Is it really that big of a deal?

I actually think it's quite nice to have a really popular name. David Evans or Evie Williams or similar. We live in an age where our every move is tracked on social media - I think today's kids will be grateful for a name which many have - allowing them to go incognito online when they are adults!

Ok so we have an Amy-Rose, probably not many of them & it has significance for us as she's named after my MIL Amy & my mum Rosemary. It does grate when people call her Amy but I suppose that's another thread.....

We also have an Ava, tbh I had no idea how common a name it was but it's meaning spoke to us especially as she was poorly before & immediately after she was born. Just because there are lots of them doesn't mean it's not a pretty name & it suits her so well....... She's too little to care at the moment but she's got such a huge personality that I can't see it holding her back 😂

I want my dc to be Individuals

A name isn't what makes someone an individual. You can call your kid Perseus Redvers Aubergine Luxury-Yacht and he could still grow up to have the personality of a dishrag.

Giving a child an unusual name in the hope that it will make them unique is a bit like men putting on a tie with cartoon characters on it in the hope that it will make them appear fun.

Same as the OP, I gave DD a name which is outside the top 100 and traditional but never very common. I sort of considered the popularity of the name as part of the choice but it was quite low down the list of criteria. She then started school and there was another girl in the class with the same name, no big deal. Neither DD nor I (nor, afaik, the other girl or her family) cared at all.

There were three of my name (including me) in my class of 32. I still love my name and I didn't mind sharing it with others, the more the merrier!

Sorry - in his year

My son had the most popular name in is year at school (4 or 5 in his class). Our surname is less common. When he went on FB he sought out people with exactly the same full name as his and found two and sent them friend requests.

Surprisingly they accepted (he has never met either of them) and they periodically enjoy confusing each other's friends by occasionally commenting on each other's posts.

Is it just me who finds this weird?

Certain names such as Jack, Harry, Elizabeth, Katie etc have never been out of the top ten or twenty

Neither Jack nor Harry was anywhere near the top 20 boys' names when I was born in the mid-70s. They weren't even in the top 100!

Katie was at no.81 and Elizabeth was somewhere down in the 40s.

So, not actually as enduringly popular as people might think.

Personally, I don't think it matters if your child has an 'unusual' name or a common one. All that matters is that you like it.

I want my dc to be Individuals

So name them "Curtain Pole" or "Seahorse Fifty Three".

I'm sure all the Georges, Jameses and Johns that ended up in the White House cursed their common names for their lack of individuality.

There is definitely a difference between classic names (consistently popular) and flash-in-the-pan/trendy names (come out of nowhere and are very popular for a few years, then disappear again). The latter are more likely to sound dated than the former. My DD has what I think of as a classic name, and while there's a good chance she'll encounter others with the same name I loved it too much not to use it. Plus she has a very uncommon surname to distinguish her!

Both of my children have names in the top 100 but they're classic and I love them. I would avoid the very popular names though, as in my workplace with nine employees there was at one time four men with the same name - it gets a bit confusing.

I have a name that was probably top 50 when I was born (stupid router is still blocking ONS).

At primary school there were no others.

At secondary school there were no others in my year, but possibly one or two in other years.

In sixth form we represented three out of a class of eight.

At university there were several, but three of us with exactly the same name - I shared an extracurricular interest with one and a college with the other, with much confusion of each other. Mortifying when I was invited to an audition and it turned out they meant the other one.

Nowadays I'm usually the only in any group, and when I'm not, the other is under ten.

It's just weird how names cluster.

Boring and unimaginative king names here. We clearly spent no time or effort coming up with a long list of different options before deciding to use traditional names that they aren't going to get teased or judged for and just plumped for the first names that popped into our heads {sarcasm}.

I knew no one with DS2 name, yet he ended up in a class where 4 of the 5 boys all had it.

I was 1 of 3 in my class. (out of 24 kids in my class). It annoyed me to be honest... Just wanted to be only me, rather than a numbered person!

I chose unpopular names , now they are popular but my dd is 13 so I'm adamant I set a trend rather than following . She suits her name , I've seen other who don't which is good . I don't really understand why people choose harry , Oliver , jack etc .. I want my dc to be Individuals . Each to their own though .

I was one of 5 with my name in my year at school and I hated it, I deliberately picked unusual but not whacky names for my 4 babies for that reason. They will bump into other people with their names but they won't be first name+initial at school

not necessarily, mistermagpie's post just shows the opposite

I have a very common name. I like it now that I'm an adult but hated being "Pink P" throughout school. There were 12 of us in a year of 120.

My parents didn't realise how popular my name would be, but finding uncommon (but not made up or misspelt) names for my kids was still a priority for us.

There were three of me in my class (very common name for girls born in the 80s) and it never bothered me. As an adult I am actually the only person I know with my name.

My DS has a fairly unusual name, there were about 30 in the country for his year of birth, but there was a boy with the same name as him in his nursery class and I know about two others. Doesn't bother me either, but just because you pick something uncommon it doesn't mean that there won't be a little cluster of them near where you live.

"its not a big deal, they aren't gonna be around those same kids in the class"

Well, no, but if it's really popular when they're born they're going to be around other people with the same names all their lives.

I had a name that wasn't only uncommon at the time but spelt strangely. I was never that bothered, thought I got used to having my name spelt wrong or being called something else.

DH had a very common name and remembers vividly being at school in a class with 4 girls with the same name and another 3 with the same but different name, as well as his own name twin. He desperately didn't want our DC to have popular names.

We ended up coming down in the middle, DD has a very uncommon name but the most common spelling variation. DS also has the main spelling variation though his is now a very popular name. DS loves having name twins, DD likes no one else having her name. Guess we lucked out there

3 or 3 Matthews regularly call my office. You hear "which Matthew?" all the time. A very unusual name is difficult to live with (I know) and leads to problems with giving it over the phone, people not knowing how to spell it or pronounce it, but a very common (in the sense of popular) name is also not ideal I think.

imo its not a big deal, they aren't gonna be around those same kids in the class for life after all. i named my eldest (indirectly) after a famous musician and my second after a character in a novel who by chance shared a name with another famous musician. i went to a book signing event once to see Ronnie O'Sullivan and he asked me who I wanted the book dedicated to and when I said the names he looked at me like I was taking the piss

My dd has the same (not too common) name as another girl in her reception class. I was a bit gutted when I found out because the same happened with my older ds and it did cause problems with teachers getting them mixed up. Years back the other lad with the same name got in big trouble for something and my ds had plenty of kids assuming it was him and him having to explain that it was the other boy.
My daughter also doesn't like the fact that the other girl gets called by her full name while she seems to have had hers shortened (it's a name that can have several alternatives) - I had to have a word with the teacher about that.
Whilst I do understand it's to distinguish between the two, I don't want my dd feeling she is inferior somehow to the other girl!! I do sometimes wish I'd called her something very unusual.

I get excited now, when I see someone with the same spelling of my name. My sister has a very unusual name, that I don't think I have ever seen anyone else called.

DS also has a very unusual name, but its a name I have always loved with the added benefit that it can be shortened to a more "normal" sounding name, if he wants to do that in the future.

My son is Harry and we were dubious about choosing such a popular name, but we're in Scotland where I think it's a lot less common. My Harry is the only in his school, and the only child Harry we've ever met. I wanted Harry for my first born, boy or girl. I do think a little girl called Harry would have been lovely, and when I look at my daughters I still think they would both have suited being called Harry.