Is Oliver.... boring??

It's funny how people say as long as you don't mind him being one of many in the class. My son is an Oliver, the only one in his year group (he's 4). His class alone have 3 Leo's. My dd is 9 and there's not a single Oliver in her year group either.

You're probably right. But I don't think it will ever become one of those names like Gary, or Kevin, or Nigel, which you can't imagine ever being used again, by anyone :)
I think an Oliver could be a lawyer and he could also be a bin man. It's pretty timeless, despite being hugely popular. Like the OP said, popularity of a name has not ever put me off. At the time my kids were born, I have two daughters and one son, their names were all in the top 10 for that year. And two of them (including my Oliver's) names are still in the top 10 now. Not that that matters. If you like a name, use it <3 Xx

Isaac and Finley are both better. I love Isaac especially

Isaac
Magnus
Edmund
Silas
John
Humphrey

It is classic and will not ever go out of fashion

Oliver will definitely start to fall out of fashion and sound dated.

I like Isaac! Not a fan of that spelling of Finley, much prefer Finlay

Please no, not George. It's such an insipid name.

I know an oliver, Isaac and Finlay sibset so I think they're common names to agree on (the parents struggled to agree in this case too).

I think it's a bit of a shame though to go for a name only because it's agreeable. If you actively like it then go for it despite its popularity but wouldn't Oliver always feel a bit overshadowed by his brothers cooler name?

Fwiw I really like Alfred and really dislike Isaac (too biblical). Finlay is ok but again quite popular.

Any others you REALLY like your DH could be persuaded on?

Laurence / Laurie…solid name and not very common.

Well op I think we have similar taste in names. I have an Oliver - it had just reached No.10 in. Popularity the year he was born. He went to 2 primary schools and one secondary and was the only Oliver in any of his year groups or classes.
I have various groups of friends/colleagues of different ages with children and know of no other Olivers!!
I also have an Isaac so if you’re not sure of Oliver would your dh agree to that? I know of another Isaac so could say that in my circles it’s more popular!!

On another note, you now have the word ‘boring’ associated with a lovely name which you have to overcome if you do decide to use it. Labelling names as ‘boring’ ‘cutesy’ etc is such a typical Mumsnet thing and annoys me intensely - rant over.

names I also considered were Joseph, Benjamin, Edward or Jacob.

My 9 year old is called Oliver. I love the name, it's lovely. He is also an Oli.
I also have to say it was the only name that his father and I could agree on. My son is anything but boring, he's a pain in the arse!! And in his class, he is one of two Olivers. Not sure how many there are in the actual school but it is an incredibly popular (and lovely!) boy's name. It is classic and will not ever go out of fashion. I also work with an Oliver who is 50! Great name. But if you want something uncommon, not the name you should choose. :) x

How about Felix, Rufus, Tobias or Barnaby ?

It's a nice name BUT I think it's been popular for a good 10 years or so now so it's well saturated, as long as you don't mind them being 1 of 4 Oliver's in a class etc

Love Oliver - yes, it’s a well known name, but I don’t know that many in my dcs primary school . I know screw Ollie’s who are now late teens/twenties.
Also like Isaac btw

Henry is better and far less common.

There will be 5 Oliver’s in the class

Bit boring and also a bit of a "naughty boy's" name these days, although that could just be around me, along with all the Freddie, Charlie, Alfie's.

I prefer Samuel and Benjamin to the Bove, also classic and less used

I love it!

Really like Issac and it's got a nice meaning..." He who laughs" or "laughter".

As others have said it’s a nice name. I’m a secondary school teacher and have 3 in one class alone. it’s a very popular name if you’re outside of the more multicultural areas of England and in the kind of place where most names are in the top 20. I have 5 George’s in another class, for instance.

But, that being said, it’s still one of the names I like and if it wasn’t popular I would use it myself. It’s like Alex in that I like it despite its popularity.

Incredibly boring yes

he's anything but boring

Obviously the name, not your son

Oliver is soooo overused and boring!

Yes, I know so many Olivers. It’s fine, but if you don’t ‘love’ the name you need to keep looking. Don’t just settle as it will really bug you later down the line.

I have an Oliver and he's anything but boring! It's also not that common, he doesn't have another in his class or year despite it being number 1 the year he was born.

Perfectly nice, and actually I only know 2 dc who are 7 and 14 - and I work in a school as well as having 2 dc of my own so am exposed to a lot of children names so doesn't appear that common either