To wonder why you would pick a name in the top 10?

[FreckledFrog]

So the latest top 100 baby names have been released this week. It has prompted me to wonder why on earth you would pick a name in the top 10-20 names.

There are thousands of beautiful, unique names out there, yet so many people are happy to pick the same names despite knowing their children will go to school with multiple Olivia's, Noah's, Amelia's or George's.

Do these people not desire some originality for their children?

Am I being unreasonable? I have a very very unusual name and have picked less common names for my children and I wonder if this clouds my judgement?

"I wouldn't touch any even in the top 100, let alone top 10. There's nothing more boring than another George! Way to tell your kid they're mr joe average and not unique."

What makes you unique is not your name, it's your personality. I have confidence that my DC are unique, funny, wonderful individuals regardless of whether their name is in the top 20 (DS) or barely makes the top 200 (DD).

As I've said, being called John, Paul and George doesn't seem to have held those lads back.......

i think people just want to fit in with the rest of the herd OP.

YABU. We picked DS’s name because it’s not too popular here but I read the other day that it’s the number 1 baby name in the US this year. I was disappointed but it wasn’t intentional. I’m American and DS has dual citizenship but his name is Irish so I had no idea it would be popular back home.

The only thing I would say in this is please choose the traditional spelling of a name.

I teach a Reception class and this year we have no Amelias, no Georges, no Noahs and no Olivias. In fact I can only think of two Georges in the school, one Noah and no Amelias or Olivias.

There aren't classes filled with 12 Georges and 7 Noahs. Children still manage an identity and sense of uniqueness when they share a name because your name should never define your personality.

I picked a name in that was somewhere around 75th most popular....the grandparents found it a bit whacky, and I was stopped by strangers who told me how unusual it was. Its now very popular.

My sister picked a really "out there" name for her child 30 years ago... to the point where people sniggered. It's now one of those names where there's one in almost every primary school class.

I do get why people give their DC popular names...I wish I'd chosen something more unusual for DD, but her name is just so lovely...and it seems a lot of people agree with me.

Actually, how many of the truly outstanding people in the world-the creative, the inspiring-have "unique" names?

I find it intriguing as to why we are generally drawn to the same names? This generation choose Olivia Amelia eve, our mothers sarah Claire Victoria and Rachel. Every friendship group I have ever had has one of those names in it.

When I was first pregnant with pfb 10 years ago my chosen names were Emily and Olivia - same as everyone else. Luckily realised a few weeks before having her and switched. First baby group I attended there were 3 Olivia's and their mums were .

Will I be shot down in flames if I say it's a class thing? Not many unique names and definitely no unique spellings in the Times birth announcements! A few hippy type ones, but apart from that it's classic all the way.

There are also regional variations. DS2's name is Welsh. It wasn't in the top 100 UK names for the year he was born, it wasn't even in the top 10 in Wales. There are 3 in his class. So sometimes it is just luck!

The ones I can think of named themselves Bertrand. Coco Chanel (real name Gabrielle). Prince. There's probably more but I'm drawing a blank.

But then you've got Albert Einstein. Stephen Hawkings. Marie Curie. Thomas Edison. Mark Zuckerburg. Sarah Bernhard. William Shakespeare. Pablo (Spanish for Paul) Picasso. The list goes on!

You will indeed be shot down in flames, BertrandRussell. You will also be right.

Dh and I had a lot of trouble agreeing on a girls name when pregnant with dd - we just liked different things. So when we both stumbled upon a name we both liked we cared not that it was in the top 20. It still is, I still don't care. It's her name and it suits her and I still love it. If I loved a top 10 name I would use that too.
Ds has a name that is not in the top 100 - again it was picked because we liked it and not because of its popularity, or lack of in this case.

I am surprised that other people care so much what others do tbh.

We picked a name that was in the 90-100 range. Only came across one other child with the same name in 4.5 years. DC starts school and there's a girl with the same name in her class!

I only know 2 Isla's, 2 George's (spread all over the country) and no baby Olivia's. There's no way you can know how popular a name will be in your area, so you might as well pick your favourites!

I was thinking about this when I was listening to Sue Perkins' autobiography. She and her siblings are Susan, Michelle and David. They would be pretty "unique' for a baby now.......

I have a robert (3) and a William (1) I’ve no idea if they are in top 10 names as to be honest I’ve never looked , all the first born males on my husbands side are called Robert so our son was always going to be Robert no matter what and William is my fathers name so he was always going to be William

I wouldn’t care if either names were No1 name as they are special names to our families so we would always of used them

Do these people not desire some originality for their children

Well, seeing as most people want their DCs to 'fit in' and be liked when it comes to clothes and possessions, originality appears to be undesirable really.

My sons name has been in the top 5 for a long time in the UK, I have only met about 4 of them in my life! Two who are 18+ and two who are under 5.
So even though it's supposed to be very popular I never meet any where I live!

I've just checked - didn't concern me in the least at the time - DS1s name wasn't even top 50 the year he was born, but there are 3 in his class with his name and at least 1 other in the year at school! It's definitely increased in popularity over the years, but it is interesting that it's the most popular name in his class (no other name has 3 of them) despite not being Top 50 the year he was born (or the year after).

I also don't get the obsession for unusual names. And the fact that unusual names seems to mean strange/made up/ weird sounding. If you want an actual unusual name go for Mark or Peter or Michael, or indeed Sarah or Clare! I've not met a baby/child Mark or Sarah in years... but people don't actually just want names which other children won't have in that sense, they want weird names which makes them look alternative and different and cool for naming their baby Sunshine or Jersey.

"You will indeed be shot down in flames, BertrandRussell. You will also be right."

I have an even more inflammatory bit of evidence-well anecdata- to share, but I think I need coffee first.

Dd1's name is in the top 30 I believe, dd2s name is in the mid two hundreds but I think it will be on the rise. They are both beautiful names still.

DD had a unique and unusual name, she hates it. The other evening it was 'Mummy why couldn't I have been called something like Amy or Grace instead?'.

The rest of our children's names are in the top 10, we shortlisted based on what we liked (and what would suit their surname).

NOT choosing a name that we loved just because it was in the top 10 would be a bit silly surely?

A teacher friend says that the more unusual named children
are the more 'challenging' shall we say. little shits

FWIW DH was quite insistent on DD's name, she would have had a classic name if I had had my way!