Chosen baby name: Rare? No, not any more!

Another Mum to a four year old Ava here. I still love the name and it suits my daughter but the only drawback is that, as it can't be shortened, if there is another at school she is bound to be Ava Initial or Surname. There are two Toms in DS's class and I actually think that he thinks they are called their full name all the time! We were at one boy's for tea and my DS was calling him Tomsmith (not his surname but you get the idea) all the time as if it were one name!!

I will stamp my foot if this happens and insist that she is simply Ava but there are no others in the nursery at the moment.

I managed to give DD4 one of the most popular names of the last ten years; there are two in her class and a few others in the school as a whole, and I hear the name everywhere. However, I like the name very much (although the runner up name I had in mind would be very unusual and the nn I wanted would have been unique) and it's her now.

With DD4 otoh, I was pretty sure I had chosen a truly unusual name but BAM, on the first day of school we ran into the only other one I have ever met, so she is also one of two in her class, although they use different nns. I have since then met the other girl's aunt after whom she was named, and the girl's family have met the relative of mine after whom DD4 was named -- there were once four of them in the same room, different generations...

I had no idea how popular my DD's name is - she is one of two in her year group. I still love it though and it suits her.

Its a gorgeous name. Speaking as someone who was one of four Jo s in class I don't think it will get that popular!

There is a child in my son's nursery class called Ella-Daisy - not keen myself as seems a strange way to make the name sound slightly original!

You have to show them the statistics. ONLY way to get through to them!

My xmil was the same. She thought that Archie was a crazy name for a baby. SHe kept saying to me "you have to think of the child but she hadn't a notion what babies were being called. NOT a notion. And she wouldn't be told either. My son isn't called Archie but I jsut remember her laughing at it as though it were, I don't know......... Cyril.

Kerala1 - I completely agree! DH is like that. He can't get his head around the fact that names like Peter, David, Emma, Jonathan etc are NOT popular anymore. He just thinks back to his schooldays and concludes that 'everyone' is called that.

He doesn't get out to playgroups or coffee mornings so no matter how often I explain that Isabella (and versions of it) is incredibly popular, he still thinks its vaguely original. Of course it is a nice name but I don't want my child to be identified by her surname once she gets to school.

I have been surprised at the number of first time parents who gauge the popularity of the name they choose by the names that were common when they were at school. Then think they are being edgy and breathtakingly originial by picking a nmae like Ruby or Lola.

In which case perhaps everyone needs to go for Mollie, Amber etc!

Maybe the trick is to identify a name that is on its way down the tables! As not many of them seem to have two spikes of popularity...

We chose a name that was fairly uncommon (we thought) and there is another in her class - there are also 2 boys with the same name, in a class of 12.

In 1999 I gave my firstborn an unusual name-no Chloe or Megan for me I thought. The name? Isabella

my dcs are nicholas nn [nick] sophie and kenzie my grandsons are lucas/oakley i alo met an oakley in our local asda last week

My first DC has a name I thought was fairly common/popular. We don't know another and he is the only one in the school.

My second DC has a "classic" name, which is shared by a lot of adults I know. Next year she will be the only one with that name in her school.

My third DC has a name I thought quite rare and when I tell people his name they say "Oh, that's unusual" and no one seems to be able to spell it. When he starts school he will be one of at least three.

You never can tell . . .

I've got an Isla who is 2 and Ive never met another one round here yet! People think her name is so strange! there like what is it Is-la no EYE-la !!!!! lol !

A common occurrence as people of the same generation have similar tastes and references and like the same type of name. It explains the 101 Lily-maes I have met. Both of my DCs have popular names but they have been popular for generations so shouldn't date.

I have an Angie (2yo), and am dreading meeting another one.

Unlikely though, as everyone hates it

When choosing our daughter's name back in 2003 I really liked Ella. Hadn't heard it much before and had no idea it would become so popular. Luckily due to last name also containing lots of l's we didn't name her this. Instead she has the very unusual name, Nyah. Ds1 has the more popular name Ethan and now we are currently sruggling to think of a name for DC3. I want something that goes well with the other two and would prefer something that isn't too popular... it's difficult!

Not the school, the other students. Her teachers use her full name from what I can tell. The problem is that our surname is a mouthful and is often pronounced incorrectly - so most don't try.

"So my Ellie has been given a nickname that is a cross between her first name and surname. It´s less than flattering".

And the school have done this?

That´s terrible imo.

When I was at school Julie was a popular name & if there were two with the same surname initial then they would be Julie Surname iyswim.

Ellie is a lovely name btw.

I think it does matter.

My DD is Ellie and she's 12. We picked it because we loved it, and when she was born it suited her more than our other choice. We didn't pay too much attention to how popular it was - and really it was around the time that it was starting to become really popular, so perhaps we wouldn't have been able to predict how it would go.

I still adore her name and it totally suits her, but now she is at senior school she is encountering problems with it. Basically she is one of 4 in one class alone, and two of them have the same surname initial. So my Ellie has been given a nickname that is a cross between her first name and surname. It's less than flattering. Her friends use it in an affectionate manner, but of course there are some who don't.

Now I realise that this is partly also due to the fact that our surname makes this possible, however if you use a name that is increasingly popular - your child will have to be identified in some other way.

In our family we have a "Big Ian" and a "Little Ian" for obv reasons. There is always a chance that your child could develop teenage acne, or be overweight, or really tall or short etc... so there is always a chance that someone will say "which Ellie?" "Oh you know, spotty Ellie".

So we're now expecting another DD and we both love the name Ava - but we won't use it because of its popularity. DS has a very unusual name - which on MN gets mixed reactions - usually the negative ones are that he'll be picked on for it, but if an Ellie can be picked on for her name, then I guess anything else is fair game too.

There are so many beautiful names out there - and when you talk about unusual names on here, there can ofter be a negative reaction, but unusual doesn't have to mean weird or out there, it can just be original.

Sorry this has been long.

18 years ago, when I named my son after my Grandad I was worried that I'd chosen an old man's name...ha ha ha...he and the rest of the world are called Jack!

And you know what? It reall really really doesn;t matter!

i have a clara,i've met fucking 5 of them since she was born. she's only 3.i am gutted

Same as marniesmum - thought Ella was fairly uncommon but unfortunately forgot to take into consideration all those isabellas, eleanors and others abbreviated to Ella.
Have considered insisting that school refers to all children by their given names not nicknames! (probably not a good idea!)