North Carolina Babies

Baby names

DH and I have zero names for this baby, we are clueless.  We find out the gender on the 14th and I guess we can focus a little more then.  Anyway, DH threw out a name last night for a girl that was ok, but then I looked it up and it is on every popular name list, which I don't like.  Would you not go with a name because it is too popular?  Or does the popularity have no weight on how you choose a name?

Re: Baby names

  • I have to say, even if I really like a name, if it's in the top 25 or so popularity-wise, I don't even consider it. I just want my kid to be one of a few, not one of twenty, in school with his/her name.
  • I think alot of it is regional too.  When I look at the top names on the SS website, I'm surprised by some of them, because I don't know anyone IRL that has a kid with that name.  So I'd pay less attention to the lists and maybe think more along the lines of people you know IRL.  Are there any kid's in O's daycare with that name?  Know any teachers you can ask?  Friends, family members, etc. 

    Elijah is pretty high up on the SS website, and I do know some other Eli's, but in the scheme of things I hear it alot less than names like Jayden and the other -aden names. 

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  • This is tough.. we're nowhere near that point yet, but for whatever reason, I look at baby names all the time. LOL.

    I don't care how popular the name is--I LOVE the name Emma. But it's definitely like in the top 5 most popular names right now and has been for a few years. I'm on the fence as to how much weight I'd ultimately put on that though. I figure the pros are no one would ever misspell it, there'd always be trinkets (ornaments, personalized cups, etc) with her name on it (we can never find Holly on this kind of stuff--not that this fact alone is worth choosing a name over! hehe), no one would ever pick on her for having a 'weird' name, etc. This particular name is a classic name, so it would never really "go out of style."

     But the cons are her being one of 7 Emma's in her class, and having to always be referred to as "Emma H.," etc.

    (The real reason I would probably not use it is that DH's ex had a child--from a previous relationship--named Emma, and when they were together, DH was always mistaken for her dad, because they both have red hair. Isn't that just hilaaaaarious? Confused.. Of course he hasn't seen them in 6+ years, and it'll probably be another 2-3 years before we actually had a second child....but still. hehe) But I digress.... Smile

     

     



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  • The names DH suggested were Hannah and Abigail, and neither of which I hear very often and there are none in O's class at daycare (anyone else hear them a lot?).  Like mikey said, they were high up on the SS list, and on some popular baby name lists.  But, I really don't want to have Hannah F. in her class.  I know there is no way to really avoid it, I can't guarantee that Owen will be the only one in his class, but I just would rather not pick a name in the top 50. 

  • I like more classic names so I never pay attention to where it is on the list.  We just chose names we liked and went with it.  There is no way to predict how many kids will have their names in class in elementary, middle, high school, college or even on the job later in life.  Plus, how popular a name is here in NC may not matter if 5 years from now if you have a job changes that puts you in Seattle.  I'd much rather love the name than try to forecast those items.  It would be different if my sister or brother named their child one of the names I liked, or even a good friend (although that wouldn't eliminate it, it would just make me think more on whether we wanted to go with that name, e.g. my good friend named her daughter Katelyn.  I've always loved Caitlin and Claire would have been Caitlin but we changed our minds in the last few weeks).

    Good luck!

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  • We're right there in that same situation which is why I posted for baby name website recs.  We have been clueless and it's been a little frustrating.  I just keep reminding myself that the baby won't be here till June so we have time.  But I'm such a planner that I at least like some idea on what names we like. 

     As far as popularity, I don't like to choose a name if it's super popular.  R's name isn't even on the list and I love it (obv).  LOL.  But one of the names we're considering is in the top 20 and if it's the one we BOTH like and BOTH agree on then that'll be her name no matter how popular.

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  • Eli does have a Hannah at his daycare, just one though I think in the entire center.  And I don't remember any Hannah's at his old center.  I went to HS with a Hannah, but other than those 2, I can't think of any other Hannah's I know IRL. 

    There was an Abigail at his old center, she went by Abby.  I'm not sure if there are any at his new center. 

    So IMO, neither of those names is super popular in my experience and I think they are both very nice names! 

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  • I like both of those names and have not heard them recently at all.  When I think of the most popular girls names right now off the top of my head (not website related) are Ava, Ella, Emma, Grace, Maddie, Chloe, and Emily. Those are just the names I hear most often every day, in classes, etc.

    We went for a name not high on the popular carts as well. We are trying for the same thing this time around and hope we can do it! 

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  • With DS, we were using a family name and so popularity would have no bearing on our using the name.  Of course, it's not a super-popular name and we knew that.

    With DD, we narrowed it down to 2 names - Lauren and Olivia.  The only reason we didn't use Olivia was because of how popular it is and beacuse we really loved them equally so it made sense to use the less popular one. 

    DS - June 2009
    DD - February 2011
  • I started almost an identical thread on the August 2011 board since my husband and I really liked one girl name but was afraid since we both grew up with semi popular names that we wanted something more unique. It seemed like a lot of the feedback I got was people definitely weigh the popularity of a name before choosing.

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  • imageskirk429:

    The names DH suggested were Hannah and Abigail, and neither of which I hear very often and there are none in O's class at daycare (anyone else hear them a lot?).  Like mikey said, they were high up on the SS list, and on some popular baby name lists.  But, I really don't want to have Hannah F. in her class.  I know there is no way to really avoid it, I can't guarantee that Owen will be the only one in his class, but I just would rather not pick a name in the top 50. 

    I've always really liked the name Hannah, and it was on my "possible baby name" list about it before we knew DS was a boy. I'll be honest, when I found out it was one of the top 5 or top 10 most popular girls names out there, I started to reconsider. And then it wasn't an issue because DS was a boy. Smile Lately I feel like I've been hearing the name "Hannah" all over the playground and in the doctor's office though (we've been there more than I'd like this winter...I hate winter! But I digress)

    Try not to stress too much about the naming process. You've still got some time, and something will come to you! 

     

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  • If you REALLY like a name, then you should use it whether it is popular or not.  If you are so-so, then keep looking.

    We had a really hard time with a girl name.  We did not decide until about 2 days before my due date.

  • For us, an overly popular top 10 name wasn't really something we'd consider. Like most ppl, we were striving for different but not weird. lol. I do love Abigail, it's Margo's middle name actually ;)

    This website is fun, and here's the map part where you can see by state the popularity of a name. https://www.babynamewizard.com/name-mapper

     

  • If a name was in the top 5, then I'd try to avoid it.   Every since the 1997 movie, Fools Rush In, with Matthew Perry and Salma Hayek, I've loved the name Isabel.  Well, thank you Stephenie Meyer.  Because of Twilight, Isabel, Isabella and Bella are now forever stricken from my list of potential names.  Boo.

    I didn't think Grayson was popular, but it jumped up like 20 or 25 places this year on the top 100.  Awesome.  So I guess you never really know when a name will jump up and become popular overnight.  I say, if you and your DH decide upon a name you love, go for it.

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  • If a name is on the top of the popularity list, forget it! You also pick up on what people are naming their kids through friends and your area. About a decade ago, Riley was super popular for boys and girls, and the past couple of years it's been Lily for girls and Noah for boys.
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  • We really wanted something unique for our son so we took a not so common name ( Asher) and put our own twist on it and came up with Vasher. I am pretty sure he won't ever meet another Vasher lol. My name is very popular Jessica..I have always in school had to be Jess or Jessi( which i HATE) or in some grades we had 3 jessica's! My mom said that when she named me it wasn't that popular but I guess everyone else was thinking the same thing! I hear the name Hannah often but not Abigail and that is a very pretty name!
  • Well, I (obviously) couldn't care less if a name is popular or not! I thought of Maddie's name in the middle of the night one night when I was pregnant, and I loved it so much there was no looking back. I was Jenny H all through school, and it just never bothered me. And it turns out I call her Maddie Grace most of the time anyway, so she can always use that name at school if there are multiple Maddie's in her class.

    Anyway, it's just not something that would make a difference to me. I would pick a name b/c I loved it, not b/c it was popular or not popular.

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