Is my name too popular?

My eldest dd's name was unheard of 23 years ago when she was born - except as a name for cats or puppies now it's about number 14!

How would you feel if you chose a different name, and then there were two of that name in her class?

Worse than if there were two Islas?

ChocolateCoins -Isla Fisher? Isla Blair? Isla StClair? Isla Mujeres?

I agree with Bakingtins in that there seem to be soooo many little girls called Amelia/Lily/Mia/Evie etc, and also little boys called Oliver/Oscar/Noah, yet according to some charts these names aren't even that popular (although they are near the top). It also seems like every little girl that has been born in the past few years have the same middle names - May/Mae/Grace/Rose. They're beautiful names, don't get me wrong, but I always groan a little inside when I hear about a new baby with one of these names. I do think it depends where you live though, surely it can't be the same everywhere!

What about Shona instead? I love Isla and Orla, but they're both getting really, really popular. I had a friend called Shona at school and always thought it was a really lovely name. It's similar but not as common....

to the child i dont think it matters at all. i had an unsual name child and to me that did matter, i quite like it now, and it is more common in children than in my day

go with the name you like

Am I the only one that's never heard this name before?

It may be more popular than it was, but it's still only given to 0.32% of babies - about 1 in 300.

I know loads of babies and only one Isla so it might be a bit of a regional thing. I'm in a big Northern city. I also have a very popular name myself (5 of us in my year at school, about 4 within a few desks at work) which is fine, at least everyone knows how to spell it!!

I like the name Isla. My friend chose it 3 years ago and we all thought it was unusual, now they are everytwhere, it does seem to be very of the moment and will probably date.
However, My DS1 has a top 10 name (more classic - in the Charlotte mould) and has never had another child with the same name in his class or groups. DS2 has a name which is down in the 60s/70s and has another in one of his classes.
Magic's point about the variations affecting the populairty listing is important too, you can't move for Amelia/Milly/Lily/Lillie/Mia and Evie/Eve/Evas round here, those names are much more popular than their position on the list would suggest.
If you love it, and it's the name you've always had in mind, then use it.

I think that the issue with Isla is that it's a name which has had a rapid rise in popularity. See this chart here: names.darkgreener.com/#isla and then compare it to Iona names.darkgreener.com/#iona.

Iona has bobbed around at about the 300 mark for the last ten years or so, whereas Isla ten years ago was about the same, but has since risen each year since at quite a rate. So it is very of the moment.

DD2 has a name which isn't even top 100, but there were two at her nursery. The other mother had really chosen unusual names for her DC, so she, in particular, was a bit surprised when DD2 rocked up!

I don't know any Islas, but I don't know many people with babies, as my DC are a bit older, now.

I like it, but I'm in Scotland where Isla could be 1, or 7, or 15, or 28, or 50+. It's timeless where I live, but I can see how it would be faddy elsewhere. All 3 of my dc (9,11,13) have an Isla as a friend. We considered it for dd1 but went with another name in the end.

If you like island names, as you said (and I used to live in Harris, awesome name!) what about Iona, Skye or Rona/Rhona. Or a name that's popular there - Eilidh, Rowan, Catriona, Anna, C/Katherine, Isabel, Marion, Mhairi?

V good point magichamster. I think Isla is lovely.

If you love it then use it.

My DS has a really common name, according to the name lists. It's a name we both loved for years and really suits him. In his class he is 'Bert A' (obviously not the actual name!) as there are 2 of them,but there are 350 kids at his school and they are the only 2.

At one of ds2's clubs there are 2 children with the same name, but it's a really unusual name. I'd have been more gutted if I'd have given my dc what I thought was a really unusual name, only to find another.

Also remember that the name lists are not always entirely accurate. Each entry is for that only spelling. So for example, Lily can be Lily, Lilly, Lillie, Lilley, not to mention all the Lily-May's, but would all be counted as different names. Isla (and my son's name) only really have one spelling, and no obvious abbreviations (e.g. Ben/Benjamin) so maybe appears more popular than it really is.

HTH

I love it by the way

I think it's a lovely name. I only know one, born to a fiercely Scot mother and an 'I;m so enraptured with my DD I'll go along with anything dad'.
We are abroad though so not entirely representative.

It's a lovely name but a bit predictable. I work in a nursery that takes about sixty children and I think there are three Islas, which, when you think of all the thousands and thousands of possible names, is a lot really. I also feel like I hear about a lot of babies being born called Isla lately. BUT that being said, don't let it put you off if you really love the name and have for a while - if you've become set on it you might regret not using it, and there's nothing to say it will stay as popular even for another year.

Agree, very faddy. It's a lovely name, but it's sort become a bit, 'mmm, nice' on account of being so widely used. I'm well outside the UK, too.

As for how popular it is your region - this is a bit of a red herring. Nobody remembers whether Claire, Karen, Sarah, Lisa, etc, were more or less popular in region X or Y; they simply associate them with a particular era/generation of girls...

Agree with toobreathless - it is pretty but very faddy. Every other new baby I meet/read about seems to be called Isla. Lots of celebs have chosen it too, it seems, so it's getting a lot of exposure at the moment. Reminds me of Ruby, which also came from nowhere and suddenly became ultra popular.

That said, as others have pointed out, popular names are generally popular because they're nice! If you're sure it's 'the one', use it.

How about Iona instead? Also a Scottish island, but far less popular as a name (but beautiful).

I don't think if it as faddy, as I only know one (aged about 8).

It's a million times nicer than a lot of 'MN' names and there aren't any in my daughter's nursery! Her name is maybe top 30 and there are two in the nursery so I think it's luck of the draw. I wouldn't be put off.

I know 2 people called Isla with a 25 year age gap

If you like the name use it

My dd2 has a name that was 3rd in her birth year and is still top 10 but she is the only one in her primary school

Iona?
Skye?