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?

Teal...out of the top 100 maybe but you said unheard of and I knew several do definitely not!

my DD1 name i picked 7 years ago was unique but a few babies have popped up with the name in the past year or 2

I don't think Phillip will stand the test of time- I don't know a Phillip under 40. Can't imagine a baby Phillip

I don't know a Phillip under 40.

That fact alone will account for many Philips soon. Naming after grandparents is quite common after all. Hence the baby Georges and Ethels now. The royal George and Charlotte are a result of the trend, not the origin.

The only Philip I know is in his 20s. Had never thought of it being an 'older' name, it just sounds like a traditional name to me.

Phillip is awful- so drippy

I don't think Phillip will stand the test of time- I don't know a Phillip under 40. Can't imagine a baby Phillip

I know two blokes named Philip, both mid 30s. Although one is named after his dad and the other has older parents. Thing is I quite like it, probably as both of the Phils I know are nice guys so I'm probably kindly disposed to the name, as in I'd be happy if an offspring turned out like them. Of young people called Phil, Phil Jones the Man utd footballer is in his mid 20s.

@BakerBear my DS is Devon.

I have an Amelia. Internet was just starting when I named her, would have had no way of knowing if it was 'popular' or not as I was only 21 and none of my friends/sisters had children. I called her this as I had always liked the name, and still love it.

Yeah, Philip and Phillip aren't even in the top 100 since 1995.

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/bulletins/babynamesenglandandwales/2016
(scroll down to number 5 and search for both)

Naming after grandparents is quite common after all. Hence the baby Georges and Ethels now

I won't be naming any future offspring Cliff, that's for sure.

I won't be naming any future offspring Cliff, that's for sure.

We picked our 'top 10' name in the year they were born as I didn't think it was that popular but also not whacky.

As a teacher I had taught 1 child with this name in the past 6 years, only 1 more since then.

I didn't check the list as didn't think to until I got excited finding a Christmas decoration with the name on and looked and it was number 7!

I have only met a couple in nursery/groups etc with the same name. Our second does have a traditional popular name but hey who cares!

I also had the condition that it needed to be pronoucable on sight - I feel so sorry for students with names which can be pronounced a number of ways and they have to 'teach' the teacher every year - even worse in secondary when you have multiple teachers!

OP - in the same 6 years of teaching I have taught 3 Myles with that spelling.

There were 146 baby Philip's and 35 baby Phillip's born in 2016.
Well outside the top 100 but not extinct yet.
The number of Philip's born annually seems to have been more or less stable since around 2003 (the darkgreener website is great for checking out how particular baby names have been trending since 1996).

My son's name was pretty much decided before he was conceived. We always said if we had a son we would name him after his grandfather. Which we have done. Happens to be a top 20 name but I don't care. It is a significant name for us and that's what matters.

YABU - are you serious? What a 1st world problem... Most Mums are just thrilled to bring a healthy living baby into the world and name it without checking whether the name is on the top 10 or top 100 most popular names list. Our daughter's name doesn't feature on either of those lists but blow me just recently we've met kids who share her name so not choosing from the top 100 doesn't guarantee uniqueness...
Start by abolishing your greengrocer's apostrophe and leave people to choose any name they like (within reason) for their children!

YABU - are you serious? What a 1st world problem.

Given that you are posting on a website, rather than walking 20 miles to the nearest water source or escaping from a war zone, I can safely assume that you, like me and the op live in the so called 'first world' (I'll skate over how dated and problematic that term is) and by very definition have problems to match. Whilst I agree the popularity of otherwise of a child's name isn't the most pressing question in the world, your attempt to dismiss it out of hand comes across as sanctimonious and hypocritical.

What boysofmelody said.

Don't like hearing about 'first world problems' ? I would suggest maybe mn isn't for you?

I chose outside the top 50 12 years ago and now it is in the top 10. Chose outside the 100 7 years ago and again the name has gained in popularity

My kids names have travelled between 20 and 90 in the popularity lists, I can't say I consulted the lists on choosing their names though. Interestingly I've yet to meet an Oliver and the Olivias and Amelias I have met are older children and adults.

DD has a name that is very popular worldwide and is consistently in the top lists in our country but oddly we've only met one child near her age with the same name. I didn't think about how common it was when I chose it.

I had my first before the internet.

I can't imagine not checking the top lists in a book before giving birth!

Did people really never think of doing that?

If you really really love a name, enough so that you'd use it however popular it was, then you very well might not look at the lists because its position might not matter to you.

If your really wanted to be original you could make a name up.

But seriously I never understand why people would choose some names, but then again it's the child that counts not the name.