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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Calling all teachers/child minders ect

87 replies

Pops55 · 13/11/2020 13:43

Which girls and boys names should I avoid due to being too popular?
First time mam so not around children that often.

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ZombieAttack · 13/11/2020 20:09

Ava
Evie
Isla
Millie
Maisie
Amelia
Lily

All with the middle names Rose/Grace/May. Often hyphenated.

Oliver
Finlay
Reuben
Jack
Harry
Charlie
Oscar

MikeUniformMike · 13/11/2020 16:29

Oh yeah.
If you look at top 100 names, look for names like Finn, Finley & Finlay, who will probably end up being Finn, or Theo and Theodore, Jake and Jacob, Louis and Louie, not just the name you are planning on using.

R names are hugely popular at the moment, so Roman, Rowan, Reuben, Rory etc seem samey.

CousinLucy · 13/11/2020 16:28

South West here. I'd avoid for popularity:

Evie
Isla
Tilly
Maisie
Grace/Gracie
Ellie
Ruby
Isabel/Isabelle/Isobel/Isabella/Isobella

Oliver
Harry
Sam
Ethan
Joe
Finley/Finlay
Freddie
Jake
Jack

But like someone has already said, it can be quite regional. I'd go for a name outside of the top ten.

peaches99 · 13/11/2020 16:23

There are a lot of Ava and Ada's around here.
South east.

TheDetectiveBadge · 13/11/2020 16:20

I'm a teacher but do know a fair few babies/toddlers. Personally, I think Theo, Tom, Mia and Evie/Eve are hugely over used in all ages so would avoid. Amongst babies/toddler, I know more than one with the following names:
Florence
Finn
Bella
Felix
No idea if that's an indication of general trends though.

helloxhristmas · 13/11/2020 16:16

@MikeUniformMike

It is etc short for et cetera, not etc.
If you're going to be picky get your corrections right in the first place!!
Whatsyourflava · 13/11/2020 16:08

Have you got a list of the top 100 names @Pops55 as that will show you the names to avoid if popularity is a concern.
Teachers don't see children til they're older so they miss the trends. Far more newborns called names like Arlo and Hunter that were fairly unusual 5+ years ago.
Look at the uk top 100 list from 2019, easy to google

NannyR · 13/11/2020 16:05

I would go for what you love and not worry too much about popularity. I look after three children so know the names of their classmates, friends out of school, family members - maybe 70+ kids - there are no Olivias in that group, for all it's a commonly given name, whereas there are some children with much rarer names where there are two in the class. There are Arthurs galore!!
I suppose what I'm saying is, if you discount a name that you love, purely because it's popular and go for something less commonly used, it's no guarantee that they won't be one of several in their peer group.

DontFadeAway · 13/11/2020 16:03

I'm a childminder and I've seen lots of Finn, Theo, Roman, Esme, Olivia, Isla xx

Quercus3 · 13/11/2020 15:57

Maybe it was a typo @MikeUniformMike, like the one you made above.

Not a teacher OP but a close friend is, she says there are a lot of Ava/Evie/Islas and many Olivers. Asked the same question myself recently 🙂

MikeUniformMike · 13/11/2020 14:42

That out of the way, Congratulations.
Pick a first name that you really like and will still like in 10, 20...50 years' time that sounds good with your surname.

MikeUniformMike · 13/11/2020 14:40

It is etc short for et cetera, not etc.