The new Sharon and Kevin?

Flight, maybe that mum should have called her DS Gee-Bee-Haitch to have been both apt and unusual.

(Re Alfie BTW, I think it's a gorgeous name but very babyish. You could at least name him Alfred, call him Alfie from Day 1 but if he grows up to be a judge he will have a name with a bit of gravitas.)

There are lots of names like Jack, Evie, Alfie, Chloe etc which are being used a lot now, but they will be the Simon, John, Rachel and Sarahs of the future.

In order to get the future Tracy, Sharon, Wayne and Kevin, you need another vital ingredient along with frequency.

I'm just surprised that people still choose names like Jack - last year alone over 8000 babies were named Jack !

Especially when there are so, so many lovely names to choose from!

Harry is so hideous as a name. It's not a real name, it's a form of Henry!

Jack and Chloe are obviosuly going to massively date and Alfie..... >

I'm a Tracy who grew up in the 70s and it was naff even then . When I was in primary school one year five out of eleven girls in the class were called Tracy, so we were known as Big Tracy, Little Tracy, Fat Tracy, Posh Tracy and Smelly Tracy. .

I was determined my own kid wouldn't have the same fate so I have given him an unusual yet classic name which hasn't become trendy yet, even though it is shared by a fairly famous and attractive actor. I'm not saying what it is though.

Well, Getorf it was actually a mum at our pre school a few years ago.

Between looking at me despisingly for mentioning breastfeeding (urgh I could never do that)
she was complaining that another mum had 'stolen' her child's unique name, also calling her son 'Lee-jay', when in fact this was totally wrong because her Lee-jay was named after his dad who had EXACTLY the same name and therefore it was important.

I am unsure whether to add that this was especially important due to the fact that Lee-jay senior was currently banged up for GBH.

I promise this is completely true.

[not judging]

Kyle and Jayden without a doubt

I've just had a thought, you don't think Harry's going to be the next Gary or Barry do you??

I think people are picking more and more 'old' names like Arthur, Evie, etc and there are tons of Daisys, Poppys and Isabellas on my street. Common just means popular and the only shame is having to add your last initial when you go to school. I was Sarah P. for years since there were another 3 Sarahs in my class (born 1979 obviously!). I have an Annabel which I suppose is semi-common, but also a Dominy and I bet she'll be the only one in her class at school!

Alfie's not bad at all! It's the same as Freddie, Archie, Billy, Robbie.. It's common as in popular!

One of my faves Dylan sometimes gets slated as being chav but I don't care as I like it and I disagree. Just because it's not James or Edward .. doesn't mean it's CHAV!

and breathe..

Tango, love it. Milo and Jago have been done to death! (only joking, I like those names).

I'm only in a critical gear on here. in real life, people could call their children Ellie-may and rupert (brother and sister) and i'd just let it wash over me you know?

ocdgirl we open our big fat mouths and opine on proposed names on here but we are sweetness itself in RL. And I'm the one who has already said I have a cousin Tracy and a daughter Ellie. (I also have two nephews Oscar and Victor - their (foreign, tsk wouldn't you know!) mother gets rather irritated when I call her other two boys Tango and Foxtrot)

my boy's called Oscar.
unusual 6 years ago , then someone on Eastenders nicked it... i'm gutted

ocdgirl - I have never judged anyone I have actually met in RL on their name, and I bet that the majority of people here never have either, so don't worry

I know a Sharon and a Tracy now I think about it, and they are both well educated, well adjusted and very likable women. I've never even thought about their names until now

Here in the states you can't swing a cat without hitting a Jayden/Kayden/Zayden/Kaiden/blah blah blah...what irritates me is that it has ruined Aidan for me, which is a great name IMO.

Also Madison and Addison. What's next, I ask you? I'm going to place bets on Cadison, with some "clever" soul spelling it Kadysin.

I didnt think Alfie was chavvy until I read this! I remember it being a trendy name a few years ago for people who had kids and worked in the media / music etc - along with Stanley and Marley. Don't worry about it xxx

gutted to see you all consider my ds name chavvy, he's adopted and i didn't get to choose it, i suspected it was chavvy but still that you all think that and wonder if he is going to be judged by people because of his name his whole life !!

i live in a quite nice area btw and do not own a single addidas or nike item !!

There's 'common' and there's 'common' isnt there. Common as in v popular (Grace, Ellie, Josh etc) and common as in 'chavvy' - ie Chardonnay (do people REALLY call thier kids that!?), Jayden, Kacey, Lacey etc.
Well I nearly called my DD Evie but (according to here) Im lucky I consigned it to being her middle name! She's Stella and people HILARIOUSLY say "What, after the beer". Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Thank you! x

RnB - www.statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/Product.asp?vlnk=15282

It's the two 2008 spreadsheets. Hours of fun

can someone please post o link to wear you can see name rankings over top 100 please

Sorry takvar, Alfie conjures up a pasty-faced 3 year old with a buzz cut.. (sorry to mothers of pasty-faced boys with buzz cuts)

Annie Rose is nice though.

Mama - Mephistopheles!

No but seriously - see the chapter in the latest Steven Pinker book about the mysterious appearance and rise of 'Steve' in the 50s and 60s. The thing is, you will always be influenced, albeit unconsciously, in your 'unique' choice by certain factors, in particular you probably won't choose anything 'unfashionable' ie of the recent past - thus 70s names like Clare, Louise, Sarah-Jane will be out (even though, ironically, they would be far more unusual now), and conversely you will draw upon names similar in vein or sound to those that are fashionable now. Thus here on MN someone starts a thread saying how pretty Elodie is, and thus we get other 'pretty' French names - Aurelie and so forth. Or we wander down the Ottelie Botterly route, or into the mists of Avalon... Or you see a movie or read a book with a new and charming name - only so do like-minded folk. And finally, in the unlikely event that you should you actually manage to find a different and lovely, rather than OTT, name - someone will follow suit (particularly if you put it on here).

I'm fairly sure Tracy, despite noble origins, was already a bit naff in Newcastle, alas, by the late 70s - there again I did gan to the same 'joonya' school as the Viz founders..

But HOW can Alfie ever be a bad name when it will always conjure up Alfie, Annie Rose, and utterly-middle-of-the-middle-class (but delightful) Shirley Hughes books?

"By all means seek a name that is lovely and unusual mama - but don't then get upset if lots of other people (inevitably) go for the same name."

Ah. I see exactly what you mean, bellissima. Yes, this happens an awful lot - it is something I am hoping to avoid when DC1 is born early next year. When I was first pregnant I had the brainwave that Atticus was the coolest name ever... but since then I have seen it mentioned at least 20 times on this forum alone, and DH tells me it's v common in the US.

I just want my kid to have a name that people can identify him by without him having to tell them his last name, too. My niece talks about Josh O, Josh N, Josh T, etc, and I'd hate for my kid to be one of many in that way.

It's hard to find a name that's individual without being 'wacky'.