Who is still naming their babies Oliver and Olivia?

I domt think they are very nice anyway. The liver sound is unpleasant. Where I live Amelia and its various other spellings is by far the most popular. As is Grace. Nothing wrong with any name but when a name is top spot, choosing it does seem to smack of wanting to for-gods-sake-blend-in and don't upset the status quo.

It happens in cycles like this. When I was a kid every boy was called either David or Andrew. Every girl was called Sarah or Rachel. And every single girl had the middle name Elizabeth! (Now it’s Rose.)

While I do know adult Ollies and Olivias now, it was a “posher” name when I was a kid and I didn’t know any at school. I think that’s why it’s popularity became wider.

When do you meet a baby David or Sarah now?

In a few years, the same thing will happen to Oliver and Olivia.

It’s interesting to watch the cycles but nothing to get your knickers in a twist about.

All are nice names, I can see why people pick / picked them.

I have an Alyvia ☺️ She’s 11 weeks old

went it and added in Ollie/Olly/Olli/Oli/Olivier/Oliwier
and still less than 500 births that year, still less than 2%

It happens though, doesn't it.

Every single man in his mid to late 40s is called either Steve, Mike or Mark.

Similarly their female counterparts are Sarah, Rebecca or Jennifer.

I remember having to control my surprised eyebrows when friends introduced their Oliver's/Olivia's, because the world seemed saturated already... but each to their own.

My 1 year old was going to be Oliver (but she is a girl) I love the name and like many others on this thread I don’t know any Olivers or ollies
I know 1 Olivia who is a teenager.
i know 1 baby olive.

I hardly think it’s a problem having a popular name. Just add in the surname eg Oliver S or Oliver Smith, hardly a traumatising experience.

There were 56,000 live births in Scotland the year my son was born so let’s argue 28,000 boys…
there were 334 Oliver’s born that year so literally just over 1% of boys

Oliver is a family name for us, going back generations. We didn't use it but considered it. All our family's Olivers are over 40 these days.

Love Oliver.
Prefer Olive to Olivia.

I teach in a (smallish) school and we have 3 Oliver’s.
My son goes to another (much larger) school and they have 3 there too..

I have an Oliver (Ollie) who's 4 and is the only one in his year group. My eldest is 9 and there are no Oliver's or Olivia's in her class.
I know no other Oliver's and only one Olivia (newborn)
I've never met an Oliver around my age ever.

It's a lovely name (obviously my opinion as I used it) and doesn't seem to be the most popular in my area by a long shot.
We know multiple Florence's & Leo's

I'd be well up for a child called Olivia. She's a Shakespeare heroine who patently fancies women and is totally no-nonsense about it - and she's the local ruler.

But otherwise, well ... surely they're popular names because people like them? Lots of people like the idea of their child having a name that doesn't stick out.

I have an Oliver. I used it because I absolutely love the name. I honestly didn't give any thought to it being one of the most popular names.

For reference in his year at School (60 kids) there is one other Oliver who is known as Oli.

I know one other Oliver who is 14.

There was one boy in my School year called Oliver (Oli) - I'm early 40s

I have honestly never met another Oliver, whether that be through employed or social circles.

I know one Oliver, one Ollie and one Olivia. All different ages.

@dogsod the list of names published every year by the Office of National Statistics and there's always media articles about it in the few days after the release of the stats.

I know one mid teen Olivia and one Oliver in his 20's.

Ok, the number one name Olivia was given to 3,649 babies in 2021 in England and Wales (according to the Times)
There were estimated 625K live births so say over 310K girls. So even on this rough estimate that roughly 1 in every 85 girls named Olivia. So not guaranteed to have five in every class like people claim.

I have a popular name and it's a nightmare. I do wonder why people still use popular names. The ONS list is pretty easy to understand.

am I missing something? how are you supposed to know what the most popular name is? and surely you can't find out if the name is popular until your child goes to school and you start interacting with loads of other children the same age. unless you're a teacher?

OP, I find it, not odd, but interesting. I know a 17 year old Olivia and a 15 year old Oliver. When they were born, these were really popular names and still seem to be. Given how fickle everything else is in life in terms of the zeitgeist it's amazing these are still up there after a generation.

I dont know any! Literally not one.

Because they don't feel the same as you do about it?