Does it MATTER if the name you choose is top 5 / top 10 / whatever? DH thinks so - I don't!

dd is extremely common over here and ds is extremely uncommon.

tbh ds's causes more annoyance due to people having to have it repeated 20 times and still pronouncing it wrong... it's Caleb ffs, how hard it that?

i had an unusual, difficult to spell name growing up and i hated it. it drew alot of attention in school and makes it very easy for other kids to tease you

2 of my children have very common names but ds1 i dont know any others in our area which i was shocked at.ds2 i know 2 that are older.BUT i dont care!i gave them the names i liked -couldnt care less how popular etc they are.

ds has a very boring top 10 name - but it was one dh & I had always both loved. We know two other child with his name.

dd has a very unusual name - not in top 100 I should imagine - we know one other child with her name (in RL - & one on here!)

National stats not representative of the local population imho.

Ds2's name has always been in the top 10, it's a perennial favourite, although he was born in the days before those Most Popular Names lists were published. I only know two others with his name; his uncle, who is more than 30yrs older than him, and a friend's grandson, who's 25yrs younger than ds! I still love the name.

My dd has a name that's been in the top 3 for years - we chose it because it was one of the few we could agree on and because it's a lovely name. And anyway, aren't they in the top ten for a reason?? They're usually great names (the traditional ones, I mean, not the 'trendy' ones!!)
Oh, and so far we haven't met another child with dd's name.

We didn't look at the lists at all for either of the dds, but did have alot of trouble chosing names. DD2 was nameless for 6 weeks, and we finally chose the number one name in the list for that year There is another girl of the same name oppsosite and I would've chosen differently if I had known, but couldn't imagine her as anythig else.
She is the only one in her class, and only one of two in her year at school.

DD1 is Abbie and although it's always hovering around number 22 I know at least another 5, she's the only one at nursery now though. One of my friends now has an Abbie as well and it does get confusing at times. We tend to call my Abbie Abigail so we know which one we are talking about.

DD2's name is very unusual, there were only 3 registered in Scotland last year not that I know these things. I absolutely love her name.

DD3 will have a commonish name in that it's about 70th.

The thing with top 10 names is you probably already "know" someone with that name so it kind of rules it out.

One of my dd's has a top ten name. There are surprisingly very few of them (the name) around here and she remains the only * in her class and one of two in the whole school.

Not a problem for us

I don't think it matters at all, pick a name you both like.

DD is in the top 10 (probably top 5 but not sure haven't look at the list for a while). We have only come across 1 other in the last 4 years that is in the same class (swimming) none at nursery etc.

On the other hand if we had a boy he was going to be called Evan which I am sure isn't on the list.

Do you know the sex (or you going to find out)?

Ah, how lovely Popsy. DD really suits her name and I still love it.

Hey, Popsy, are you pg?

Incidently Hula, we may be using your dd's name if we have a girl....the 'common' spelling though

Doesn't bother me in the slightest. I chose a name because I like it; don't bother looking at its position in the lists, etc.

DD's name is in teh top 20 although her speling of the name is lower done th list. She is still the only one with her name in her school, and the only child with the name we know amongst family, friends and colleagues, etc.

You can't win anyway - I got called Kate cos my mum didn't know any other kids with the name - by the time i got to primary school 6 out of 15 girls in my class were called Kate or Katie . Nothing wrong with having a common name (i would say that wouldn't i) but it means that no-one can take the mick

I wouldn't knowingly give my child a very common name, no.
I've always liked unusual names, but I can understand people who prefer something a bit more 'vanilla'.

Also, there seem to be trends for names that people don't always predict. Isaac was incredibly unusual when my friend gave her son that name 5 years ago. Now north London is flooded with little Isaacs. I would never have guessed it, and my friend certainly didn't think she was going for something popular.

both ds1 and 2 have top 5 names. Not intentionally. They have names we loved which also happen to have family connections.
If you like the name, does it matter?

I think too may parents strive for different or unuual names often at the detriment to good taste. And, actually, lots of "commmon" names are not as frequently used as you would think as a result.

Oh Anna please call your kid Tallulah or Coco - goes so well with porn star surnames - I know a Tallulah Star - now that is a porn star name!

DD is Ella, had never met another Ella when I named her, then as she grew up we met LOADS, and a ton of Ellies, we moved about a year or so ago though, and she is only one of two Ella's in her whole school so it obviously isn't that common where we live.

I asked about Alexander on MN as it's what we like for this LO and everyone seemed to know about 5, I know none, and DP knows one, that's including schools.

I think if half your friends kids are called the name, then it matters more, but I wouldn't really worry. I named DS Bobby and then about 3months later a friend had a LO and called him Bobby too but we know no others so in one respect to us it's common but it's quite unusual at the same time....

MamaG - my daughter is Flora. We needed a name that worked in both English and French (which severely limits choices); a name that hadn't been used in either family by cousins or second cousins (more severe limitations); and I wanted a name that wasn't in the top 100 in England, France, US, Australia, Canada (even more severe limitations).

And of course we had to like it too . We are very happy with it, btw. No regrets ever.

My daughter's surname is my partner's surname followed by my surname. They are hyphenated.

My partner's surname is a bog standard French Ashkenazy surname but totally unpronouncable in English; my surname is a boring sort of English surname, very easy to manage in French.

I doubt anyone else has the same name as my daughter and I think that's fun

and i think that certain names are more common in different areas of the country - when i was asking about dd's name on here, lots said they knew loads - but i don't know any, neither does a friend and thats from 2 schools and several toddler groups.