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?

The reason those names are in the top 10 is because they are nice, attractive, well known names that are easy to spell and pronounce. A kid with an unusual name is 'the kid with the weird name', and not 'the kid who is great at the trumpet' or 'the kid who can do his time tables'. He's the kid about whom everyone says, 'How do you spell that?' or the 'kid who's parents made up his name', or 'the kid with the hippy parents'.

In fact I've just searched and found that 56 children were given DS2's name in the UK in 2004. As I say, there are 3 in his class.

My eldest child has a top 20 name and my youngest a top 30 name. They are both classic names that my husband and I agreed on. They are only little but there have so far been no other kids with their names in their classes at school/nursery. That's probably partly because we live in South London and unusual names are the norm here. My brother chose what he thought was an unusual name for his eldest and it is now in the top 5. You just don't know how things are going to pan out. Surely most people just choose names because they like them?

Y a b sort of unreasonable
An evergreen name in the top ten such as Thomas or James or Emily is fair enough.
Most people don’t want their child to have a silly faddy name name that will date.
I don’t get why you call your child something like Ava. It’s not a classic. It’s just part of a trend.

DS has a top ten name and there are about half a dozen in his year group.

Fortunately, neither he nor we are sad enough to be bothered by that: we picked it because we love it, it suits him, and he likes it too.

But if all that matters to you, OP, is where a name comes on the list of popular names, then - sucks to be as shallow as you, basically.

I can honestly say I never checked these name charts when pregnant. I picked them because I liked them.

I didn't realise that having a popular name made you an average Joe?

As it happens all mine are in there but I picked them some time ago when I hadn't heard of many so it jusy goes to show how the trends change.

My DD is an Emilia
And I thought I was being original naming her after the area we had been on honeymoon (Emilia Romanga in Italy) she was going to be a Minnie as her first name but various family members put me off.
So it's a second name.
Now there are are three Amelia's and one Emilia in her class
And In rainbows there are 6 Amelia's and 2 Emilias
She did ask the other day if she could be Minnie instead and said she had asked her friends to use it as a nickname but they wouldn't 😞

YANBU. But my view is probably clouded growing up with a common first and middle name. Whilst my worshipped older sister had two amazing names. Which are still pretty unheard of.

But I think it's also regional. Because I haven't met a single Noah or Amelia. But Lacey, Leo, Leon, Harper, Lainey and Lola there are tons here.

"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."

Oh dear. I hate this idea that you can 'label' your child as special, unique, quirky and oh so special just from giving them an uncommon name. A child's personality doesn't come from their name.

I'm a professional artist. I move in circles in book publishing and film. I know very creative (and extremely eccentric and yes 'unique') people who come up with the most amazing ideas.....they are called Phillip, Mark, Tim, Kate and I'm a Sarah.

When I named my second dc I very nearly didn't name him what I really wanted because of the name popularity (yes the name is always mentioned as full on here). I wanted it after a family member and a favourite literary character. My author friend said "I'm a Mark. I literally went to school with dozens of Marks. Of all the things I wanted to change in my life, my name was never one of them. Use what you love"

So I did. Both my dcs have beautiful fairly common names - imagination however has never been a problem for me.

I hate my name, its awful. It was rare when I was born but now as an adult its common due to it being a very popular characters name in a series of movies .

All my dc had less common names at birth that then ended up in the top 20 as they grew older.

If someone hears an unusual name they like then it becomes more popular as people start using it more.

Most people dont choose names based on a list published online. Apparently where I live Mohammed is the most popular boys name. I only know 1 and he's an adult. Yet I know 3 Codys and 4 Corys who are under 2 so im surprised theyre not in that top 5 slot. The top 10 names really aren't accurate as to how popular those names will be in your childs school so using a popular name doesn't mean there will be classes of 10 or 15 children all named the same.

@Iheartjordanknight true in some ways but my point is that there are sooo many names out there. A mix of traditional, you-nique, funky spellings, normal spellings and still more unusual.

I picked top ten.
Because I had an unusual name and have spent my life spelling my name out to people. It's wearing.
So my nameis not "abcdefg" it's "abcdefg and its spelt abcdefg" said all in one long sentence.

It takes them three years to realise. A lot of people dont know there is a list never mind study it!

OP - is your DC one of the "unique" Khaleesis out there?

featherup my brother's stepchildren had one off names- and one by one they refused to go to secondary school unless they were allowed to change them. Maybe your dd could try that?

They weren't bullied or anything- they were just bored with the constant "yes it is unusual- it's my dad's lucky number/my mother's favourite herb/the beach where I was conceived......" conversations.

DS names is high in the top 10 and I don't mind at all, I would rather chose the name both me and DP liked over a name that we didn't like purely because of its popularity ranking.

I suppose it depends on what you class as important. I'm confident we can raise DS to be an individual, even if there is another kid in his class with the same name! DP has a very common name amongst our age group and he's managed just fine, quite well in fact!

There are names that I like within the top 10.. I think Lily is a strong and beautiful name. I think Ava is really cool BUT that said they are mundane. There are thousands of them. I just wondered if other people cared about this.

I am the opposite to you OP. I am more inclined to judge people who give their children unusual names or off the wall spellings. To me it seems a bit common/vulgar. I like the popular names and traditional names best.

And it is easier for the child to have an 'ordinary' name. We gave one of our children a name that whilst a classic in DH's country of origin is unusual for the UK, unwittingly setting them up for a lifetime of misspelling/mispronunciation and even being told they have their own name wrong.

I have an Oliver who is almost 15.
When he was born in 2003 his name was not at all popular.
I just loved it.

Now I hear it everywhere but he's the only one in his school.

If someone likes a name then it being in the top 10/20 would probably not matter.
It would only reinforce that lots of others like it too.

@Fruitboxjury

A name 'dating' is another thing that puts me off.

Oh and one of the things that really upset me growing up?
That there was NEVER my name in any if the personalised stuff key rings, baubles, etc that you get. Or not in my case! It made me feel invisible.

Tbh when we had DD she was our first child and I knew nothing about popularity lists. We picked her name as we thought it beautiful (and it is) and I knew not a single person or baby with her name...obviously that put the kaibosh on it as everyone else had the same idea as that was they year its popularity started jumping and it is now a very popular name indeed. If I could turn back time then yes I would change it but I can't and it is still a lovely name that she suits.

I knew oliver was a popular name in 2003. You can see how quickly a name is rising.
I had popular names on my list though. Some. To me the red flag was the speed the name was rising up the charts.

12 years ago we had planned to call our daughter Grace. At the last minute we had a wobble because we thought she might end up with another Grace in her class at school so we chose something more unusual. Since then I have not come across a single girl called Grace. The more unusual name we chose though is everywhere The statistics really don't matter much because it's only in your local area that your children are actually going to meet other children. And the popular names vary a lot around the different parts of the UK.

It's much harder to have a misconception about a popular name too.
Be ause you are more likely to have known several.
What is a James like? Well I know several so the name doesn't have connotations.