Names 2014

[Velvet1973]

I know there was a database where you could check how many babies were registered with a particular name in 2013. Does anyone know whether there is a 2014 version? I'm really interested in checking ds''s birth name as to how many there actually were registered last year as we had to guess it would have been similar numbers to 2013.
I know this certainly helped us to weigh up the risks thoroughly when we had the facts before us about his name.

Yes, it was released a few days ago if you type top 100 child names into Google it comes up.
I have no idea how to add a link sorry x

That only shows you the top 100 names though. The database actually told you that there were say 6 "Ikeas" registered for example.

names.darkgreener.com

Thanks Acorn, spot on! Well lo's name is marginally more used last year with 18 registered!

I think there are around 50ish counties in UK??? Our LO only has 50 registered of their name each year, so probably only one per county then. We have kept that name (our LO was a pre-schooler at time of adoption too, so makes that harder) and have to be so incredibly careful, we thought it through but I do wonder if there will be a time when we question our decision. We are putting A LOT of faith in our BF that they'll wait until 18 (if they don't their is a risk of emotional harm). I'm hoping good contact letters from us etc should keep them on side to respect that. SS were not so convinced, backed by evidence I might add and a judge unusually said no photos because of the risk, but having met them I genuinely thought it was a risk we could take to enable our child to keep name for identity reasons. I hope we're right, only time will tell. It worries me, I won't lie.

18 is ridiculously low and if the birth parents are a real risk to your child what else can you do but change it; I would. I think name changing has to be on a case by case basis with each risk assessed, as you've done Velvet.

I'm sure they'll still always be a doubt in anyone's mind, when numbers are low, whether they choose to change it or keep it. But go with the facts and then how your gut feels about these facts.

They really do need to start selling crystal balls now don't they

We had to make a guess at the time that it would be a similar number to 2013 and that was only 14! So 4 more last year. The database is for England and Wales so 18 to choose from with that year of birth is just way too easy. I would have really liked to have been able to see how baby were registered in our county but it wouldn't have made any difference.
My worry is we can keep him out of the area of BF at the moment but when he's at school not so easily. Schools go out and about to other areas and schools for competitions etc and with such an unusual name he could be identified ridiculously easily. Especially with extended BF the likelihood of cousins same age etc.
We came across several raised eyebrows when giving his name to people like Drs etc so that's not fair to him to make him stand out either. He was only 6 months when it was changed so he's had no knowledge of it and we have kept a version of birth name as a middle one. It's never easy though because you really have no idea how they'll feel when they're older but we're confident there is enough evidence to warrant the change for him.
We've also deliberately gone for a name that has many variations and shortenings so he can "pick" his own identity from those of that makes sense?

Totally makes sense Velvet.

You've thought everything through, you can only explain that to LO when older. You've balanced everything up so well, you're right to feel confident the decision made is the right one.

I too worry about school competitions etc. but we're lucky that our very unusual name can be shortened to a fairly common one which also factored into our decision. We thought that if this occurs we will insist to school that they use shortened name when it needs to be written down or announced publicly in other areas, we're just going to have to see if we can work with our LO on that to accept that as ok. But for us that was a compromise we saw to lower risk, while LO can still keep name safely. There are so many factors to each case/decision aren't there, that is just another example. Which again is why I don't think anyone can tell another whether they've made right decision or not. Only we as parents have ALL the facts after all.

Acorn that's great that you've been able to keep it shortened. Our sw said to us lo's name wasn't unusual! I said no it's not an unusual name in itself it is however exceptionally unusual in his age range ! They really are clueless sometimes! She apparently knows lots of kids with his name, I've never met another one and given there were only 18 in England and Wales she either gets around a lot or they're all in our county!

Yes we are lucky. Don't get me wrong, our LO refuses to be called by the shortened version but it gives us options for when the more difficult situations arise later on and we're lucky to have options!

Ooh and I'd have to drop that website into conversation next time with SW. I don't think I could resist lol.

sadly! Won't be seeing her again!
Lo's sw is coming this morning though so will mention it to her in the hope it gets back.
Good luck with getting lo to accept the shortened version sounds a good plan if they cooperate.

There were zero others with LO's name. Funnily enough, even the SWs and the court said that perhaps a new but similar name might be a smart idea!

I don't think SW are very clued up TBH. Say your child has a name like velvet suggests - that's not weird but just unusual in their age group . Let's say Nigel .

My child competes in an individual ( as opposed to team ) sport . His sport publishes results of competitions on the internet all the time , along with his age group of course . So even if you have a very common surname, such as Smith , he would probably be the only under 9 karate competitor called Nigel in the country .

There's no system to withdraw your child's name from competition results . And even if there was, it would cause a lot of problems for them competing , as they have to qualify for certain events by competing and achieving certain results in other competitions.

Another child plays in an orchestra . At concerts, which are city wide , all their names are printed in the programme . They have been in this for 10 years and I've never seen a child called Nigel .

Most schools put photos or information on the website with first names only.

So 8 year old Nigel, even if he was called smith or jones , would be very identifiable .

Spot on Leeza! We can avoid issues now as not school age but the minute they get to school age and start doing these things it's very difficult. Also even if possible to withhold name etc then why should DS be treated differently and singled out because he's adopted. We want him to have as normal a childhood as possible.

Out of interest, I just googled our sons name . I've discovered that the actual results lists, with the scores , are generally not googlable. But if you go into the " karate " results list for his age you can find them easily .

But what IS googleable is the newsletter items etc that are online . So if our child beats Jimmy Brown of Guildford Karate club, that club may write an article on their club website saying

" U9 county hopeful Jimmy Brown beaten by Fareham boy Nigel Smith " .

So I've found several online mentions of our son, which include his full name and his club . So it wouldn't really matter if he stayed off FB , school website etc when he's older , he can be found very easily .

How could we possibly stop any other club whose member ever competes against our child, writing about that in their newsletter or online ? And even if it were possible, it would create a huge fuss and mark our child out as seriously weird . As velvet says, you just want them to have a normal childhood .

And our child LOVES getting a mention like this - why would we want to spoil that for him ?