Baby Names
jenniferamcooper
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Popularity of Names
jenniferamcooper
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in Baby Names
Hi Ladies:
Our province has released its top 10 baby list for 2015. Our preferred name is #4 which is Charlotte. People keep saying it's everywhere and they're over it but we loved it before it was cool (way before). Sooo basically what are your thoughts on this situation.
Our province has a population of nearly a million, 1/2 of which live in the capital (where we live). The #1 girl name for 2015 was Ava with 64 baby girls names Ava... when you think of a million person population do you all think Ava is super popular still? I guess I'm trying to rationalize using Charlotte but the scenario that keeps playing in my heads is that there are 287 elementary schools in the province with 64 Ava's entering the school world in 2020 there (in theory) shouldn't be 3+ Ava's in each class. And that's for the #1
Am I too worried about a name being popular? I'm a Jennifer from the 80s and only had one other Jennifer in my class until junior high/high school so I'm sensitive to the subject but I have a feeling I might be over analyzing.
As you can tell I
stats and work for the government so I have access to lots of data Mwwhaha. Would it be weird to ask how many Charlotte's were born in our area in 2015? Maybe I'm freaking out about popularity and there was like 30.
Our province has released its top 10 baby list for 2015. Our preferred name is #4 which is Charlotte. People keep saying it's everywhere and they're over it but we loved it before it was cool (way before). Sooo basically what are your thoughts on this situation.
Our province has a population of nearly a million, 1/2 of which live in the capital (where we live). The #1 girl name for 2015 was Ava with 64 baby girls names Ava... when you think of a million person population do you all think Ava is super popular still? I guess I'm trying to rationalize using Charlotte but the scenario that keeps playing in my heads is that there are 287 elementary schools in the province with 64 Ava's entering the school world in 2020 there (in theory) shouldn't be 3+ Ava's in each class. And that's for the #1
Am I too worried about a name being popular? I'm a Jennifer from the 80s and only had one other Jennifer in my class until junior high/high school so I'm sensitive to the subject but I have a feeling I might be over analyzing.
As you can tell I
stats and work for the government so I have access to lots of data Mwwhaha. Would it be weird to ask how many Charlotte's were born in our area in 2015? Maybe I'm freaking out about popularity and there was like 30.
Re: Popularity of Names
We are having a second in June. I'll be looking for a name out of the top 50.
Either way, it's a beautiful name! Go with your gut!
I think the only "classic, timeless" names are names like Elizabeth, Emily, Abigail that have been in the top 20 for the last 20+ years. Charlotte has skyrocketed in the last 5 years and is still trendy. It's an old name, but it wasn't common at all in our generation. I think names can be classic and trendy at the same time.
We took Ava off of our list (it was my #1) because of popularity... I didn't want our LO to always be Ava M. We changed to a name that was out of the top 30.
However, we are going to name this LO William if it's a boy because IMO William is a classic, timeless name that will never be dated. It is also my fathers name.
I think Charlotte is a timeless, classic name but is gaining in popularity because of Princess Charlotte. It will be popular, but it won't be dated.
Baby #2 Due 3/7/20
We chose Evelyn, knowing few other people with kids, then two weeks before the due date found out it was in the top 20! We stuck with it anyway. I'm hoping it's considered classic and not trendy but not much we can do now!
Good luck!
@MamaWren919 I'm also a 1984 Jennifer and my maiden name was smith... totally not sketch to put that out there because there's literally a million of me. 2 in my high school (of 1200 so not bad) and 3 in my 20K population university plus one prof that shared my name. Yeah it sucked til my last name became a smidge more unique.
@mollie2383 that's exactly what I'm worried about being super trendy and dated. We're still considering other names but husband loves it.
FYI my friend works in the stats office and figured out the numbers for me...there were 39 Charlotte's born this year in our province. So my concern about her being "one of many" might not be so worrisome.
Our nearly 2 year old is Oliver which has also become trendy and popular but it's a name inspired by one of my husband's favourite songs and one of my fav history personalities.. so we said "ehh it's top 15" when he was born and now is pretty popular.
I guess if our kids names turn out trendy we'll just let them know their origins.
Use the name you love, regardless of popularity.
Names are becoming more diversified so it's not *as* bad when you're thinking trendy. Charlotte's a funny one because it's in the "trend" of older, classic names (Ava, Sophia etc). These were not really used as much as the "always popular names (Elizabeth, Anne, etc). It's still a classic name but it's part of a trend as well.
Hard numbers:
Nationally in 2014 there were 10,048 Charlottes born in the US nationally which represented ~0.6% of children born. Charlotte was ranked 10th most popular girls name (nationally)
Conversely
Sarah (Rank 50) there were 4,647 born which represented ~0.25% of children born.
They're both "popular" and by number there is a large difference between the two. There are definitely more Charlottes being named and there will be more of them in a group of children (which is a smaller group than the general population with a statistically higher proportion of Charlottes). The chances of having 5 Charlottes in a single class? Unlikely compared to the 1980s/1990s. There may be 2-3 in a cohort, though.
Expecting Double Trouble, April 2016
I think the point were diversifying names these days. I tried to stick with Canadian numbers which its hard to find specific stats on beyound top 10 lists because there's such a varying degree of names regionally. Apparently there were 38 Sadie's born this year in my province, making it the #5 name. But the most recent SSA stats had it at 52 in 2014.
There were 3 Jennifers in my circle of friends, and it was super annoying because I was always "Jennifer last name." I think it's the same with names that sound like a lot of other names. If I have a Haley, Baylee, and Kayley in my class, they might as well be the same name.
Me too!!!