Am I being a snob?

I think it really funny when a parent goes for an unusual name and then they get another in the same class!
I would just go for what you like. The ones in top 20 are generally classic names so you can't go wrong really.

My DS has a Top 20 name and I have never met another one his age.

Ha, good luck with that OP. My son's name was not top twenty and there are three in his class. You can never really know unless you're going for something that's not even top 100.

Oh, but I do understand where you're coming from, I was one of 4 girls in my primary class with the same name. I hated it.

I don't think you are being snobbish, but then the likelyhood of other children in the class with the same name will depend on the area you live in. For instance, the year DS was born, his name is in the high 30s on the list and the name Edward is 44th. However, he is the only boy of his name we've met, yet there are 3 Edward's in this nursery class (out of 15 children) and I know another 2 Edwards who live in roughly the same area as us who may end up in the same class at school.

you pick a name 44th on the list you probably think it's not that 'common' but it just seems to be popular to this area.

Olivia was no.1 for that year for girls names, I've only met one Olivia round here.

If you live in a super middle class area, the best way to make sure your DS has a unique name is to either go for something made up or go for the no. 1 name as no one will want to pick that one!

I don't think it's snobbish (if you were, you'd be worrying which of the titled great-great uncles names to give).

But I do think you're being ridiculous. There is nothing inherently valuable in infrequent use of a name. Nor can you predict when a name will explode into popularity, or be used for a main soap character, or in a popular series of books, or by a TV talent show competitor.

And you can't predict who else in your area is likely to use a name. As I've sometimes come across pairings of very unusual names in the same school year, I think this happens quite a bit (even in thinking "rare" the zeitgeist still influences I guess). If you had really, really aimed for uniqueness, and that happened, would it be better or worse than choosing the name you really, really love and accepting others love it too?

PS: only way to ensure a unique name would be to invent one. Random word from dictionary, or experiment with Scrabble tiles, perhaps?

It's not snobby but personally I don't understand why people worry about how many people may or may not have the same name.

National statistics don't give a clear picture of each area anyway. Ds has an apparently popular name yet i have only met one other!

It is not a question of snobness.

It is a question of personal taste. Personally I don't like popular names because the whole point of naming someone is to identify him or her.

You aren't being a snob per se. My DD has the most common name, I am sad but she is Ruby for better or worse.
Since there were only about 20 children registered the year she was born, I had nothing to compare it with and thought it was 'unusual'.

Not a snob at all, no. And I think you are quite right to avoid any name, no matter how much you like it, if you are worried it will become over-popular. Some people are not worried at all by that, which is fine, but I would be so I don't blame you. If it was lower on the list in the previous couple of years then chances are it will be much higher by next year.

My ds has the no 1 name (I picked it without checking how popular it is!) and despite having such a popular/common name he is at school now and has been the only one in his nursery and now the only one in his class with his name!
There are a couple of kids with same names as other children and they have much less common names!
If you love the name then go for it. After all it's top 20, not top 3 anyway!

Choose the name you like. A less common name doesn't make you a better person.
My name is pretty unusual but somehow, in an office of 12 people there are two of us! 15 years between us but both have Scandi links. And only one person of the other names which were top 10 in the 70s and 80s!

Choose the name you like. You could choose a more unusual name that you don't like as much and still find there's another child with that name in nursery of school.

All mine have unusual names

Whats the name????

popular does not equal "common" in the snobbish sense.
Some of the top 20 regulars in boys' names are stylish classics - so nothing snobby about either liking or disliking them, IMO.

My DS has a top 20 name - I didn't really think too much about it. I probably would have preferred it to be slightly less popular but I didn't think to check the stats before we decided on it. As it is, I don't know any other child of his age with the same name at the moment; so even if the stats say it is in the top 20, there are no guarantees that they will be in your area.