Does it really matter if it's in the "top 100"??

Even if you pick the number 1 name you would still be pretty unlucky to have another one in the average reception class..........

My name was #1 the year I was born and I fucking hated it. There were 27 in my secondary school. There are thousands of beautiful names so I don't see the need to follow the fashion.

I don't think so. I have 4 dc. 2 have very popular names, 1 has a name that is becoming popular now, 1 has a name that will probable never be popular. I'm expecting dc5 currently. If it's a girl she will be named after my great great Auntie who I loved dearly. In the last week I've seen the name countless times on here & other baby name discussion boards. If it's a boy the name we've chosen is middle of the road popular. We've always chosen names we love regardless of popularity.

Ah, ex teacher here. I can't say it has put me off popular names. I like a nice classic and couldn't give a fig about popularity. I'm also very aware of name popularity, of the less popular names, having a bit of an obsession interest in names and trends.

It doesn't matter to most but I think some people are more aware of the trends than others. DH and I are secondary teachers, so every year we directly teach approximately 150 kids and come into contact with hundreds more. Multiplied over the past twelve years, that's a lot of kids, so we are very conscious of the very popular names and immediately discounted lovely names like Jack, Emily, and Lily. In an idle moment of totting up I realised that I have taught nearly a hundred Jacks in my career so far.

By contrast, a friend had literally no idea of name popularity and named her daughter Sophie. She couldn't care less that it is so common. Lots of people don't really know any small children when they have their own DC so it doesn't matter to them at all.

Ha, all my kids names are in the top 100. This is because they are nice, classic names. Lovely. Job done.

My son is called one of the most consistently popular names of the last 1000 years that's never out of the top five. It's fine. There are no others in his class and it's still a beautiful name which does not sound overused at all.

My dd has a top 10 name, actually was top 5 for the year she was born. My cousin had a dd 2 months later and was unbearably smug about the unusual name they had chosen.

Obviously not that unusual as her dd is now at school and there are two others in her class that share her name!!

Both girls have beautiful names, but to the popularity of a name doesn't affect how much I like it.

Yeah it matters to me. Really popular names start sounding like wah wah wah.

Especially with middle name Rose, Grace or May/Mae/Mai.

I just find them boring and uninspired so i then completely go off the names.

Meglet even if there were 4 Johns in one class, I'm sure the teacher would know which one was which!

We decided on DS name during pregnancy, a month after he was born the "top 100" list was published. His first name was number 1 and his middle name number 2
It made us laugh, it didn't cross my mind that it would be an issue, we love his name

My name wasn't in the top 10 but there was 3 of us in my form at high school and 7 in the year. It wasn't a huge school either only about 180 in the year.

I was the only one with my name at school, but now I'm at work there's a few of us. I think because my name is an 'older' name if that makes sense - so now I work with a few women in their late 40s and 50s with the same name as me (I'm in my early 30s).

My point is that you might be worried about kids having the same name at school but once they're in the adult world they're not solely going to be around people born in the same year as them, and you can't really control for that.

It doesn't matter at all if you love the name, but names that suddenly spikes in popularity for a few years will be very associated with the era they were popular in, and may be considered passé in the future. My name was mooted on a baby names thread a few weeks ago and it got lots of "far too 80s" comments, I can see some well used names of today getting that kind of reaction in twenty or thirty years time.

That is a fair point. Difficult to avoid though, usual argument that you'd have to predict and avoid any future trends. Only really safe bet is to choose a name that was never in fashion or likely to be, alas usually for good reason.

No, of course it doesn't matter a bit!

In the past people on here have said, that they like their child to stand out for their unusual name (it's usually some really daft name as well).

Somebody said the judges in dance competitions remembered her children because their names were so unusual (one was called Charity I think, I can't advanced search it), but you'd rather they were remembered for their talent really wouldn't you.

It's a bit like not everyone can be above average....100 names have to be in the top 100. And if yours is one? Well - there's another one (it probably worst case, two) in your child's class....but at least people know how to spell it. Just go with what you like....and you think your child might thank you for in 30 years!

Yes. It was to me.

My name is common as muck and I've spent a lifetime being known as 'Meglet A' at school and work because there's usually three or four of us. It's a PITA.

My dc's might not have gift shop toys with their name on but at least their teachers will know who they are.

We also have the most common surname in the U.K. so have tried to avoid the most common names!

My friend's daughter is Pru which is outside the top 100, yet there's another in the same class!

Having said that, I have a slightly unusual name and I really like that!

I don't think it matters, although I'd be likely to avoid names in the top 10 unless I wanted them for sentimental reasons.

My DC1 has a name that was close to the top 10 (I think it was around 13-15) when he was born, but it was chosen for sentimental value. We don't know any other kids his age with the name. Obviously there must be a few kids out there with that name, but they aren't in our area.

On the other hand, I know two Mirandas in the same class, and Miranda is nowhere near the top 100 where I live. You can't pick it.

Even unusual names can crop up in a cluster. I taught a Codie and a Cobie in the same class. Never either one before or since.

No guarantees...

I don't care about popularity. I have a very common name - been in the top 10 for a long time when I was born. There was always one other girl with my name in class. I don't remember feeling hard done by or stifled. It's a nice name!

People like to be yooonique.