To think unique child names take away some childish delights?

[EugenesAxe]

I was musing about this today - my DS (4y) came to me and said a boy on a certain CBeebies show had the same name as him, and he was really chuffed about it.

There is a book we read in which DS likes to point out some names in a school that are his and his two cousins' (all names in recent top 10s).

One of my favourite things about The Twits when I was young, was that it was 'For Emma'.

It seems popular these days to search for a unique name and I sort of think it's a shame that people forget the vague affinity you feel when you meet someone with your name. Or is this just me and AIBU? Not a very important one to be fair.

[hazeyjane]

I have only met a few people with my name (although it isn't that unusual) but don't think I ever felt a particular affinity with them.

[SantanaLopez]

I think this too. Keyrings and pencils with your name on it are brilliant.

[Panzee]

My name is not uncommon but the spelling I use always seemed to escape pencil case and ruler manufacturers. I hated that. :o

[TheDalek]

I know what you mean. I have a common name and I love it. Also, people go on about how 'Harry will be one of four in the class' or whatever. I was one of six in my year with my name, two of the others were in my class, we all LOVED it, we just had different nicknames and called each other 'the other Emma (eg)'.

[itsmeitscathy]

It also makes it impossible for people in Starbucks to spell your name correctly. Which is annoying.

[AgentZigzag]

There is something to helping your DC to feel special snowflakes, confident in their individuality, but then it's also good to help them feel as though they fit in as part of the whole.

I love a good baby name thread when they come up on AIBU though

Right judgey me

[arethereanyleftatall]

Yanbu. Unfortunately I didn't take this in to consideration when choosing dd1 lovely, unusual name. There's never a cup or keyring etc in her name, and her little face falls every single time.
I feel bad, but hope when she's older, she'll love her name. Fingers crossed.
I bloody spent 9 months thinking about the positives and negatives of her name every single day, and this never crossed my mind. Oops.

[Bulbasaur]

Keyrings and pencils with your name on it are brilliant.

Yeah, but now that we have the internet, any name can be put on those.

I don't understand the need to give your child a unique name. But the important thing is to give your child a nice name that you like. Hopefully parents aren't just being unique for the sake of it.

[WhereAreMyGlasses]

I agree. I have a known/traditional but not that common name so the delight of ever finding something with my name was much magnified

[Alisvolatpropiis]

I see what you mean. But my name is far from unique and I could never find a keyring/pencil case etc with my name on it.

[TweeAintMee]

My name is not very common and as a small child that caused me to loathe it. I still remember meeting another child who shared my name and being thrilled and relieved in equal measure.

Liking a name isn't only about encountering it in everyday life among other people (although when little, I see that it helps a small child identify with the rest of the crowd).

But as I have grown older what matters more to me is the actual sound of my full first name when spoken and the appearance of it in type on paper - I didn't like it so once I had escaped parental influence I encrouaged usage of a diminutive.

[sleepyhead]

I still have a quick glance at personalised tat in gift shops in the vain hope that one day I come across my name [sadface]. It aint gonna happen.

Unique is no fun when all you really wanted was your name on a Cornishware mug from the local garden centre.

Having said that, There are at least two people in the world with the same name as me. One of them became locally notable about 20 years ago and practically everyone who knew me got very excited about it on my behalf.

The other lives in Australia and I recently got an email meant for her as the person wrote [email protected] rather than hotmail.com.

This must happen to people with normal names all the time I should imagine.

[Pico2]

It's nice to find a character in a book with your name or on TV. But I have never liked sharing my name with people in RL. Particularly being known as Pico D through school as there was also a Pico L, partly because I have a full surname, not just an initial. I don't think I am really very good at sharing.

For DD I think we may have got the balance right - unlikely to be the only one in the school, likely to be the only one in the class.

[BlackeyedSusan]

dd was one of 44 babies with her name in her year. other years have been similar. up to the dizzy heights of 55. we were stopped in the street when someone heard her full name as they had never met another child with the same name before.

i was really surprised when I found out that her name is so rare. I thought it would be popular. she can always find her short name on gift shop stuff though if she so desires.

[littlejohnnydory]

My name is very common, six in my year at school. I felt as though my parents couldn't be bothered to think of something original! That probably had as much to do with my parents as it did the name but my children have names that are not unheard of but not common either - no pencils or keyrings except for the eldest whose name has become more popular since we used it (I'd have chosen something else had I known!)...easy to have things personalised these days though so don't think it's a huge problem!

[trufflesnout]

I have a unique name and I agree to an extent. My name is unique in that it is unusual though and I understood why my parents chose it - what I don't understand is when parents use everyday names and make them 'unique' by altering the spelling. I struggled with my name at points but at least it was an actual name.

[arethereanyleftatall]

I really want to know what all the names are which people are talking about on this thread!

[muttonjeffmum]

I used to work with someone with the same name as me. When I got married, I married someone with the same surname as her! I lost touch with her before I got married but I do think what a coincidence. The names aren't really, really common either.

[squoosh]

I hated having someone else with my name in my class.

[hazeyjane]

Dd2 has the same name as her best friend, they seem to love sharing a name (although it gets a bit confusing!)

[MyCatHasStaff]

I have a very ordinary name, but never knew anyone else with it, until about 6 years ago when I moved and I met 5 other people with the same name in a short space of time. And then 2 characters in two different tv programmes. Freaked me right out

[curiousgeorgie]

I gave my DD2 a pretty unique name and was really excited about it.. Most people hated it (including my mother) but I stuck to my guns and called her it.

At 10 weeks old took her to baby swimming... The baby in front of us was being passed into the pool and the teacher said 'hello Seraphina!'

My baby's name. I couldn't believe that in a class of 5 babies in a small town there were two Seraphinas.

What are the bloody chances?!

They live one road away from us.

[Azquilith]

I had 6 with my name in my year at school. 3 in my graduate intake of 12. Hated it. Gave my son an unusual but not nuts name - 500 named it in the country last year. Hope he likes it.