Why did you (if you did) choose a popular name?

@Movinghouseatlast, sad to hear of your loss.

Names that become popular suddenly are usually celebrity-inspired.

Famous Evas from the 2000s could be Eva Hertzigova ( and Eva Longoria.

My son has a classic boys name. There were 3 in my class at school. I hear it now and then in the park for boys of all ages. I would be very surprised if there isn't another one or two in his class when he starts school.

I picked it because I love it and it has a family connection. It really doesn't bother me that others like it too.

Both of my sons' names are regularly in the top 10 most popular names list. There were four kids with my elder son's name in his class at school. Beautiful drawings would come home that we knew our son could never have done!

It really doesn't bother me as I like their names and found choosing boys' names quite hard. We all like different things - sometimes I (quietly) cringe at some of the more "out there" names that people give their kids in an effort to be unique. But each to their own..

If it’s a girl the one we’re going with is not quite in the top ten, but a similar one is, and lots of variants hovering in the top 100. I don’t care if there’s others with the same name, not too sure why anyone would tbh! I like the name, and other people liking it too doesn’t put me off at all.

Same with the boys name, currently in the top five. I’d much rather choose a classic name I love than try and pick a weird one so there’s no duplicates.

When I was pregnant 12 years ago ( sadly miscarried) I chose a name - Eva- which I thought was fresh and unique but absolutely loads of Evas were born in that year! So lots of people probably chose it thinking the same.

I remember thinking it was so odd that suddenly it was a popular name.

I think a lot of people don't pay attention to the top names, they're normally in the news for 1 day a year when announced. You think back to what was popular when you were at school, especially if you don't know many young children, and don't realise the popularity, I've definitely seen this from DH as we try pick a name.

Also they're great names and popular for a reason! I'm very conscious of not picking anything too try hard unusual that would cause raised eyebrows and I'm sure many people are the same.

Because we liked the names, and knew we would always love them.
Didn't realise just how popular they would be but don't regret the choices. The names are classic ones and haven't dated badly.

I hated the idea of a lesser known name being a duplicate at school rather than a more popular name.

Example is in dd year 2x savannahs 3x clementine 2x Felix yet she is only one with her top 10 name

Same with 16yr old he had 2 ptolomys in his high school class

Just felt right for our baby and loved the meaning of Oliver. Also he loves his food!

I wanted it to be easy to spell, easy to say across two countries (we were living across two countries at that time).

I also have a theory that names are chosen by two adults so they are going to tend towards the more popular because I hated my husband favourite names and he hated mine so we had to pick compromise names.

Our DD has the top name for her year, mainly because it was the only name we could I agree on, and it’s a nice name!

In reality though, I think I only ever came across one other girl with her name at baby groups (haven’t been to any in a while to compare), however there were lots of occasions where I’d met several children with the same, but not so high on the stats, name. So I don’t think it pays to put too much thought into how popular a name is, just go with what you like.

I haven't used a really popular name, but I think the importance of choosing something less popular is a bit overrated. There are such a wide variety of names these days that even the nr one name is only given to about 1% of babies. And they are beautiful names, so popular for a reason.

My top boy and girl name are both number ones in my country (NZ). I don't like that they are popular and it may make me go with my second choice (mostly like for boys name) but I just really like the name. for reference:

1. Charlotte
2. Harriet
3. Oliver
4. Lachlan

I've always loved the name Charlotte and boys names I really only like about 10 with 5 being really like. Girls names lots more options at least... But still comes back to Charlotte. Classic, beautiful, timeless.