Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

765 replies

FreckledFrog · 22/09/2017 21:46

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?

OP posts:
longestlurkerever · 23/09/2017 09:52

I know two baby Walters ( no word of a lie)

Oblomov17 · 23/09/2017 09:52

Dh asked if ds1 could be called after his Dad. Fine. I never even looked at names lists. Later I found out it was number 1 name and had been for years. Gutted. Fortunately it's now moved to 23!

Original poster
FreckledFrog · 23/09/2017 09:53

@Iheartjordanknight

That is my whole point. The names I have picked are not whacky, you-nique or stupid. They are just not top

OP posts:
Original poster
FreckledFrog · 23/09/2017 09:54

@Iheartjordanknight

Can you tell us your children's names then?

OP posts:
Lweji · 23/09/2017 09:55

OP, your son will spend the rest of his life saying Myles with a y.
I'm sure he'll thank you. Grin

Mine is actually out of the top 10 for when he was born but very common in older men.

It's actually considered old-fashioned now and out of the the top 100, I think.

PatriciaBateman · 23/09/2017 09:55

I have a very unconventional name but have always hated that this is the case, perhaps not helped by being socially out of step anyway and always feeling a bit of an outsider.

I also just dislike the multiple repetitive questions over it, "Ooh, where's that from?" "How did your parents come up with that name?", plus mispronunciations/misspellings, and endless correcting of each.

I picked names I love for my children, but also made sure they were very common.

Original poster
FreckledFrog · 23/09/2017 09:56

@Lweji

It could be worse he could have to be Myles 'Surname initial for identification'.. but he won't

OP posts:
Lweji · 23/09/2017 10:01

It could be worse

I don't think so. He wouldn't have to write an initial very often but will say his name a lot more on the phone and to receptionists.

Miles is not so common that it requires a y.

blackheartsgirl · 23/09/2017 10:01

I grew up with an unusual old fashioned first name which went terribly with my awful boring unusual surname. I was bullied at school and the names I was saddled with have plagued me for years and had affected my confidence. I longed for a name like Emma or Sarah. My kids have common names for their generation as I wasn't having them suffering with the bullying like I did

Sharkbaithoohaha · 23/09/2017 10:02

Well ten years ago my daughters name wasn't that popular and now it is! I don't mind though and still love her name! :)

Teddygirlonce · 23/09/2017 10:02

Do these people not desire some originality for their children?

Some of us have DC with popular names but we had no idea (at the time of naming them) that they would become so.

I dismissed both my 'first choice names' for the DC because they seemed already to be gaining in popularity. However, my second choices still went on to become super popular. How was I supposed to predict that though? I had loved my 'Top Five' choices for boys and girls since I was a teenager.

I would say that the current 'crop' of popular names is a good one - mostly quite classic ones - nothing too OTT or that will make them cringe when they are grown up.

We really liked the name Lara (Dr Zhivago lovers here) for our DD but dismissed it because we didn't want people thinking we'd named out DD after a Tomb-Raider character...

I'm not sure that most children very much like originality when it comes to names - they like to fit in.

And just because one is called Amelia or Oliver doesn't necessarily mean that one will be one of many in any given situation.

ordinarymumnat · 23/09/2017 10:03

OP I'm with you on this.

The top 10 remains pretty steady. I went out of my way to find a name I liked, didn't look like one that was going to be made fun of, wasn't common or in my circle etc etc

C8H10N4O2 · 23/09/2017 10:03

I don't know about the e but Kristian is the most common spelling in much of Europe

Oh yes it was the 'e' which made it an issue. The registrar was chatting about unusual names and spellings. She was concerned that combination of the 'e' with the 'k' at the beginning would result in him being addressed as 'Christine'. Rational being that in the UK the initial 'k' was more likely to cause people to read it phonetically than anticipate a mispelling.

ivykaty44 · 23/09/2017 10:05

Because I liked the name and thus so do everyone else that used that name

Lweji · 23/09/2017 10:05

My name is straightforward in my home country but I always have to spell it in the UK and people often misspell it (although it's become popular in recent years).

So, my son's name is straightforward in both countries.

spanieleyes · 23/09/2017 10:09

It's not the name that makes a child unique, it's the personality.

Most "unique" names just make me wonder for their parents' common sense!

Mammyloveswine · 23/09/2017 10:24

Myles-as long as you love it OP!

Honestly speaking I would roll my eyes seeing that on my new class list at school..I'd rank it alongside the Masons and Harley's I've seen in abundance lately...

But OP names are so personal and that's my point-the name we want for second DS is a traditional name but barely scraping the top 200...however loads of people have slated it! I love it tho and couldn't give a rats arse!

(Bertie in case anyone is interested)

DSHathawayGivesMeFannyGallops · 23/09/2017 10:29

Not all names stay popular for long though. FWIW, my name was chosen for the meaning, and was not very popular when I was born in 1990 but had a brief flash of popularity in early 00s. I think it lurks in the low end of the top 100. I've known a few scattered about and like that it's known enough to be pronounced correctly but is not ubiquitous in my age bracket. I was annoyed when another one joined my class in year 10 after 14 years of not needing my surname with my first name. To make it worse, we had the same surname initial (e.g both Katherine B) and she already shortened her name with the same diminutive- to be fair the most common for our name, think Katy not Kathy- AND she used the spelling I had decided to start using that school year (so both Katy B and not budging). I stayed the long version and she had the diminutive. It wasn't a real problem but I felt a bit squashed and stuck with my name- I'd wanted to shorten it to reflect being older and changes in myself in the previous couple of years. I didn't feel like me. The only other "Katherine called Katy" I know now is a good friend of my DP so we're together a lot but we do at least spell it differently!

I would worry if I was due to have a baby just before a royal as the names soar immediately afterwards. Everyone would assume you'd been named after the royal baby. At least if you follow them you have a chance to pick something else and not look like a sheep, even if you're fuming inside.

DP is also fascinated by names popular in Ireland and Scotland being odd in England. After years being seen as quite rare with his (really boring and middle aged but apparently more popular in Scotland) name as a twenty something in SE England, he was miffed to find out he was the third person with his name I'd been on a date with. All the same age and all Scottish or of Scottish extraction living in the home counties and London. Theres also someone at a hobby of mine with DPs name who also has a warning attached to his name so it's always said as a phrase (eg, Pervy Roddy). DP got told by my friends it was a shame he's a "Roddy" as he's not at all like the other one and the name is already ruined for them.

multivac · 23/09/2017 10:30

It could be worse he could have to be Myles 'Surname initial for identification'.. but he won't

Just by the by, Freckled, if you were thinking of taking up professional gambling... I wouldn't, if I were you.

Original poster
FreckledFrog · 23/09/2017 10:39

@multivac

I'm confident. It's been ranked 200+ since 2010 so I'm not worried.

OP posts:
Original poster
FreckledFrog · 23/09/2017 10:40

I will be honest. This thread has opened my eyes that as long as people love their babies name the majority of people don't care about being in the top 10.

OP posts:
longestlurkerever · 23/09/2017 10:43

In my dd's school the only children that have to go by an initial are called Dulcie and Amelie. Their parents seem more annoyed about it than they might have done if they'd gone for Olivia or Harry, is my only observation. I think there is a broader spread of names than there used to be, so to a certain extent people have taken on board your point. My girlfriends pretty much all have partners called Chris, Dave or Rob.

MsJuniper · 23/09/2017 10:44

Lots of traditional or commonly-used names have variations which means the name owners will have to clarify spelling.

Stephen with a ph
Katy with a y
Gemma with a G
Laurence with a u
Rachael with an ae
Catherine with a C

RainyDayBear · 23/09/2017 10:48

DD's name is in the top 50, it's a 'normal' name but just isn't as popular at the moment. I'm pregnant with DC2 and they will probably have one of the more popular names as I really like Olivia / Oliver, Amelia amongst a few less popular ones. I really don't see the issue!!

HolidayTimeAgain · 23/09/2017 10:49

My primary school class had 4 pauls and 4 clairs!!! It was a pain. I have a less popular name, I was the only one in my year in senior school and it's very unusual for me to be in the same place as someone who shares my name.
I deliberatley avoided the most popular baby names when my children were born, they both have names that are traditional and were picked for family reasons. My ds is one of 362 registered with his name and my dd is one of 950.
My ds is in a special school with small class numbers, a few years ago four out of seven pupils had the same name.

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.

Join Mumsnet Log In

This thread is closed and is no longer accepting replies. Click here to start a new thread.