Harry... just too popular?

Maybe swap the names around?
So use 'Darcy' if you have a son and 'Harriet/Henriette/Henrietta (nn Harry) if you have a daughter? They're both nice names for either gender.

I have a 5yr old Harry, I don't know any others. :)

But even the Most Popular Name was stil only given to around 1% of all.babies.born last year.

So not actually that common

I wouldn't do it; they seem to be everywhere here. Harry and Evies everywhere

Jeez wind your neck in - Harry IS a great name - I wasnt talking about any name, I WAS talking about Harry.

"there IS a reason it was number one top name in 2011 - because it is a great name"

The reason a name becomes a number one top name is that lots of people choose it because they like it NOW, because it is trendy NOW. It doesn't necessarily make it a 'GREAT' name imo. The names Steve or Dave were all trendy too and everyone chose them but that doesn't necessarily make them 'great' imo.

(op, I think it is lovely to honour your Granpa and you should definately include Harry in his names, perhaps as a middle name)

I wouldn't worry too much tbh - a not so popular name now could become hugely popular in a couple of years time. Use what ever name you like (there IS a reason it was number one top name in 2011 - because it is a great name !!)

I don't know any Harrys, but I do know three Henrys (all under one, Midlands).

nene what's the girl's name?

I have a Harry and you do hear it a lot, there are 2 others living on our street! But I really don't care because none of them are MY Harry! I picked it because I love it and it suits him down to the ground, so I don't regret it at all. Go with your heart and honour your Grandad I say.

Incidentally, having just read your last post, OP, there was also a Micah in the same year!

There were three Harrys (and four Sams) in the year that just left the school I work at, but it didn't seem to bother them - they formed the Harry Club and wrote to Prince Harry asking him if he'd like to join....

Just looked at the regional stats for baby names in 2011 and Harry does seem a lot less popular in London than in every other region. I wonder if it's anything to do with the royal family and having a child with a prince's name being less attractive to those living in London?

You may find that its top rating elsewhere in the country puts a lot of other people off using it now.

Also, as I posted elsewhere I think it's easier for children to have a well-known, fashionable name than a weird one which no-one's heard of or can spell - except for an odd geography teacher who embarrasses you hugely by discussing the mythology associated with it in front of the whole class. I speak from experience

I have an 8 mo Harry. I don't know any others his age in this area. I don't care that it's the most popular name at the mo, we chose it because we both love it and it certainly suits our little boys cheeky nature!

I grew up in a house where my step sister had the same first name as me - it got annoying sometimes but it never overly bothered me.

I would use whatever name you like. Ds is a Harry i know one other pre school aged Harry.

I've got a little Harold, but realistically he will always be Harry to us! He was born 3 weeks ago so just before this list :(

It would put me off. It really depends how popular the name is in your area. When had ds 2 years ago, ALL my friends who gave birth to boys that year called their sons Harry. Kent/Essex area FWIW.

Having said that I can see the reasons why you want it and I did call my son after my grandad! (Although it's a relatively uncommon name).

Agree that a middle name would be a good compromise.

There are a LOT of little Harrys around here so if you have a common surname your ds may well have difficulties being identified. Depending on what area he works in, it can be really helpful to be identified and found easily.

Was your Grandad officially a Henry, known as Harry? It was a lot more common a few generations ago I think - would give you another option, and Henry is a good name :)

My DD's name turned out to be incredibly popular when we moved to the country we now live in - if we'd stayed in the UK she wouldn't have known any other children with her name, but here there are loads of them, and it was the number 1 name for her year of birth - oops! She has complained about it once or twice and had a brief attempt to use her middle name, but didn't like how people pronounce it. In the end though everyone calls her by her first and family name, which has pros and cons (was funny when DS1 was 2-3 and used to call her by her full name too!) It does mean sometimes when I say my family name people I don't even know will say "Ah you must be the mum of the Anna EnglishWoman" and tell me their granddaughter was talking about her last week or something - I quite like that, and people wouldn't make the connection in such obscure ways if she had a name unusual enough to be stand alone (as DS1 does).

I'd use Harry as a middle name - that way you can still honour your Grandad but avoid your ds having THE most popular boys name.

In our Beavers group there are 3 Harrys out of about 20, two of which share a similar surname (and surname initial)! No, not the end of the world, but it somewhat defeats the purpose of a name as identifying someone (without adding surname or other modifier).

The dog thing is irritating but even just a year is a long time, they could move, gt rid of the dog etc and once it's your sons names you will be so caught up in him I doubt you would notice.

You have special reasons for wanting to use the name so don't be put off doing so if that means more to you than your son having a more unusual name.

It is a very popular name (now no.1 boys name) and flukey that you haven't come across it. DD1, now almost 4, was in a nursery group of about 15 children - 4 of which were called Harry. We know several but as someone else has said choosing a less popular name doesn't guarantee that your child will be the only one in their class anyway.

Don't worry about the people with the dog. You'll soon be shouting exactly the same things in your garden!!!