name popularity

tct1219

i have seen some posters say that #20 is not that popular for a name, while i get upset that davis, one of my favorite boy names, was up to #395 in 2007. (i also know several people by that name so i think it may be too common)

as far as name popularity goes, how high up on the list does a name have to be for you to consider it "popular"? how high for "too popular" or "not common enough"?

Temp159135562506975

top 50-100 to me is "popular".... thankfully the 2 names we have picked out are in the 200s+ b/c it really bothers me to choose a trendy/popular/common name.

kbchicago

it seems to me that most of us on here are trying to avoid popular names...but it seems like a lot of us are gravitating to the same "not popular" names..which COULD make them popular!

your best bet in avoiding a popular name is probably to pick a name of friends of yours from growing up.  those are the ones people seem to be avoiding.

I'm trying to decide between one in the 40s and one in the 200s.  I like the one in the 200s because it is less popular, but I think to myself, if there were both in the 40s which one would I like better..and it is the one in the 40s. (Avery over Mallory).  

 

 

smismar

I wouldn't even look at names in the 1-200 range.  There were a few that I really liked, but I really wanted a name that was uncommon.  It posed a challenge since DH wanted a name that was (for lack of a better word) familiar.  Meaning he didn't want anything that seemed trendy or creative and it had to be a name that was used enough and had enough cultural history to not raise any eyebrows.  The name I think we're going with is solidly in the 500s and seems to meet all our criteria.

LMS05

I don't care if a name is popular, but I wouldn't name my child a name that is in the top 10. Also, I don't care if a name is not popular (in the 700s for example).?

lbap

smismar:

I wouldn't even look at names in the 1-200 range.  There were a few that I really liked, but I really wanted a name that was uncommon.  It posed a challenge since DH wanted a name that was (for lack of a better word) familiar.  Meaning he didn't want anything that seemed trendy or creative and it had to be a name that was used enough and had enough cultural history to not raise any eyebrows.  The name I think we're going with is solidly in the 500s and seems to meet all our criteria.

I think we are the same!

Actually, I would add that my criteria is different for boys and girls names.  In my mind, boys names are allowed to be higher than girls names on the list, because there are not as many good boys names any more (since they are all being used by girls these days!).  Our boy name was just under 200 in 2007, but we were trying to avoid 200+.  Since we really like it, we are ok with the fact that it is above 200.  Also, it has been drifting up and down over the past few years, so I don't think there is an upward trend to it.  Our girl name was more like 350, but I do think it is due for an upward trend, which makes me a tiny bit nervous.  It was moving down until the late 1990s, but now has been moving up by 20-30 per year since then.  However, I NEVER hear of people using it on these boards or IRL, so I'm not too worried.

Stellar1

I say top 10. Looking at the pp that say anything up to 200 is a little much for me. What names are left after 200?

mieuxmieux

I don't care how popular the name was on the list as long as I don't know a lot of people with that name.

lbap

Stellar1:

I say top 10. Looking at the pp that say anything up to 200 is a little much for me. What names are left after 200?

I was one of the "up to 200" people.  Our situation might be unique in that we have a super common last name.  I grew up with a very uncommon last name, and I have had some trouble adjusting to my common last name over the past 6 years.  I want to make sure that my child's name is uncommon enough that they won't have the same name as lots of other people with our last name.

Even though our names are around 200 and 350, we can still find people online with the same exact name!  Just not hundreds of people, which is what we are trying to avoid.

Philippa

sorry for the dumb question but what list of names are you looking at?? ?can someone please provide a link?

lbap

Philippa:

sorry for the dumb question but what list of names are you looking at??  can someone please provide a link?

Either the Social Security Administration List:

https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/

or Baby Name Wizard:

https://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager

jennings235

For me, anything in the top 100 is too popular. 

Levi, the boys name we will use if this baby is boy, is 125ish.  I dont like that, but I love the name, and dont know of any Levi's. 

Overall, I prefer a name that is over 500 but wouldn't refuse a name that is lower.

tct1219

smismar:

I wouldn't even look at names in the 1-200 range.  There were a few that I really liked, but I really wanted a name that was uncommon.  It posed a challenge since DH wanted a name that was (for lack of a better word) familiar.  Meaning he didn't want anything that seemed trendy or creative and it had to be a name that was used enough and had enough cultural history to not raise any eyebrows.  The name I think we're going with is solidly in the 500s and seems to meet all our criteria.

you sound just like me! i have eliminated so many names because they come close to approaching the 100s. in fact, aside from one of the boy names i like, mine aren't even in the top 1000. they are still recognizable, though, either as common words or as surnames.

jessawakawaii

I would definitely stay out of the top 50 to avoid a popular or common name.

anna7602

If I know at least 2 babies IRL with that name, it's too popular for me.

JnJHud

Although I don't want my kids to have the same names as everyone in their classes, I'm not too concerned about popularity so much as I want to avoid trendy names. For example, Andrew and John and names of the sort are always "popular," but they're certainly not a fad. I definitely want to stay clear of the Brayden/Jayden/Aiden/Cayden/Kaylin (so on and so forth) names.

mominatrix

My DD's an Isabella, and I could care less that it's an incredibly popular name...

it's not like when we were kids and there were billions of Jennifers. 

There are so many names in circulation now, the raw #'s of 'popular' names are nowhere near as high as they were a generation ago. 

She's an Isabella, which is like #2 for girls, and being out and about in the world, I think we've only met one or two other Isabella's...

the name fit her, and it has a family meaning for us, so we went with it.

 

I think it's a really, really bad idea to discount any name because it's in the top 10, or 50, or 200... you're closing yourself off from a lot of good stuff.

BrideBuddies

We sat down with the Social Security list and cross off most of them... but when we compared it to our State's list.. it was quite a bit different.   What may be popular in the entire US may not be the case in your region.

And FWIW, I was deeply saddened when some celebrity named their kid Mathilda... that is one of our top picks for a girl.  To me, if some celebutard names their kid something unusual, it will become instantly popular for the next few years.  Example... Vivienne, Shiloh, Harlow, etc.   Never heard those names at all until Hollywood types used them.  That makes me sad.

tct1219

vivienne has been around forever, but i agree with your comment about shiloh and harlow, etc. my dad named his dog harlow before nicole richie had her baby and i thought it was the dumbest name ever. apparently a lot of the posters on this board think differently because i have seen it a lot. i have had my baby names picked out since i was 12 years old but if a celebrity used one, i wouldn't use it. i hate the idea of using a name everyone has heard.