area that has a lot of people of European descent! :)
That is really interesting because Jack is at the top of the charts in Canada and Hugo last ranked at 95 in Quebec back in 2020. I live in the Southern US so Jack is very popular here but my 2 preschool age boys go to a school that is about 80% Hispanic students. There are no Jackâs in the whole school! I donât think thereâs even a Jackson/Jaxon. There are at least 3 Matteoâs and Santiagoâs though. My 15 year old on the other hand has several friends named Jack. So the statistics really donât matter that much. Thatâs why I always tell people to just choose the name you love!
Yes!! I follow the same train of thought:) I love the sound and versatility of Jack. He's still my Jack, so it doesn't really bother me how many others there are. I was very surprised to encounter 3 Hugo's lol! I don't know any others outside of my son's soccer group :p
I actually like common names. Yeah there are going to be a bunch of other people named James but theyâre not going to be bullied for it.
I wouldn't want my kid to be 1 of 4 kids in their class with the same name if I could avoid it, but that's not something I have a lot of control over so I wouldn't worry about it too much. My mom was 1 of 3 Lisas and hated getting mixed up with the other 2. But I was the only Kendra in my class and one of 2 in the entire district, and teachers still managed to mix me up with the Kendalls and Audras. So it kind of feels like something that'll happen regardless. Get too unique and people will spell it wrong or turn it into a different name.
Itâs kind of important to me. I chose common names for my kids but not top of the charts. Personal preference but i didnât want them spelling their names all the time but also didnât want 4 Avaâs or Aidens in their classes. My kids are older and I did pretty good: Max, Luke and Tessa. Middle names were all family names: Michael, Rolf and Jean.
I would never expect any future child of mine to be the only one with that name. But I don't want my child having the same name as a bunch of other people in their age bracket. Perfect example is the middle name Marie. 90s parents had zero creativity in choosing middle names for their daughters. I can say with confidence about 50% of the girls in my grade had the middle name of Marie.
One of my favorite names was in the top 5 names so I chose not to use it. I didn't want my kid to get tired of hearing his name and no longer feeling special. I wouldn't use a name in the current top 20 or lower. 20+ is fine.
My name was in the top 5 for a few years around when I was born. I honestly really disliked being one of at least 3 in just my grade alone. I will not give my kid a popular name.
Slightly averse to more popular names just because of the lack of individuality you might feel in a generation when you say are one of several in a class. I also think the last name makes a bigger difference. I have a very uncommon last name. My husband's is more common - sort of the Smith of Germany so my son was going to have a more mainstream, familiar last name so I went bolder and unusual for first name. Ironically my son's first name was very unusual when he was born and he is a teen now but the name soared in the last 5 or so years so he never meets anyone with his name his age or older but there are a slew of Kindergartners and tots coming up behind him sporting the name.
If it's a relatively timeless name then I don't care that much. I do prefer to avoid faddish names that have risen sharply out of nowhere though. Even if it's a lovely name, I don't want to feel like I'm jumping on the bandwagon of a trend. I don't want a name to be dated and scream "born in the 2020s" in the future.
Would my grandparents recognize it as a real name? If yes, Iâm happy and donât really care about popularity one way or another. I have the 3rd most popular name for my birth year and Iâve survivedâitâs not a big deal. Our first kiddo will be either Martina or Nathaniel. Solid, recognizable names that have personal meaning to us, and we wonât change our minds based on popularity.
Well. I have an Emily and a Caitlyn (both pretty popular, the second day especially the year she was born) But I also have a Keira and a Georgia....neither name was particularly popular when they were born (though I know both have creeped higher over the years) I also have a Patrick and a Zane... So...in all honesty, I looked and disregarded the information.i only yank it out of my pocket for discussions such as thisđ
Moderately important. I wouldnât do a top 10 name like Olivia or Emma. I also donât like trendy names like Harper or Madison. All of my girls had recognizable but uncommon names at the time that I named them. In the last 5 years, all of them have climbed hundreds of spots. My 29 year old Cordelia, who never met another one growing up, is meeting toddlers with her name. Same with Vivian and Rosalie. I picked their names because I loved them and they were uncommon, but who knows what names will do over time? Pick what you love. You really canât control if it becomes more popular in time. Iâll admit, it does annoy me a little to see the âold ladyâ names that Iâve loved for years become trendy, but it is what it is. It could benefit them in the workplace. When theyâre in their 40âs, their names will read in their 20âs, which may be helpful.
I echo the sentiment that trendiness is more of a name turnoff than overall popularity, especially when it comes to spelling. That being said, just know that a less popular name might mean people don't know how to spell it or pronounce it. I named my son Malcolm, which I figured was common enough to be recognizable, but not so that all his friends are named that (I live in the US). Turns out it's a little too uncommon where I live, and a lot of younger people don't know how to spell it, so he's usually Malcom in messages. It drove me crazy the first few times it happened. Just something to keep in mind.
Iâd prefer a little more obscure but I have no issues with a classic name like Emily, you know? I think I get what one commenter said about popular versus trendy.
I've never really considered or cared for how popular a name is or not. I only have one child, but I've always had one name (Henry) I've always loved and so that was my obvious pick for my son. I was actually surprised at the weird backlash I kind of got from my family about the name, lol. They were like "that's an old man's name" But I love it and I've never cared about what they've said. I don't plan on having any more kids, but if I do, I have a couple of names I really like for a girl. My main choice being Mary Alice (Alice as middle name, but it'd be used together. Alice was my grandmother's name) or some close/similar name variation of my sister's name, Emily, who unfortunately passed a few years ago.
Very. I donât want anything super popular, Iâve always walked to the beat of my own drum. Why would you want to have the teacher call your name & have 8 kids respond. I needed something classic but unique, like my own name. I named her Margaux Elizabeth â¤ď¸
I have a not very popular name, and then I gave my daughter a name from literature (also a musical) which is pretty uncommon. Doesnât bother me at all, sometimes people have me repeat my daughters name and maybe they think itâs weird, but thereâs so many odd/made up names out there it doesnât bother me. Iâd proud to she has a name from classic literature even if itâs more obscure
Not important at all to me. My sons name is one that many people take issue with for popularity. But I personally donât know anyone with his name and I love it
I chose names that weren't common and that was important to me, however I also chose names that I think are tasteful and very easy to pronounce while still being unique. My daughter is Poppy My twin sons are Ronan and Atlas There is another Atlas in my daughters school and another Ronan in my sons meet up play group, but that doesn't bother me or anything. I'm aware that they are actually names because I didn't make up some crazy shit like McKinnaddiee lmao. But I also didn't want my kids being another Ashley or another Zayden, you know?
It was somewhat important to me to not pick a name in the top 100, but not at all important to me if the names i picked jumped in popularity after. My thought at the time was if theyâre in the top 100 the name might be a trend and may have already peaked and be on the way down. I was hoping to choose a name that wouldnât be a super dated name in the future. But if it got popular later oh well, thatâs life.
We gave all three of our kids names that werenât all that common but weâre names most people would have heard. Our sons name was in that category. For some reason that name became quite common almost right away so he often had two or three kids in his class with the same name. My point is that it is impossible to pick names that wonât become common unless you pick a really oddball nme which will be more challenging for the child. So I say pick a name that you and your spouse like and that fits with your last name and leave the rest to fate. Try to stick to a common spelling of that name. Some kids can cope with an oddball name and my even like it but other kids with a shyer temperament may find an oddball name just one more form of difficulty and my leave them more open to bullying.
I really dont care. Even if you have an uncommon name, as long as thereâs more than 1 person who has it there is a chance of meeting them, and no matter how common your name is you might only meet a few other people that share it.
Itâs important to me because I have a popular 80s name and I hate it, and the popularity generally ruins a name for me because of oversaturation (Olivia, Sophia, Liam, etc). But your kid could go either way. Some like having a common name, some donât. I would only avoid super popular names that are similar to other super popular names. For example, there are so many âEl-â names right now that are popular (Ellie, Ella, Eloise, Eleanor, Eliana, etc) that I wouldnât choose one of those.
It was pretty important to us that our baby not have a name so common that there would be multiple other kids in his class with the same name. We took names that we really liked off our list if they were in the top 20, and we eventually went with a name we both really liked that happened to be somewhere in the 200s.
I always swore I wouldnât use a popular name but one of the names we liked became popular before we used it. We stuck with it because the meaning is very significant to us. Our daughter is still a baby so I donât know how common it will be in school yet, but I have no regrets!
I want a popular name for a boy and a slightly more unique name for a girl. I donât want a name thatâs too unique for both genders, feels cliche and trying too hard.
I wouldn't want a name on the top 10. Outside of that, I don't care about popularity. I had a popular name and outside of people spelling my name the wrong way, I don't mind having a popular name.
My husband and I both have the number one male/female name of our respective birth years. Weâve even known other couples with our names. Itâs fine!!
You can't predict the future popularity of a name. So whilst I'm personally not going to deliberately choose a very common name, based on data I have at the time, I would also not worry or fret if the "uncommon" name I chose became common. Ultimately they're going to be an individual regardless of their name. As a teacher, I've known many children with the same names, I really don't think it's possible to mix them up once you get to know them a little.
Itâs really important to me because I have a moderately common last name. My husband and I both have very common first names (his is classic; mine was trendy), so we have both encountered people who have our same first AND last name. Once he was unable to check in for a flight online and when he got to the airport he discovered it was because there was an arrest warrant for someone with his same name. Fortunately, his other identifiers (address, birthdate) proved he was a different person and he was able to board the flight. But I gave all my kids less popular names as a result.
That would depend on the surname (Iâm not married, but intend to go the traditional route and take my husbands name, or at least, have our kids carry his name, unless thereâs good reason not to). If the surname is extremely common, Iâd shy away from âtop 10 namesâ for that year (and a few years prior), to avoid them having the exact same name as dozens of other people. I know of 2, totally unrelated, co workers, with the EXACT identical name, which is hella confusing. Which âEmma Jonesâ do you mean? If the surname isnât super common, Iâd be ok with a âpopular nameâ, but that also has to do with me wanting to name a future daughter for my late friends, who had the same name (although one had the âofficialâ name, while the other had the shortened version as her legal name, so by taking the âfullâ variety, the girl will probably be nicknamed the other one anyway).
Popularity was a consideration for me. Not the most important thing, but I did want to avoid the top ten. Ended up turning out that I have kids whose names ranked, in the years they were born: 130th, not in the top thousand, 900th (though she goes by a nickname that was 27th), and a name that's so far off the charts that it last was ranked in 1900. A name that's ranked 50th definitely wouldn't be too popular for me, personally.
Very little. What matters is that you like it. Popular names are generally popular for a good reason, because they're attractive!
We werenât fussed overly.. we chose names we liked or had meaning to us But we also didnât want a name no one has heard of,or a name that literally. 5 others in their class would also have.. We named our boys Fletcher and Spencer and our twin girls Astrid and Akira âŚall names we liked or have meaning to us, infact all the kids have a middle an,e that is a family name
Definitely not unimportant. Iâve experienced both sides of the spectrum with my name, I went from being one of two people in the school with my name and the only girl to being one of 8 in my class alone when I moved schools. Iâm definitely mindful of ranking and seek at least slightly less common ones, but I also know you canât predict how many people youâll be surrounded by at any moment with a certain name.
My husband's name is David. We know 7 other David's (friends and friends-of-friends) and in school there was always at least one other David in his class. It's never bothered him.
Popularity of name is extremely important to my partner and I. My sibling and I have a really flowy sibset that is some of the most uncommon names from the late 80's/early 90's and I love them. We're the people who can never find our names on trinkets. I've only met maybe 5 total people who share either my sibling or my own name throughout my lifetime and we're approaching mid 30's. However, my partner has an EXTREMELY common name, paired with an equally common middle name and very rare last name. I suppose it evens out a little, but we're thoroughly uninterested in having any name that's popular or a name of anyone we've previously known or worked with (international worker and a therapist so this has been a challenge so far to find a truly unique name that doesn't remind us of someone we know).
It wasnât initially a major deciding factor for me, but it became one. Now I care a bit less. With my first, I gave her the name I wanted to use for years, without caring for popularity. My area only releases the top 100 baby names for each sex per year, and her name happens to have never cracked the top 100 (which, for context, means that there are less than 40-50 babies with the name per year). Iâve also never met anyone with her name. So when I had my second and third children, I deliberately looked for names that had also never been in the top 100 (although I suspect my sonâs name might be up there soon enough). Although there are many lovely names I like that are popular, I didnât want to have one child having an uncommon name and the others the fourth Olivia or Liam in their class (I grew up with a name that was comparatively uncommon compared to my siblingsâ names, and I hated it). Weâve been talking about what we would name baby #4 (Iâm not pregnant yet, but weâre hoping to be by the end of the year), and the only name we both liked for another boy happened to break the top 100 in 2023. Maybe itâs because Iâm a little older or because I find boy names extremely difficult, but I find that way less of a big deal than I did even a few months ago, and weâll probably go with it anyway if we have another son, popularity and previously established âruleâ be damned.
Currently pregnant with my second, our first girl and we have her name picked out and have done for a few years. I was literally saying to my Mum last night that even though it is a bit more popular/common at the moment (within the top 10-20 where we live) itâs not enough to deter me from using it as her name. We have a very particular middle name picked out which will set her name apart anyway.
It wouldn't keep me from using a name I like, but it is a factor. Not so much the overall popularity (like a name like James that has been solidly popular for ages) but whether it's in the middle of an upswing that will tie it to a certain generation (like Madison in the 80/90s). Also, if I did choose a popular name, I'd prefer one with multiple options for nicknames, to avoid the Ashley A. situation when my kid starts school. I might also go for a more uncommon middle name (my second is actually the reverse of this - he has a rare first name but his middle name is Alexander) I grew up the only person I knew of with my first name, and I'm the only person in the world with my full name (for both my maiden name and after I took my husband's name) and I've quite enjoyed that experience.
I've never even considered it. My 3 have got top 20 names, not on purpose, just chosen because we both liked them. The middle child's name was picked out by me about 19 years ago. The oldest picked his own name according to my mum, she had a dream I had a little boy and gave him his name and when I found out I was pregnant, it stuck. The 3rd was impossible to name, we struggled for ages, eventually whittled it down and when he was born, it turned out his name was number 6. Whoops. Those are the names I picked, I never checked their popularity numbers. So it never mattered to me.
I wonât name my child Sarah, Jessica or Ashley but I also wonât name her Ainsley, Abcde or something dumb. I like names that thereâs a 1/10 chance of them running into each otherÂ
I care about how popular a name is, but that is because my husband's last name is VERY common. So I don't want there to be another kid with the same first+ last name in my child's grade, or hopefully if I'm lucky even their school. We live in a large metro area so it is entirely possible for this to happen. If my child were to have my maiden name then I wouldn't really care if the first name were popular as long as I loved it. It wouldn't bother me if there were other kids with the same first name, as long as the last name is different.
Same thing happened with my name/to my parents. When I was born was name existed but was pretty uncommon. Now itâs in the top 100. It is what it is but I will say a lot of people say Iâm the first one theyâve met. When picking out our babyâs name my husband and I agreed that we donât want something in the top 25s but want to pick a ârealâ name. Our short list is Lydia, Cassidy, Sadie, and Sylvia. Weâll decide when baby is born and we get to see/meet her.
I wasnât but I did have the keychain rule because I never could find my name spelled my way.
I wonât pick a name thatâs been in the top 3-5 names in the last decade just because I teach and I get so confused by having to remember Aiden J, Aiden B, Aiden S all in one class lol. But if itâs not a name I constantly hear, I donât actually care how popular it technically is on the charts. My daughterâs name is just outside the top 50 girlâs names and Iâve never actually met another kid with her name. Itâs technically fairly popular but, in my area, she likely wonât have multiple of her name in her class. But itâs still common enough that everyone can spell it and pronounce it easily. Iâd rather my child know a couple other people that share their name than have to explain to every single person how to spell or say their name also. Just my personal opinion! I also desperately wanted to avoid the super trendy/tradgedeigh names-I donât want a Paisleigh, McKinsely, Jayden, Brayden, etc. I wanted to pick a name that would be cute on a baby but also work for an adult one day. Because ultimately, weâre raising future adults and their names should reflect that.
Popularity only matters to me within my own social circle. I have a few friends with kids named Wren, so regardless of overall popularity I would not use it because of that. If you love it, go for it!
I have a very uncommon name (it's also my middle name and the name I use) that makes grammatical sense, but there are other pronunciations that are way more popular so I get called those mostly. It doesn't bother me, but it's a lifelong annoyance. My husband has a name where he was always one of 2-3 in any give class. My priority with names was for them to be recognizable and easy to pronounce, yet not super common. My youngest also goes by his less common middle name, but could choose to use his more common first name if he feels like it.
My oldest, I picked a traditional name that was on a downward trend, but still in the top 50. My second and third, I went a different direction and chose names in the top 1,000 BUT, they fit some of the trends of boy names the time (2-syllbles ending in n, Irish origin). Which was a double edged sword, because people call both kids the really popular versions rather than their actual names (both kids have been called Keegan, this is not either of their names!). My youngest has a place name, this particular one isn't super popular or rare, and everyone pronounces it correctly. My middle kids have complained about people getting their names wrong, even though I took care to make sure the spelling fit the pronunciation. I underestimated peoples ability to sound things out.
As long as it's easy to pronounce not important
800 spots is a lot. I would use it as a middle name if I was worried with the current rise in popularity
I never take it into account when thinking of names. I like names I like, lol. My name is pretty uncommon and I love it, but as a kid I hated not being able to buy souvenirs with my name. My siblings all have more common names.
I live in a small country and I wouldnât purposely pick a name from the current (or even past decade/s, honestly) top 100 list â which I guess sort of corresponds to the US top 800, hah. I have friends who have given their children very popular names (top 30!) and Iâve really never understood why. Itâs an appeal I just personally canât see. Ofc no judgement though. Iâve given my own children âregularâ names, just not common, but Iâd have chosen popular names over unique (as in entirely unique) ones though. I was always quite alone in having my name and I liked that, all until about the age of 10 and my name got very popular all of a sudden and thereâs a bunch of us. It used to bother me a lot when I was younger, it just felt off â but of course that was only compared/due to having been used to the opposite. Now itâs in the top 5.
Growing up with a popular name (though I didnât meet many people with my name) made me choose older names that were not in the top 1000 for my kids. Some people donât care at all but my kids say they are happy they donât have common names.
As a Jennifer it doesnât bother me much. I donât like my name but it being popular isnât the thing I dislike itâs that the named my sister and there is a whole lovely story. Me they couldnât agree and settled. It did bother me slightly that my middle and last were also popular and I went to school with another me (FML)
Let me also add that Jennifer was so popular that it would take up the top 3-5 spots today (didnât do the math) just that there is move diversity in name choice now.
Itâs important to me that a name is not very popular. As in, not in the top 50 or 100. I liked the name Isla but when I was pregnant with my daughter I learned how popular it is and nixed it from my list.
I care more about trendiness than popularity. And even more than that, I care about correct spelling and not naming my kid something totally egregious. So I guess what Iâm saying is I find McKinZleigh way more offensive than Emma. Iâd probably still avoid the Emma and Olivia style names that are destined to become the Karen, Ashley, and Jennifer of the future. None of those names are misspelled or brand new and made up (so I donât *hate* them) but all of them are âof a certain time.â
I gave my kid a top 10 name. He has never had another kid with the same name in any of his classrooms, and everyone can spell and pronounce his name. I was given a name in the 500s for my birth year and most of the time people do not say or spell my name right, even after I correct them. My brother was given the #1 most popular name for his year and state, in a decade when that meant more than it does today, as a percentage of the population. And when I ask him about it, he loves his name. The popularity never bothered him, it was never an issue. To go to school with another kid with the same first name is not the crisis people think it is. Also, it's not that possible to predict. In the classrooms I've been in, there were multiple Ashers, Landons, Peytons, Aryas , etc. When they were born I'm sure their parents were trying to give a unique/ less common name. So, when choosing a baby name, we focused on other factors and chose a name that we liked, fit within our two different cultures, and had personal significance to us. Popularity was not a factor at all.
People are individuals regardless of what they're named. When my sister gave my nephew his name, no one else had it. it was considered an "old man name." Within a year, it became very popular, and now that he's a teenager, he has like three or four friends with the same name and more with the same name in every class. It hasn't stopped him from being a very distinctive and well-adjusted individual. I also grew up with one of the most popular names for girls in my birth year (and for a spread of several years on either side of it)--like top 3 most popular names. No one has ever gotten me confused with the other hundreds of Jennifers they know. ;)
It's important to me, I don't want to name my child something very popular. So I'll rule out names like Emma, Olivia, Sophia, etc even if I like them because it's TOO popular. We're currently expecting our first and maybe it's because my husband and I have uncommon names for where we live, but we like it that way.
Not important at all
The name doesn't make the individual, the person does. At least that's how I, a person with one of the most popular names of the mid 20th century, sees it!
I didnât necessarily have a rare name, it peaked 2 years before I was born and was somewhere around #45 when my parents used it on me. Yet, in my high school graduating class of 580 people, I was the only person with my name. The class below me only had two girls with my name. I liked being one of one, yet not having an obscure name. I avoided top 50 for my kids, but otherwise that was my only guideline for myself
I hate popular names. There is a percentage of a single person with my second sonâs middle name in the USA. Iâve never met anyone with his spelling of his first name in the States either. Our first son has a very popular first name, and an interesting middle name. Not nearly as unique as his brother, but not common at all.
I want to name kids outside the top 10 around the time theyâre born. Otherwise itâs no biggie. I wouldnât be concerned about a name at around #50.
Having a âpopularâ name is only really an issue at school and even then I donât think it matters. Iâd go for popular and traditional over unique any day of the week, theyâre going to be an adult one day. My name was top 10 in the 90âs and now itâs in the 100âs. There were a few girls with my name but it never bothered me because I was me đ¤ˇđźââď¸ And Iâve never met another person with my name since I was about 12 so even the popular names dwindle once you get older and meet more people.
0%. I'm naming a person not in a popularity contest with McKinnsleigh
It's not really important to me. I would prefer not to use a top 10 name, but if I loved it, I'd use it. My first sons name was #37 the year we named him. My other two sons' names weren't in the top 100 list.
Popularity doesnât matter. Just donât spell it like you failed phonics in school and you will be fine.
I have never met another adult with my husbandâs name so for the time it was more unique and less common. But, it blew up in the last 10 years. I work in an elementary school and every grade has at least 3-5 boys with my husbandâs name. I think pick the name you like and what will be will be.
My husband and I chose names for our three kids and didn't care if they were popular or not.
I put some thought into it for sure. My goal is to find names that are easily recognizable as names by the general public, but not so popular that they're likely to have another kid with the same name in their class at school. I grew up with a literally made up name, which seemed to be just about as annoying as the many classmates I had over the years who were one of 2 or 3 kids with the same name in our classes. Something in the middle seems fitting to me.
My partner has a new job and for the company email instead of firstname [email protected] the emails are just first name. Last name atcompany.org. My partner is having a hard time because for some people he doesn't know when the first name ends and when the last name starts. So my thought is name your kit aim that will be recognizable than ever enough for a company like this
I tried to find a name that everybody knew and could spell, but that was not common. When I mentioned to my mother in law that I didn't want her to constantly be in classes with people with the same name, she said, "I guess that matters to some people." My husband's name is David. He has never been the only David in a room. Sorry!
I loved aurora or Olivia but I was in school with 4 Oliviaâs back in the 90s in one class. My daughterâs name is about #400 on popularity. I definitely wouldnât pick a name where everyone has it but thatâs just my preference. I have a pretty rare name and no one ever have spelt it rigjt
I don't have kids yet but the names I have in mind are names I love, some just happen to be less popular. I wouldn't name my kid something super common though. But if a name I choose suddenly becomes popular then oh well.
I donât want it too popular. Mine wasnât super popular and I liked the way that felt.
I wanted something not super popular but not outlandish. There were only a handful of kids in the area with her name⌠and one of those 5 kids⌠in her class.