How trendy is it actually?

megframe16

Anyone LOVE a name that's now popular in the charts?!? Does it bother you enough to change it?
Is Evelyn too trendy? DH and I love it but then I saw on the news it was #3 name for girls in 2015 and almost instantly turned off from it...

penelope4612

I am anti-top 10 names, personally.  I just don't want my child to be a first name + last initial kid.  My DH also has a pretty common last name, so that kind of makes it worse.

JessicaB0627

We want to name this LO Evelyn, too. I've seen conflicting rankings though. I saw one place it was ranked 9 and another it was ranked 18, but I've never seen 3.

Knottie1442268460

I'm against top names. But I think you should check your state stats.

Bringmemylongswordho

Evelyn is not trendy. Evelyn is popular, and yes there is a difference.

Evelyn is definitely on an upswing, ranking 16 in 2014 with 8,692 girls named Evelyn. It has been in the top 100 since 2002. It's lowest ranking is 289 in 1977. It has been recorded every year since the SSA started tracking names in 1880. This isn't even peak Evelyn. In 1921 Evelyn was rank 12 with 14, 279 girls named Evelyn. From 1915 through 1928 over 10,000 girls a year were named Evelyn. Contrast Harper, rank 11 in 2014. The first time it broke the top 1000 was in 2004, the first year it was recorded for girls was 1971, and the first year it was used more than 100 times was 1996. Popular names have consistently high usage, it will ebb and flow, but it's always around. Trendy names come out of nowhere, spike hard then fade.

So, no Evelyn is not trendy, but it is popular. As far as if it's too popular, well that's something you need to decide for yourself. You can check State popularity on the SSA website. If you have a common surname, you might want to consider that, you also might want to avoid "filler " middle names like Rose, Grace, Marie, etc.

yogahh

Our favorite name is trendy (Harper). But I have loved it for years, even before it became popular (damn you Victoria Beckham!) and it just seems right for this LO. If you love a name, use it. I would say if you personally know several Evelyns, maybe don't use it. But if your concern is just the popularity factor, throw it out the window. You like the name for a reason. Don't let trends dictate what you name your child.

megframe16

I'm in MN and for our state it was #3. So bummed as I love the name. Luckily last name isn't super common.. Anyone have suggestions to similar but less popular?

Bringmemylongswordho

@yogahh

I just wanted to clarify that I used Harper as an example because it was the first name I could think of, and that there was no shade meant or intended by it.

I seem to be doing a good job of upsetting people lately without trying to, so I apologize if this seems out of nowhere /awkward.

yogahh

Bringmemylongswordho said:

@yogahh

I just wanted to clarify that I used Harper as an example because it was the first name I could think of, and that there was no shade meant or intended by it.

I seem to be doing a good job of upsetting people lately without trying to, so I apologize if this seems out of nowhere /awkward.

I posted my comment before I read your post so no worries!! I know, it's stupid popular now

mrsdarveaux

I usually don't like to pick names in the top 10 but I am liking Addison and Emma. Emma is very popular but have been around forever and seems timeless. Addision is so cute but seems like it might be a fade. Not sure. Either way I like both and I'm trying not to let the popularity bother me.

satuttle1014

I personally don't follow the "popularity" of names. Just because a name is popular, doesn't mean your child will be 1 of 5 in their class. It could definitely happen but if you love a name, I would go with it. That's just my opinion. I love the boys name Liam which is uber popular but that has never deterred me away but it has my DH not like it as much. I don't like that rankings influence name choice.

ElRuby

Major difference between trendy and popular. Evelyn is a beautiful classic name.

SisterMaryNapalm

satuttle1014 said:

I personally don't follow the "popularity" of names. Just because a name is popular, doesn't mean your child will be 1 of 5 in their class. It could definitely happen but if you love a name, I would go with it. That's just my opinion. I love the boys name Liam which is uber popular but that has never deterred me away but it has my DH not like it as much. I don't like that rankings influence name choice.

The number of kids being named any one name is much less than in the '80s and '90s. Even if you name your kid the number #1 name in your state you would usually at worse only find 1-2 other kids in their class or year level with the name (not like when I was going through school and there'd be 4-5 kids in a class with the same name). I avoid popular names but knowing that, if I loved a name enough I would probably use it.

lm45678

Popular doesn't equal trendy.

If this LO is a boy he will be William which apparently is very popular right now. I don't care because it is a strong, classic, timeless name and he will be named after my dad.

I loved Ava Jane but it is very trendy right now so we nixed it and chose something else if we have a girl.

PhoebeJune1984

There are several names in the Top 100 that I absolutely love, however, I wouldn't use them. They would all turn into GP names for me...as we like to pick names that are further on the SSA list. The only name that I would let slide with our little "no Top 100" rule, is Samuel, because that covers three family members and one of our close friends, but I would only use it in the middle name spot. 

cmerribury

I think you should choose a name you love. If it happens to be in the top 10, consider what that will be like for your child. It's not like everyone who grew up in the 80s/90s as a Jen DIED from having the most common name. It's good to be unique, but not if you're missing out on a classic and beautiful name just because it's popular.

FutureMrsCaesar

I'm in the same boat with Evelyn...I have wanted to use it for a girl since I was pregnant with ds2 5 years ago.  It's popularity has risen a ton since then and I cannot decide if I still want to use it or not due to that.  Granted, our boy names are very common and popular and I don't necessarily regret it, but I do feel a little bad for DS1 (he's the only one in school so far) and he's one of 5 Matthew's in his elementary schools first grade (there are 2 other elementary schools so I'm not sure how many total in his 'graduating' class which will be ~400 kids) and he's already Matthew C in school and sports.  I know that ds3 Benjamin will be similar.
When I was pregnant with ds3 I changed my mind to Norah for a girl, and of course it has become increasingly popular in the last 2.5 years lol.  I guess we just have good taste
I do have a couple names that I like that are less popular than Evelyn and Norah but they're not as classic either so I'm torn.  

jenniferamcooper

Jennifer from 1984 here! I've posted about this before but my birth year 5% of little ladies born were Jennifer. Having said that in elementary school there was only one other Jennifer in my class (and even then it was only half the years I was in school - we had multiple classes per grade).

Our #1 name is Charlotte, stupid royals, Charlotte has been our girl's name for years. I asked a friend of mine who works at the vital stats office in my province to let me know the percentage of babies born named Charlotte. I think it was like .7 or .8 percent (5th most popular name in our province). Ava was #1 with 1.02% of babies named Ava. It seems people are diversifying with naming their kids and while you might hear it a lot in actuality your kiddo might not run into a lot of Evelyn's.

I love the name, I think it's very classic. My cousin and his wife named their baby Evelyn but they chose to spell it Evelynne. NMS I'm a name purist but maybe with different spellings out there your Evelyn will be unique.

4N6s

Evelyn is very popular, but lovely.

megframe16

I like the explanations of trendy vs popular. Makes me feel better! I like that it is timeless and not just a fad! I've just heard that it is popular and have yet to run into anyone personally named Evelyn.