Why do so many people choose the same names?

130 replies

burnishedgold · 27/03/2017 21:06

Don't get me wrong, Isabelle, Grace, George etc are all nice names, but it would totally take the shine of it for me if there were likely to be 2/3 kids with the same name in their group.

To be fair, I grew up with a super odd name which I have never lived, but it does surprise me that people choose names knowing there will be people in the same class with the same name. Maybe because I've never had that experience...but still seems odd, especially when there are lots of names which aren't unusual but which aren't everywhere

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Imfinehowareyou · 27/03/2017 22:24

I think that often, when you have your first child, you are not yet in that 'child world' so have no idea which names are really popular. You haven't yet been to toddler groups/soft plays etc. My DD loves it when she meets someone with the same name. My name is uncommon but the thrill I had in my 30s at finding my name on a keyring was massive!! I was in another country where it seemed to be much more popular.

MangoSplit · 27/03/2017 22:15

My DD has a popular name, but DH and I had always talked about giving our child that name if we had a girl, ages before it became popular. It was also my grandmother's name. So we went ahead with it anyway. Who knows why it suddenly hit the top of the girls' name lists just at the time we had DD!

kmini · 27/03/2017 22:14

I think there is generally a reason why certain names are enduringly popular...they sound lovely! Hence people are drawn to them time and time again, year after year.

Names that are popular during a certain period of time, are generally pleasing or are influenced by celebrity or something cultural. They are not as enduringly lovely as super classic names, so they tend have a more limited shelf life or become semi popular.

Fundamentally, a lot of people either want a name that sounds pleasing or is liked by people at that point in time.

My husband and DS have super classic and currently popular names. My name would have been popular in the 70s/80s. Can totally see why mine had a short and sharp prominence.

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 27/03/2017 22:11

Names grow on you, the more you hear them.

JimWithTwoNoses · 27/03/2017 22:10

I don't think people always predict that's going to happen though. Unless you have older children or study what the top 20 names are etc you might not be aware. Or people love the name so much they don't care if lots of other people have it.
I'm sure in one of the Malcolm Gladwell books this gets looked at, and why certain names become popular. It was ages ago I read it though so can't really remember what he said about it now

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