To wonder why people care about the popularity of baby names?

[fluffyanimal]

I can understand why you might not be able to decide between a selection of names. Or that you might want to know whether a certain combination of names sounds odd. But if you like a name, who cares whether it is popular or vanishingly rare? Why not just call your baby the name you like? I genuinely don't see why anyone would be concerned about this.

There were 5 of us in my class at school with my name (out of 30). It used to get very confusing. Particularly with the teacher with the lazy eye - she'd ask a question and then say a name. But she could look at two of us at once so you never knew whether or not to answer! So when the times comes, I plan to opt for something a little more unsual!

Well, you might prefer your child not to be one of 4 with the same name in their class at school. DS was in a class with 4 Aaron/Arons, and since there were only 25 children in total it was a bit noticeable!

Personally I get tired of hearing the name Isobel and I don't even have one myself....

(no offence to any Isobels out there it was just an example)

A friend of mine went to great lengths to make sure her children's names were unusual. Great lengths. I believe it was a reaction to being one of 7 (I'm not kidding) girls in the class with names that were basically variations on the name 'Julie' (julia/Julie/Juliette/Julianna etc etc).

People want to be original, rather than look like they're 'following the crowd'. I agree with you though OP, it's only really following the crowd if you choose a name because it's popular. If you love a name it shouldn't really matter whether it's commonly used or not or not, although I can understand the desire not to want to be one of ten Olivias/Olivers in the school class.

But why does that matter? I have 2 close friends and a SIL with the same name as me. In my class at school there were 2 other girls with my name, 4 girls called Sally, 3 called Rebecca. Really, so what?
I frequently get more than one student with the same name in my classes. We all cope.

You've deeply offended me MrsRhettbutler.

Because a name is an identifier. It performs a useful function in distinguishing you from the other people around you. If - like me - you have a name that is shared with at least 5 other people in the vicinity at any one time then your name is not doing the job it is supposed to do. Some people don't seem to mind this. I really do though - it has been a pain in the arse my whole life through. I cannot even phone my inlaws and say "Hello it's Sarah here" because there is a pause while they try and work out if I am their cleaner, their neighbour, their daughter's best friend, their god daughter etc etc etc. My husband, however, has an unusual name and is remembered. It is an asset to him in his career and socially. I, however, am destined to always be "Atticus's wife" or "Moonbeam's mum" or "You know, blonde Sarah, no not the short one... she drives a blue car... no?"

All names have been changed.

Hth.

In my class at school (30 kids) we had six boys called Paul. Not much fun for them. I don't care that there may be one or 2 other kids in DS's school with the same name, but I'd feel bad if he was one of many with the same name. He's not at school yet so don't know how it will go! His name is usually in the 40s on the top 100, but we've only ever met one other so far.

In my grade 11 history class, there 2 Aarons, 2 Erins, and an Earon. There were 4 Chris' and 2 Kris' and 3 Heathers and 3 Jessicas!

After that, I swore that my DC would be the only ones in their class with their name

Sorry, that was to eurochick and AMuminScotland.

I think it's sad that people might think someone was following the crowd just because they chose a name that happened to be currently popular. I wish people would just use the name they like and let that be the end of it.

As a teacher, I saw many trends and would rather dd wasn't one. No-one wants to be one of 5 in their class etc.

There is one other child in dd's class with the same name, but as he's a boy they just get called girl x and boy x

They care because:

1. They don't want a popular name that ends up being seen as "common" or "chavvy". And that does affect how people/strangers treat you including as an adult.
2. There is lots of research to show that people with unpopular names have a higher chance of being lonely.

Names and their popularity do manner. That is why people care.

Yes. Unfortunately people do make assumptions about you based on your name. Just look at Tarquin etc.

In my class at school of 30 children:
4 Tracy/Traceys
4 Pauls
3 Karens
3 Davids
2 James
2 Janes
2 Stephens
2 Andrews

I suppose some parents want everyone to think that their children are special - being one of ten Olivias in the class must rather dent that feeling.

(I understand that children are special - but mostly only to their parents )

Also, some people spend AGES combing literature and family trees for the perfect name for their child, - after all that work it must bite pretty hard to have everyone say, six months later 'Oh, you called her Ruby, - like Charlotte Church.' Or to find that, five years later, you haven't been original so much as very, very suggestible to a stimulus you didn't notice, but has clearly worked on great swathes of the population, as waves and waves of Jakobs and Evas make their way to primary school.

The best way to avoid this is to call them something really truly ghastly, like Eggbert, or Agatha or Lobb-on or something......

DS has a rather popular name, it wasn't planned that way but when he arrived the name seemed to come with him, so that was that really. He also has a common as muck surname, hopefully his highly unusual middle name will help distinguish him. DH has a fairly common name and it doesn't faze him and neither has it held him back at all.

It does tigermoll!

I had a very popular name growing up and there were usually several of us in the class with the same name. And yes of course everyone did 'cope', it wasn't a major problem, but I would have liked something just a little bit more...well, individual!

Also I guess people feel it makes them look unimaginative if they choose a very common name. And some popular names get very dated and become extremely unfashionable after a decade or so.

If it doesn't bother you, it doesn't bother you though. I agree generally people should choose the name they like and not worry about it too much. Often of course names are popular because they're nice :)

We've got one with a name that never features in the top 100 and one with a name that's been pretty much at the top for the past few years.

We just chose names we liked.

All of my dcs have unusual names, DD's is the most common and I've only met two others in five years and they were one and three years old.

Agree with what other posters have said, but also there is a style factor. DH jas a top-ten-in-the-year-of-his-birth name which came in and went out of fashion within three or four short years. It's horribly unfashionable now. I prefer timeless names. Often those in the top ten are flash-in-the-pans which will forever identify their owners as being a child of this or that decade.

There is a solution to v common names, - (and I don't want to cause offence) but anyone with anything about them can attract a nickname.

In fact, the more common your name, the more likely you are to NEED a personalised, amusing, cool-sounding nickname.

So what if you're John or Anne? Get yourself called something else, in a way that reflects your personality.

I've got a very unusual name for a girl, but it's spelled differently to what people think. I therefore spend my entire life going "No, it's I.M.E........No, I before the M....... no, not with an extra E on the end............... OH FOR FUCKS SAKE, HERE!"

I'd like a slightly less unusual name. But at least everyone seems to know who I am! I get people saying hello to me all the time, and mostly I have no idea who they are!