Why do so many people choose the same names?

I have 6 children will normal names but not massively common for when they were born.
I have an Emily who is 18 so wasn't that many around then,also have an Oliver who is 15 this year there are none in his friendship group and not many I know of around his age.

Or boys

Jack,
2. Thomas,
3. James,
4. Daniel,
5. Joshua,
6. Matthew
7. Samuel,
8. Callum,
9. Joseph,
10. Jordan, (I think Katie price has killed this off!)

Or compare to 1998

Chloe
2. Emily,
3. Megan,
4. Jessica
5. Sophie, var. Sophia,
6. Charlotte,
7. Hannah,
8. Lauren,
9. Rebecca,
10. Lucy

Definitely not as 'cutsie' as now.

I don't think these sound dated yet.

Sometimes popular in terms of national statistics aren't reflected locally though. Dd has a name in the top ten, in Primary school over the course of eight years there was only one other child with the same name as dd. In her huge secondary school it isn't a common name at all and there is only one other in her year group. Other names that were further down the lists are very common here so there are lots and lots of Jessicas and Chloes in her year when that isn't necessarily the case nationally.

5more - when I lived in Spain my landlady was called Apollonia! (Not sure of spelling.) My Spanish flat mates had a little snigger at her old fashioned name.

My ds' name is in the top 10 and has been for years. I love it though and it has the added bonus of being a family name for both dh and I. Dd has a classic but not overused name, I've not met a little girl with the same name. I imagine that people think my children's names are boring but tbh I don't give a fig!

I love classic names. My ds's both have classic names both are biblical names not due to me or dp being religious.
I live abroad and so definitely won't have the names in class at all. But I wouldn't worry even if there were multiple children with the name.

As a professional who worked in court arenas I liked having a classic queen name to work under and nick naming it to friends and family.

"There are 3 kids in my son's class with his name. Why is that bad? "

It's not necessarily bad, but they can't rely on their name as an identifier. And isn't that the main point of naming someone (or something)?

I don't think, as others have said, there's such a thing as 'objective' attractiveness of a name. We like names because we hear them a lot , or we associate them with particular people or places. If this weren't the case you'd never be able to explain how certain names are popular not only at different times but also at the same time in different social groups. Even if we don't want to label, we know that we are likely to find that Kayden and Cosmo have different social backgrounds.

Noah is a great example of a name that's come from nowhere in terms of popularity. People are often saying what a lovely name it is, but to me it sounds negative, moany and a little like the sound someone makes when sighing or groaning. But other people have come to a different conclusion - they've met a cute baby called Noah, they've seen a handsome actor called Noah and they've just started to like the collectio of letters and sounds.

I'm not generally synaesthetic, but I sort of am about names - the sounds really represent things to me, like in Noah above. So Harry to me not only means something unpleasant (to hassle, to harry) but it sounds scratchy and irritable.

Don't kids spend their whole lives trying to fit in? Why is everyone trying to make their kids weird?!

I think you've put your finger on the crux of it here this is a deeply conformist society, and a lot of people are fixated in 'fitting in', with its corollary 'not for the likes of us' and 'Tall Poppy syndrome' these people are the ones who are incredibly aggrieved when someone they assumed was also keen to fit in suddenly called their baby Ughtred or Rainbow, and start shrieking about bullying and attention-seeking parents foisting unhappiness on their child.

On the other hand, I do think that a lot of these Aggrieved If It Isn't Jack and Sophie people must live in some kind of one-dimensional lower-middle-class suburb with no ethnic minorities or people originally from other countries, who use names that are perfectly ordinary from their culture of origin, so that a reception class a local school will have Precious, Jaskaran, Ebwe, Bartosz and Manja as well as little Charlottes and Olivers.

I have a really common name, think Tracy, Sharon, Karen type thing and I hate it I'm speshul dammit!

The unusual name thing comes up again and again. I don't understand it at all! I genuinely don't know why it's a bad thing to have the same name as someone else! There are 3 kids in my son's class with his name. Why is that bad? It just means lots of people like his name! My daughter's name is slightly more unusual but not by design, we like it for the name not the fact it's unusual. If we found a dozen others with her name I wouldn't care a jot.
Don't kids spend their whole lives trying to fit in? Why is everyone trying to make their kids weird?!
It's a strange phenomenon that I genuinely struggle to understand...

Enjoying a massive surge of popularity = faddy

Do you not know what I mean gruff?
Names people of all generations would recognise and names that have always been around, although their popularity waxes and wanes. Although it may not be popular now, everyone has heard of Susan or Victoria, for example.

I do think 'cutesy' names such as Evie, Alfie, Archie, Milly etc will date though. Don't people realise they are naming a person, not just a cute baby?

What are 'unproper' names then ?

Because they are 'proper' names just enjoying a massive surge of popularity, not faddy names from TV etc. I don't think names like Deborah, Susan etc date as such, they just become of their time, if you see what I mean?

15 years ago I didn't know a single Ava or Oscar, now I know at least 5 within our friendship groups, so they definitely feel trendy and have lost some of their 'sparkle' and I think they will sound dated as they fall out of favour.

People probably thought Sharon and Steven were beautiful names that wouldn't date...

while names such as Ava and Oscar will not 'date'

What makes you say that?

Good point beebee.

Lots of the current popular names aren't nice at all imo, especially the 'cutesy' names like Alfie, Archie, poppy, Evie etc. Think they're already starting to sound a little dated.

Good point, beebee. I prefer the 1987 list! Though I like some of the current top names

Just as I was about to type the above poster mentioned my name. I see it as very 80's and in my very small (less than 200 pupil) catholic primary school there were 4 of us with the same name in a class of 25.

I didn't want the same with my DC, although his name was in top 100 and possibly top 20 when he was born now it's often touted on the names you dislike/everywhere threads. There's generally one in every year group but as yet he's not been in a class with one.
His middle name came from my brothers middle name (26 now) which my Dad named after the singer Arlo Guthrie. Which is bloody everywhere now!

Compare to the top names in 1987:

1987

1. Daniel / Rebecca

1. Christopher / Sarah

1. Michael / Emma

1. James / Laura

1. Matthew / Rachel

1. Andrew / Samantha

1. Adam / Charlotte

1. Thomas / Kirsty

1. David / Nicola

10. Richard / Amy

I don't think the top names now are nicer sounding or more 'classic' than those from 30 years ago!

Olivia Oliver both make me think of Olive Oil!

Lily sounds like silly
Muhammed not picked for phoenetics!
Sophia I don't think the 'ph' sound is nice
Noah sounds like a girls name
Emily 'em' sounds like a pause in speech
Harry it's a nick name
Amelia I just hear 'meal'
Jack the lad
Ava gardener
Charlie nick name/angels
Isla 'eye' sounds harsh to me
Jacob cob salad
Isabella twilight!
George Georgie Porgie pudding and pie
Isabelle is a bell? Sounds like you are asking a question!
Ethan a bit harsh
Sophie so...?

These names are popular because people hear them so they sound familiar so people subconsciously think they are better.

Sometimes you don't realise. When we named DD Eliza 3 years ago, I had never met another. I know of about 8 that have been born since then! And it has gone up in popularity. Just one of those things sometimes, I think.

If you like a name, just go with it. You could pick a name that doesn't seem popular at the time, and then there could end up being loads anyway.

It did always annoy me at school when there was about 3/4 of the same name in our year and you always had to add last names haha.