How important is popularity?

kklickka

DH and I have a list of names, some of them are REALLY popular (Emma, Olivia), some of them not as much (Maya, Macy, Lucy).  I think if we weren't worried about how popular it is we would choose Olivia, but I'm worried that she'll go through life wishing she had a more unique name.

How important is it to you in making your decision?

And those of you out there with names that were really popular when you were a kid (in my generation those names were Ashley, Jennifer, etc.), did it bother you growing up with a popular name?  Or did you not care?

Lesley0228

I was adament against DD having a popular name. It was just something that mattered to me. I can't even define why exactly. If I didn't care, DD probably would have been an Emma. What I looked for was a name that was easily recognizable, easy to spell and pronounce but something you don't see often. I think we kept with the trend of old fashioned names (I love the oldies!), but just chose a less common one. Matilda was in the 700s last year and I'm already getting nervous that its becoming too popular. My name, Lesley, is a less common name and I always liked that. I wouldn't have liked being Jennifer #3. DH is a Jason and he always hated having such a popular name, so he was onboard in the search for a lesser used name.

I love Olivia, but I can understand your concerns. Of your choices, I really like Maya and Macy. I think Lucy is a little too popular, though I like Lucille or Lucinda with Lucie as the nn. I'm still voting for Harlowe though.

kklickka

Lol, yeah Harlow is still in the running.  I just don't want to be one of those families that people give the side-eye to when you tell them your kid's name, KWIM?  I can't decide if Harlow falls into that category or if it's normal enough but still unique.

sstephen27

My name is Sarah, I was born in the 80s and always had many Sarah/Sara's in my classes.  It never really bothered me.  That said, I do try to stay away from the most popular names when DH and I are throwing names around.  If my favorite name happened to be one of the most popular I would probably still pick it anyway, but our favorites are not in the top 20. 

Lesley0228

kklickka:

Lol, yeah Harlow is still in the running.  I just don't want to be one of those families that people give the side-eye to when you tell them your kid's name, KWIM?  I can't decide if Harlow falls into that category or if it's normal enough but still unique.

I get what you're saying. I just checked it on my favorite website and for girls it was non-existant until 2009 and went to 902 that year, so it could be a celebrity trend name.

https://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager#prefix=harlow&ms=false&exact=false

tmac1022

I go on social security to check popularity. I personally don't want my daughter in class with 5 other Olivia's which is why it's off our list...I think it's #3 through the country from last year and #1 in our state...that's me personally but it is a beautiful name. My girlfriend Jennifer had a ton of girls in her class with the same name and hated it, where as my name, Therese is kind of uncommon (I don't think is too uncommon but apparently it is) people never knew how to pronounce it often calling me Theresa which bothered me, (even now people struggle to pronounce it) but I love that no one else had my name growing up. I guess it just narrows down to personal preference.

LyndseylovesHugh

My name is Lyndsey and there were 5 or so girls with the same name in my class alone.  It did not bother me that they had the same name, it bothered me that my name was spelled differently.  So I would say for me I would not care if the name was popular, but I would NEVER change the spelling just to make it more unique (not saying thats what you would do, or what my parents were doing since my name has so many different spellings).

 

CrazyToast

My name is Ariana, so I grew up with a very unusual name (and then suddenly it shot up on the list and there are tons of babies with that name - and it's now in the top 100!!!). 

When I was little, I was a bit annoyed I had such an unusual name.  By high school I loved it because I was special, not one of the 5 Jennifers that I was friends with.

That being said, the name we've chosen for our LO is not even ranked on the SSA website.  It's very unusual.  I did have requirements for unusual names - easy to say, easy to spell.  I didn't want to have another Isabelle/Olivia/Emma to add to the classes one day.  I want my daughter to feel special.

These days there are so many different cultures blending together, names are not nearly as unusual as they used to be.  Unless you go really weird, any kid will be fine.

forensicmama

I don't mind popular names, but I DO veer away from the top five or ten names. I grew up with a mildly popular name and was always called by my first name and last initial throughout school. (There was one other girl by my name in our small class of 70 or so.) I hated it. I didn't feel unique. And I couldn't IMAGINE being one of ten Madisons or eleven Emmas. Emma is really a beautiful name and it hurts me to shun it, but you do what you gotta do.

Koala77

Extremely important to us.  Neither of our name choices- Maisy nor Maren are in the top 1000.  I do LOVE many super popular names, but I just can't do it.

Ella85

We are in the exact same boat as you. We love Olivia and Emma, but can't decide if popularity matters to us. We may go with Emalin, but we really can't decide Guess it's a good thing we have time!

psychgalbride

I was 1 of 6 Christie/Kristin/Christines in my class.  I really didn't mind it growing up- my biggest pet peeve was when someone misspelled my name.  Our top girl name is Madeline- which is still more popular than I would like but I simply love the name.

JDO

DH and I both had very popular names growing up, and both agreed we wanted our children to have a more unique name. We agreed that we wouldn't use a name that was in the top 25.

forensicmama

forensicmama:

I don't mind popular names, but I DO veer away from the top five or ten names. I grew up with a mildly popular name and was always called by my first name and last initial throughout school. (There was one other girl by my name in our small class of 70 or so.) I hated it. I didn't feel unique. And I couldn't IMAGINE being one of ten Madisons or eleven Emmas. Emma is really a beautiful name and it hurts me to shun it, but you do what you gotta do.

What I meant by this is - it's a delicate balance between being high enough on the list that people can PRONOUNCE your name and it's not totally crazy AND being low enough on the list of most popular names that your kid won't be just one of a million kids with that same name. Our daughter's name is like the 26th most popular name on the list the year she was born (off the top of my head). I'd try to stay away from the top ten... or twenty...

Temp984666312503071

My rule of thumb was to stay out of the top 10.  And it really wasn't about popularity (my child being in a class of 5 Bellas) but more about the names starting to feel tired and overdone.  The popularity itself was making me dislike the name because I was hearing it all.the.time.

One good example of that is Aidan.  As I have said before on this board, my grandfather (who died last year in his 90s) was named Aidan.  So I have never considered it a "trendy" name that popped up with SATC.  Yes, it became popular by SATC - but it wasn't invented that way.  And as a girl I always thought I would use it - I LOVED the name.  Now every time I hear an Aidan, Brayden, Caden, Jayden, Haden, Zaden....  I roll my eyes.  It ANNOYS me because it is like nobody could be creative and think of  a name that didn't end in ADEN. 

But obviously this is my hang up .  If you LOVE Emma or Isabella or Olivia and it is the name you have been dreaming of for years and the popularity hasn't turned YOU off - use it! They are gorgeous names and popular for a reason.

scoutkate

sstephen27:

My name is Sarah, I was born in the 80s and always had many Sarah/Sara's in my classes.  It never really bothered me.  That said, I do try to stay away from the most popular names when DH and I are throwing names around.  If my favorite name happened to be one of the most popular I would probably still pick it anyway, but our favorites are not in the top 20. 

I'm a Sarah, too, although I was born in 1979.  I was never the only Sarah but I never wished I had a different name.  I think a name can be popular and still be classic, like Sarah, Olivia, Emma.  My daughter is named Elizabeth, and although she goes by the nn Betsy, I'm sure she'll always be one of many Elizabeths, but that doesn't bother me.

I think there's a big difference b/t being one of many Emmas, and one of many Addisons, for example.  

Allie30

It's a personal choice. My husband and I both had "popular" names and got stuck with the whole "Allie Last-Initial" thing in school, which was a little annoying. I'd like to avoid that if I can, but you don't need to go too far down to do your best to avoid it -- we said "nothing in the top 100."

Of course, nothing is foolproof, and a lot depends upon where you live. For instance, I know a gazillion Evelyns but I've never met a Nevaeh, and they are about the same ranking on SSA.

I agree with a previous poster that there are some popular names that are classic (like Elizabeth, Michael, and Alexander), and there are some that are traditional but trendy (like Aidan or Olivia or Ava). There are some that have been dredged up from the depths because they SOUND like other trendy names "Addison" and "Madeline" came up from Madison, Emma/Emily/Amelie/Amelia/Emmaline. Ava and Madeline together brought up Evelyn, all the Ellas and the ANYTHING where the parents are like "nickname Ellie."

But I also know people who had odd and unusual or difficult to spell names growing up and they are picking RIGHT off the top of the list. I feel like all these Myckennahs and etc. are going to name their daughters Elizabeth. 

PunkyBooster

I really like the name Emily but it is too popular for my taste. It's so pretty and classic though. I nixed it (DH wasn't hugely in love anyway) and our girl names are 87 and 46 on the SSA list for 2009. When I shared my #87 name, one friend said, "OMG, that name is pretty but SOOOOOO popular." I think "popular" is relative.

nursedevivo

For our little boy, (who is still pretty much nameless) we wanted something unique but not weird. Which is kind of complicated! It is pretty important to us not to have an overly common name.

My name is LeeAnne, and I like that I don't know many LeeAnne's.

Allie30

PunkyBooster:

I really like the name Emily but it is too popular for my taste. It's so pretty and classic though. I nixed it (DH wasn't hugely in love anyway) and our girl names are 87 and 46 on the SSA list for 2009. When I shared my #87 name, one friend said, "OMG, that name is pretty but SOOOOOO popular." I think "popular" is relative.

First of all, love your SN! How cute! Secondly, so true! It's all in the mind of the beholder. I have met two people recently who named their daughters Eloise. Eloise is not a particularly popular name on SSA (#917) but if I wasn't tracking baby names so closely, I'd be like "Oh, Eloise! So popular!"

 

 

happyin10

Its such a toss up.  We love the name Abigail, but it is SO popular!  If we don't find anything else we love just as much we'll probably go ahead and use it anyway.  My DH tends often says that names he doesn't know are "trying to hard", but then again- that leaves us with a bunch of names that are used all the time : )  Who knows,this is really hard!

jenvalet

I'm Jennifer and I grew up with a zillion other Jennifers, but it never really phased me.  I still have quite a few friends names Jennifer.  If you like a name, I think you should go for it.

nilly5

Coming up with a name for DS seemed to take forever for us! I really loved Riley, Mason and Ethan, but in this small town that we live in, all those names were taken. So I had to think outside the box. We finally decided on Colby (even if it was ranked in the 200 or 300 on SSA. I wanted him to be the only one in his class with his name. I grew up w/ a name that people to this day say they never hear, but is now a ranked name in the 1000s! We throw names around all the time (we are no where close to TTC anytime soon, but love getting ideas) and the only name that I love right now is Ryan, but its still ranked in the top 100 and I don't like that.

mrslinde

kklickka:

DH and I have a list of names, some of them are REALLY popular (Emma, Olivia), some of them not as much (Maya, Macy, Lucy).  I think if we weren't worried about how popular it is we would choose Olivia, but I'm worried that she'll go through life wishing she had a more unique name.

How important is it to you in making your decision?

And those of you out there with names that were really popular when you were a kid (in my generation those names were Ashley, Jennifer, etc.), did it bother you growing up with a popular name?  Or did you not care?

 Maya and Macy are on the rise in my region.

stcroixbride

I will go against the grain and say I HATED being one of many in my class and my name was #19 the year I was born.  There were 7 of us in my hometown ;P  It blew and I vowed never to do that to my kids.

I am so insane about name popularity that I refused to use anything that was above #500 on the SSA list.  It did make finding names a little more challenging, but it really was the first thing I looked at when a name came up.  If it was above #500, I nixed it.

I realize it could backfire on me and my kid will want to be little Isabelle Grace #6,287, but I had my reasons.  I also wanted a name that had a great meaning that might "fit" her - he name means cheerful and it really is perfect for my smiley, friendly little one.

MaryYVR

DH and I recently read an article in the paper saying that in the decades leading up to and including the '80s, 60% of kids were named from the top 20 list of names for that year.  It's apparently quite different now, where 20% or less are given names from the top 20's.  So instead of having 4 or 6 Jennifer's in a class, there may be 2 Bella's.  People are just expanding their lists of names. 

So, IMHO, if you love a name in the top 10 or 20, chances are there won't be a dozen in your child's class like would have been the case 30 years ago.