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?

If you go for a 'different' name, you'll never find your kid's name on a mug or door plaque in a souvenir shop, which could be or depending on the day

Dd's name when she was born was in the top six of that year. That said when she started school she was the only girl in the school with that name so top ten doesn't necessarily mean that it is going to be used a lot where you live IME.

If you think of it like the music charts then the best songs are at the top of the charts. Similarly the names that the majority of people think are the nicest will be at the top of the charts. Some people think having an unusual name is important but many just choose one they like regardless of how popular it is.

What did you expect her to say? Summerswallow

I'd find it annoying to be Sophie C, I find it annoying to have two best friends called Sophie who always have to be differentiated. I don't see why their parents couldn't have thought of something more original.

I picked my kids names coz I liked them, nothing to do with any list anywhere.

But looking now my eldests name is nowhere in the English list, but still in the top 10 of Irish names. My youngests is nowhere to be seen anywhere. Yet neither are particularly unusual, in my opinion.

I expected her to be honest- she's pretty up front! My child with the unusual name is very vocal about how much she doesn't like the fact no-one can pronounce it. We've talked a lot about name choice.

YABU. My sons name is fairly popular but I haven't met anyone else with it yet also there's so many names now that even the 'popular' ones aren't actually that popular it's not like many years ago where you would have lots of the same name in the same class.

In the case of my DC, the common name was the only mutually liked name by DH and me. At 15 she's not had to share the name with anyone in her year group yet.

YABVU to be so pleased with yourself for having a yoonique name. Firstly, you didn't choose it, so it isn't your achievement. Secondly, it could change. My name was vanishingly unusual when I was a child- I only ever met one other. Now it's in that list and has been consistently for years. Presumably in ten or twenty years everyone will think it's common and horrid. It'll still be my name, nothing I can do about it.

Ninon I have two friends with the same name. It's not a particularly common or unusual name. I don't blame the parents. What a weird thing to feel cross about. I find it quite easy to distinguish them, except when telling my husband long stories about them (he never knows which one I'm talking about....)

@maude you're right, I never find my kids names anywhere on gift type stuff! Well, I find my eldest, but not the correct spelling.

My niece has a beautiful name but very unusual here. It's a fairly popular name in the USA tho, where she has family. They are gong there soon, so are hoping to take advantage and get some named bits and bobs for her!

I thought we'd given our baby DD a very unusual name. I've not met one since primary school and most people have reacted as though it's quite uncommon. Turns out it's in the top 40!

YABU. Some people just fall in love with a name and don't give a jot about popularity

Even if you have a top 10 name, the chances are that you'll still be the only one in your class. Names are popular because they are good solid names with histories. You don't need a one off name to be a one off person. There were quite a lot of Johns, Pauls and Georges!

It's very interesting to see the difference in opinions on this one. Some people simply don't care about popularity of a name, others do.

I can't deny that if the names I have picked for my children which by the way are not 'yoo-nique' came into the top ten, I'd be disappointed.

Both DS1 and DS2 were given family names, it just so happened that they were both in the top five in the years they were born. DS1 never shared a class with another HisName, DS2 had one other in his infant school.

Well, not everyone looks at the too baby names, they choose a name they like surely.

Maybe, they can't be bothered with pulling a few letters out of their arse and making up a name no one can pronounce 🤷🏼‍♀️

My son's name was in the top 5 when he was born - we met one other when he was a baby. There were no others in his year at primary nor in his year at an 8 form entry secondary school.

I was a top ten name when I was born and at one point (in one of my classes that was very small at secondary ) a quarter of my class had my name. It never bothered any of us. We didn't do the first name initial of surname thing but just said our whole names, which led to my brother doing it at home to wind me up. My husband then followed. I could never change my surname as it feels way too much like part of my first name.

I think you should choose what you like and not be swayed by what is and isn't popular. The desperation to be appear different is so odd. It reminds me a bit of The Life Of Brian

m.youtube.com/watch?v=jVygqjyS4CA

We gave our dd a classic but very unusual name 21 years ago. There are quite a lot of Graces around now....

I gave both of my children top-ten names. I don't need to show off my specialness by lumbering my children with a name that follows them like a millstone (Looking at you, Destinee-Starr's Mother. No I am not making that shit up)

This thread reminds me of this: waitbutwhy.com/2013/12/how-to-name-baby.html

She was honest Sparrow - said she's used to it, which is not the same as loving it. Of course she thinks it suits her, it's her name.

I appreciate having a name that people always comment is beautiful and unusual, and very handy only ever being 'Ninon'. (Not my real name obviously).

When you know two Kates, two Sophies, two Emmas, three Jos, all of whom have to be differentiated it's rather tiresome.

I had DD's name filed away for 13 years. Had never heard of another (other than original source from 1930s). And after giving her this lovely name, discovered it was inside the top 30 in the UK. It's now inside the top 20 . Still don't know any others her age though!

YABU to use apostrophe's so badly

Family name? Maybe name is not as common where they live?