four in a class - really?

I've had 3 Rebeccas in a class... I've had 5 Thomases (was very handy since the odds were the child talking was 99% likely to be one of 'em... probably since none of the others could get a word in edgeways) - that class also had 3 Matthews (with varying numbers of Ts). Jacks - only had a couple, Lukes - had a couple of classes with two Lukes in.

My oldest son is Jack and never been in a class with another Jack. (he's in year 6) 4 Ellies in his class though!!

My younger son is Harry and in Y1. He has always shared his name with another Harry or Harrison.

When I was at school I always shared my name With 4 or 5 others- Catherine/Katherine/Kate/Katie.

Based on my area Ellie/Ella/Bella , Sophia/Sophie, Harry/Harrison, Callum, Liam and Connor are super popular.

Me and Sisiter in law are both same surname and first initial, when we were both PG at the same time our notes would regulary get mixed up!

In a derailiment, something Hilary McKay wrote once was from the viewpoint of a little girl named Molly, which was a duplicate name in her class. She was called "the other Molly" because she was not very exciting and it made her feel terrible. But the heroine of the story started calling her Mollipop and made her feel lovely. It sounds stupid written down by me, but it would make you tear up to read the actual story, I swear.

I really ought to go to bed now. I just really love Hilary McKay.

I taught a class with four Madeleines.

My dh is a Jason and although he didn't have any duplicates at school at university there were just tons of them in her social group and it really wasn't great as they all got nicknames which were generally focused on some physical feature. I don't suppose the guy who ended up with 'fat Jason' was terribly happy about that. Likewise I know that the Hannah who got 'Little Hannah' at my high school hated it (she was very petite).

A new girl joined my dd's class last year and to start off with she was delighted that she shared her name, but after being called various versions of her name plus some not very nice adjectives she got quite upset about it, and this year she has asked everyone to call her by her full name instead.

I have a very unusual name and it is undoubtedly much more memorable once people have got the hang of it (plus I never get misdirected email, which is a more modern issue if you work somewhere with a firstnamesurname email set up).

Mohammed (or variations of) - very mixed intake means there aren't lots of children with same names at all which makes life easier....

I'm a Megan born in '82 in the US, so there were lots of me. :) I like my name a lot, though.

DS is Sam and there are lots of Sams in the school, though the only repeat in his class so far are two little girls named Kaitlyn. He also has a Kjera and a Kira in his circle of friends, both of which are pronounced Keer-uh.

There are loads of Alex's around. The top boy names in our state are: Mason, Ethan, William, Owen, Logan, Jack, Samuel, Jacob, Jackson, and Carter. For girls it's: Ava, Olivia, Sophia, Isabella, Emma, Abigail, Ella, Addison, Grace, and Emily. I know quite a few kiddos with those names. :)

Might not matter to you Seeker, but it does to me. I was one of 3 in my class and 7 in my year. I am now one of 4 in my social circle and one of 3 in my family. I have a perfectly nice 1970s name, but I feel very negatively about never being the only one of me.

It makes me forgettable.

It has been a disadvantage at work - if I speak to a supplier or a client and then follow up with an email I have to make very sure they know exactly who I am and when we talked because I know damn well that signing my name on the bottom of the email is not going to help them remember me.

I had a great job once but my shadow on the client's side shared my name and it genuinely made my job harder.

I can't even phone my mother-in-law and say "Hello it's X here" because there'll be a pause while she tries to work out which X I am. "You know, X who is married to your son". It's crappy. And you sound like a fool using your surname to differentiate yourself to close family.

Having worked in a Children's hospital I have seen a genuine advantage in having an unusual name:
"Doctor I have Sarah Jones' mother on the phone" gets a blank look and an instruction to get out her file and he'll try and call back when he has time.
"Doctor I have Halcyon-Fay McPoodlebum's mother on the phone" and he knows who I'm talking about, remembers the child and speaks to the mother.

My husband has an unusual name and agrees it has stood him in good stead. People remember him and a casual reference 3 years later and people STILL remember him and can look him up.

In my secondary, there was 11 Lindseys, all with different spellings and 7 Stephens.

I was the only one in the entire school with my name.

DS1 is the only one with his name.

DS2 is still a baby so time will tell. When I picked his name I hadn't heard anyone use it for a while but since then, I've heard of a few.

In my dd's class there are 3 Abigails! All known as Abi / abbie or Abby. In, ds's current reception class there, are no duplicates although there are lots of similar names like, molly, ppoppy, evie etc.

Several Harrys and variations of Isobel Isabelle Isabella Ellie and Ella in the DCs classes.

Lots of Lisa Sharon Jackie Gary
Dean when I was at school

At secondary school I was one of about 10 Kate/Katie/Katherine variations.

In my group of 'baby' friends, there's a Katy, Katie, Cate and Catherine. Not to mention the two other Katherines, 3 Catherines, a Kathy and and Cathy I know in my wider circle of acquaintances.

Not exactly the same, but in DD's nursery group (just the baby room) out of the 8 babies that were there this morning when I dropped off, 6 had names beginning with E. I think there are two Evies, there was a Ewan, Eliza, Ella and I can't remember the other one. Too many Es.

And you know something? It doesn't matter!

out of 30 kids
2 Darcys
2 sams
2 Ellies
2 Henrys
3 mias
Poor teacher.....

we nearly called DS Elliot, partly because it was more unusual than our other choices - Ben and Sam.
in the end we didn't, but if we had, he would have been one of 3 Elliots in the 9 boys in his year group at school (village school small year groups).
as it is he is the only child with his (popular) name in the school now.
you never can tell.

I'm Karen and in the early 80s when I was in primary there were 5 in my year!

my sister is Joanne and there were 3 joannes and a joanna in her year

DD 2, there are 3 Emilys, and Ella and an Elle in her class (mine is Ella -I didn't even know it was popular when I gave her the name)

thought DD1 would have a really common name -Katy -and I don't know another one!

I have taught classes with 4 Daniels, 4 Freyas and 3 Bens.

I know of a class with 3 Daniels, 2 Olivers, 2 Josephs and 2 Finleys.

Years ago I had a class of 27 children. In that class I had;
2 Rebeccas
2 Bens (who had almost identical last names too)
3 Pauls
3 Davids...

That was tricky that year...

Emily Sz, Emily Sk, Emily I, and Emilie L were in DS's class throughout primary.

DD1 had four Michaels in her year.

DD4 has three Rachels.

The year before DD3 had 5 Jacks.

My sister teaches a class with three Jacks, two of which share the same surname initial!

Am now staying clear of the top 100 names in the hope of avoiding this for my children .

2 Ryans and 2 James in DS class.

2 james in DDs class too.

I once taught a class with two Laras, two Annas, two Lenas, a Lina and.... a Tessa

That was the whole class.