Snobbery to popular names

I don't think it's snobbery I think people are just put off by names being popular. Myself included. Snobbery to me implies you're judging others who go for it. I don't do that. I had three girls with my name in the same year and I didn't like it. Though it is less a problem nowadays as I saw there were double the amount of girls with my name born in my year of birth than there are for the number one position just now. So there's more variety.

Also I think there's a difference in response to popular names like Jack and James to names such as Jaxon. The first two are classics and are seen as not giving away class whereas names like Jaxon are seen more as trend which might not age well. It could be said there is some snobbery when it comes to designating names as giving away class, but just because someone points it out doesn't mean they themselves believe it - just that that's a societal view of it.

Or that “ie” names are not proper names...

I have an Archie myself named after a family member who is now in his 90s and he is just “Archie” he also had no problem securing a very good job with the name Archie..

I don't generally like popular names not because of snobbery but because they're overexposed.

But I also wouldn't use cutesy names or old man/lady names or flower names. Doesn't mean I hate them or think they're ugly, just that they don't "do it" for me.

Both my sons have surnames for first names and we all know how Mumsnet feels about those. I just don't get all butt hurt if others feel differently.

The one thing I don't get is when posters declare "but could you imagine a high court judge named Alfie or Daisy?" Why would I worry about a hypothetical future where a daughter or son smart enough to become a high court judge is judged on their first name?

There is far more snobbery on here about "lower class" names than popular names frankly.

I most definitely wouldn't want my children to have been named with " popular" names, however none of their names could be classed as unusual. It's seems like every other child these days is named Chloe, Olivia, Isabel, grace or Amelia, Arthur, Oliver, Jack, Freddie or Ethan!

When you lambaste someone for choosing a name and calling it “silly “ , that’s snobbery. When you call someone out for choosing a popular name, that’s snobbery. No, because my dislike of that name of anything really popular has nothing to do with me Thinking your socially inferior. If you think anyone who disagrees with you thinks you're beneath them, you need to look at your own issues.
There’s having a difference of opinion, then there’s being a bit vindictive about it give one example of someone being vindictive? No one is trying to hurt you or be spiteful , they're just replying to a question about opinions on a name.

If you don't care about opinions, don't ask. If you're going to accuse anyone who disagrees as treating you as below them and being deliberately spiteful, don't ask.

I remember asking about the name Balthazar. I knew I'd get a variety of opinions. Imo people liking unusual names get more comments about them (you're trying to hard, you think your kids is special and it isn't, you're going to be the reason your child is bullied) and popular names get comments about the name (it's too popular, I wouldn't pick a royal name, there will be 15 in the class)

You asked for reasons, though. And then you go on to say those reasons are “ridiculous”. That’s snobbery in itself. I said I’m fine with popular names, but not shortened names. I gave my reasons. Those reasons are not snobbery.

It isn't snobbery to have an opinion that differs to yours. I wouldn't want my child to spend their life being Tall Alfie, Short Alfie, Fat Alfie, Alfie B, Alfie Jones, Postman Alfie, Red Car Alfie etc. That's MY choice so if someone asked my OPINION that's what I'd tell them. It doesn't mean they can't use it or if sneer at them in the street.

Meanwhile anyone wanting to use an unusual name is usually accused of trying too hard, being chavvy, etc

I think the secret on MN is to go for 5-55 in the popularity stakes

I think the bigger snobbery is directed towards names not being "proper", or being "cutesy" (basically anything that ends with a "y"), and ironically people are already doing it on this thread. I think people on here are actually quite nasty about that at times, as well as way off the mark in terms of what will actually be the cultural norm when any child born now is grown up.

All through my adolescent, the name I loved most and wanted to give my future child was Eve/Evie. I only knew one person with that name at the time and I thought it was lovely. It is only since being the age where I would actually have kids that that name has become incredibly common, and it did take the shine off it. It being rare wasn't the reason I liked it, but at the same time it being Top 5 common has stopped me from hearing it in the same way I used to and it's just a standard name now. Just overexposure. I wouldn't say I feel any snobbery about it and in a way I'm quite sad I don't love it like I used to.

It’s just my opinion, which is what you asked for. You can think it’s ridiculous if you like. But you wanted to know.

There's snobbery on every name despite what category it's in. Popular, unique, unusual.. there will always be snobbery and negative opinions on a name. If you like the name use it. Don't worry about what others think of it.

Watch the video of Katie Hopkins on this morning judging kids on their names. That's a fun watch 😂 and I'm sure it was like something like 90% of people disagreed with her.

My name is seen as working class by some and is used to portray a certain type of woman. On TV and film my name is never the high flyers, it is the lady on the council estate with multiple children. There is snobbery around names in general. I would much rather have a name that wasn't as common.

I think many may be in the same boat and want different for their child. I tried to pick a less popular name that was still very traditional.

@Tblock
I really disagree that it's snobbery to point out a fact that a popular name is popular. It's just stating a fact about the name.

If I respond to a post about a popular name saying "it's a nice name but has been very popular for a long time" that's different to being a snob and turning my nose up at it. It's just true. If that's not important to the person reading (as I assume it wouldn't be for you) they they can ignore the part about popularity. If they hadn't realised it was so popular they have that information before the baby is named

Likewise, one of my favourite names is also a noun, but that doesn't bother me, so when people mention they object to that when giving their opinion of the name, I really don't care. I certainly wouldn't call it snobbery against noun names!

Both my children have fairly popular names. Dd is top ten and ds top 50. I was really original though and chose the names because I like them not becuase i was concerned about what other think

I think popular names are fine. One reason people take against them is because they can date you badly. I have a very popular 1960s name. Just by knowing my name, it’s easy to know when I was born.

I’m one also for not liking shortened names. I don’t think Alfie etc is a real name. My reasons would be because its image to me is so negative. It has no redeeming features. It sounds babyish, it wouldn’t suit a grown-up, it’s too controlling of the parent - there’s no room for a child to create his own nickname or short form etc. I actually cannot get my head round why anyone would want to call their child such a silly name, IMO, even though I accept that is the case.

If Alfred was a really popular name, and there were loads of children called that, and not Alfie, that is fine.

There's a lot of ground between overused and 'unique'. And no, we didn't want overused names for our children. But we weren't interested, at all, in being 'unique'.

What I (personally!) dislike more than consistently popular names are names that are suddenly everywhere. The sort of name that is likely to date your child to within a few years. A couple of years ago it was Evelyn, now it's Eliza.

I think you should call your baby whatever you want. But you need to weigh up will there be 3 Alfie's in the same class? If that doesn't bother you it doesn't bother you.

I’m not sure it’s snobbery regarding name popularity (though there certainly is a lot of name snobbery in general). There’s probably a few reasons why popular names get called overdone and too popular on here though. I don't think pointing out popularity is 'bashing' a name though.

People who post on a Baby Names sub forum will probably be more interested in baby names than most people, and generally speaking people whose more interested in names, look for names outside of the top 100 names. I often mention popularity as first time parents often aren’t aware of current name trends, so will post saying that they like names like Luna or Arlo, so I’ll note that they are trendy, popular names. That’s not a criticism of the names, but a fact that may or many not be important when choosing a name. I wouldn’t say ‘too popular’ because I think to subjective for me to decide!

But when you say nobody had an issue when we were in school and certain names were popular, that’s not true for everyone. I had a very popular name, and it bothered me that at school I would always have to be called Toast X, so I would look for a less common name. I imagine many the posts mentioning popularity in a negative will come from people with similar popular names.

As someone with a uncommon (different culture) name, I'd probably have been preferred to have an easy name. It makes first days difficult. Even today when we order takeaways etc (unofficial settings where I need to give a name, for ease I often give DP's (unisex) name or anyone that I am with's name).

I do like that its unique and i have never met anyone with my name but I would prefer it to have been easy to say/spell.

I think the 'snobbery' arises when people choose rather outlandish names or those of B list celebrities. Nobody objects to Sarah, Charlotte and David because they are classic and never really go out of fashion.