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

It is definitely worth checking the top 100, especially with a first child you aren't always in the loop with young babies and it's only at nursery you discover that rare and pretty name is so frequently used. If you spend your (pre-kids) days surrounded by Dave, Mike, Clare and Rachel and maybe a few Scotts, Kylies and Hayleys, you aren't aware of the "trends".

They must creep into our consciousness from the media because Chloe, Olivia and Ruby seem to be less-usual names to me, but are the top 3 of 2009, and if you took Isabelle/isabella together she would be No.2. Agree that nobody want to call their child Norbert just to be unique but there are thousands of names out there without them being one of 3 Jacks or Sophies in the class, you would think it would be possible to find one.

If you download the spreadsheet from the stats website it gives all the names registered in that year.

I used to have a female dog called Alex when I was with XH before we were married. I had to laugh when I found out he and his new wife have called their son Alex.

Edmundo you have me all worried now!

dd1 was named Phoebe. we named her so because dh had read JD Salingers "The Catcher in the Rye" at age 14 and said then " If I ever have a dd I want her to be called Phoebe because Phoebe is the coolest sister ever"

ffw to when dd1 was born (nearly 13 years ago) it was not on the top 100 list the year before she was born went in that year on highest riser at 47.. and EVERYONE was

OHH like in Friends?? err No after The Catcher in the Rye actually..

it did irritate me it still does nw that it became such a popular name my other 3 does nto have names that are this popular in England though dd3 has a Irish name and we do have a mug (plastic type thing) with her name on because of it) howeer with her I am learning people know it if they have Irish connections and not at all nor how to say it if they havent (Aoife) (I have a thing about silent o's)

I was one of 6 Sarahs in my school year which at the time was really annoying but now I really don't care

DD1 is still the only one with her name in the school, DD2 is a character in the Twilight books apparently so I expect it will become more popular...

Both names were chosen because we love them

i did the same at the begining of the 90's with my dd's name, had never heard of anyone called this name.

When dd got to school there where several girls with this ame and it has got more popular and now dipped a little.

who cares i love the name and it suits my dd

I didn't know any Isabellas when I named dd1 in Jan 2008

DD2's name is already on this thread too.

edmundo - agree, i wouldn't advise people to choose a dated name - you are lucky yours is now fashionable - mine still isn't and i can't see it every being!

we chose a not very popular name and then the child's godparents used it as well.

I gave DS2 a rare name...family were random strangers commented on it...7 years later it's in the top 10 of boys names, I think.

DD's name was becoming popular 5 years ago, so it's no surprise there is another girl in her class with the same name.

For once I will agree DH was right, and am glad we didn't go for Ruby...there are already 2 in her class!

Thought i was being original when i called my kids kyle, jasper, alex and jess. I was wrong.

My parents chose (for me) a name from their generation ie a generation (and a half maybe)above mine and I HATED it gowing up. It was very unusual within my age group and I was very embarrassed to tell people my name.
Now my name seems quite cool (although I still don't like it as I think I'm scarred) and appealing but it doesn't seem to matter too much to me now - not like it did when I was growing up.

I would personally advise people not to go for a dated name for their child.

Even though my som has a traditional name and neither myself nor dh knew anyone else (personally) with the same name when we named him, it became very popular.

I do think you notice your own child's name more though, so perhaps to others it may still seem relatively uncommon.

Foundinhongkong, my son has quite a dated name and a good few times when I've called out *Victor, hold my hand!" some middle-aged guy has turned around and looked at me with confusion. (that's not the actual name)

When I gave birth to DD nearly 5 years ago all the midwives commented on what a lovely unuasual name she had. It is Ava.

These days they probably say 'not another bloody one'

This sounds like a lecture! not meaning it too, but I checked the statistics and looked to see how fast various names were rising. Ruby wasn't in the UK top 100 in 2002 early 2003 when I was looking through name books! Hard to believe now. I had a feeling though, looking at the American stats that it might be on the way up. The American stats are great. They list the top thousand names so you can really plot trends. If you're so inclined. I'm a name geek and I was! but that would be ludicrous to most people. I was doing a lot of research/analysis type stuff at work at the time. Think it spilled over.

Funnily enough, now, if I were to have another child, which I won't, I'd just call her Phoebe or Juliet and that'd be it. I love the names always have done and I wouldn't even look to see where on the charts it was. But I do understand that desire to give your child an unusual name.

Isla is my name and I can honestly say I was slightly freaked out 5 years ago when loads of little'uns were suddenly running around with it. Most disturbing when you're used to being a rarity, especially in England.

Despite how mainstream its becoming I'm still forced to correct people on the pronunciation on a very regular basis. Bah.

Yeah, its a real shame for my DH, he honestly couldn't see that it would cause any confusion or even a raised eyebrow or two.

Not to mention the confusion when you talk about going on holiday/leaving food out etc!

We had a cat called Elliot, when I was having DC1 DH once said "why don't we call the baby Elliot". I had to explain to him that yes I did like it, I'd choosen it for the cat afterall, but people might think that it showed an extrodinary lack of imagination if we used the same name twice

Nah, I think it's cool too. Would have thought about it for DS, but one of our cats is called Gus!

Allie, the PG name was Angus which I think is cool, but am quite sure I will get flamed for that one

I had never heard of a child with DSs name until a couple of years ago although saying that still only heard of about 3 or 4 others. A boy at DDs tots group has the same name but they pronounce it wrong which badly grates.

I was against my DS1's name for being in the top 50 but so far we haven't come across any others. DD is probably one of the oldest in the country with her name, more have sprung up since a certain movie came out.
DS2 I am pretty confident will be a one and only for a while, unless we emigrate.

Just out of interest, JJJ, what was the pg name?

EBD, you're not the only one. My friend was going to call her DS another name all through her PG 7 years ago and at the last minute changed her mind to Oscar as she thought it was more unusual.

We've never met or heard of anyone with the PG name, but Oscar now that's a different story.