I am regretting my 3 year old son’s name

[Tealbutterfly]

I really wish we hadn’t called him what we have. I always liked the name, since I was young.
But now it’s become hugely popular and it’s lost its “charm” in my opinion, the charm I saw in it when I was younger.
He’s 3 years old, so we can’t change it.
I’m upset that it has a bit of a reputation now, when before it was a more unusual name to hear.

What do you do if you feel like this? I guess I’ve just got to suck it up really! As we can hardly change it at this stage in his life.

You've done him a favour giving him a common name. I know someone called Liesje. Very pretty name, unique where she lives, sort of a family heirloom, but no-one who hears it can spell it and no-one who reads it can pronounce it, except in her dead grandfather's home country on the other side of the world. Very, very impractical.

I also know two people who only learned in their early twenties that they'd been going by their middle name for their whole lives, so you could call your boy William or Will or Bill or Liam. I wouldn't, though, because Archie's a cool name.

Always best to use the full name
If only! I love Maica, but I hate Marie Carmen. I love Maite but I hate Maria Theresa. I love Bobbie and Billie but I hate Roberta and Whilhemina

You could always change it to Archer I suppose...... But I think it's a nice name. There isnt anything that stands out over it.

Archie is a perfectly nice name in my opinion, but you or he he could always cultivate a nickname.

I disliked my own name from as far back as I could remember, it's a really "formal", stuck-up sounding name in my opinion. When I was about 6 or 7 I changed it to a shortening which I liked, complete with a slightly unusual way of spelling the shortening (not wacky, just not the most common way of spelling it), and no-one has ever called me the full name again (except doctors and so on).

I have two brothers. One was always called by his initial as a child (Jay), but as an adult he goes by his full name. The other was called by a "cute" shortened form of hs name as a child, and as an adult goes for the standard shortened version (think Bobby and Bob for example, although that's not it). So we have all changed what we are called.

Seriously, it's a lovely name.

We chose a name for our DD, which ended up being the most popular name for girls that year, and there's a lot of them around in general. However, it's a name I've liked since I was a child and DH agreed instantly when I suggest it.

Does he have a middle name? Might be worth seeing trying to use that bit more, see how it goes down.

I thought it was going to horrendous - one of those names that was trendy for 6 months and was of its time - but FWIW Archie William is lovely.

As PP have said - think of all those lovely reasons why you chose it in the first place. Also think of a nickname that just you, the close family, can call him.

If you decide to have any more children and are thinking of names, may I suggest you do something similar to what me and DH did. We looked at the last few years' of 'most popular baby names' - we vetoed every name in the top 25 - even if we really liked them. We just didn't want our children to be 1 of 4 'Henry's' in the class (there are actually 4 Henry's in my son's class).

We also named our DSs with names that can easily be abbreviated / changed according to what they want to be called when they are older.

I do understand op. Dd1 is Phoebe she is naked after JD Salinger's The catcher in the rye. Dh read it as a young teen and said the if he ever had a girl she was to be called Phoebe.

She is also born the year friends hit the UK. Early on in the year. So the name went from not in top 100 to top 20

However she suits her name. I like it as a name still and thankfully now less people says like in friends

I thought my DD1 had an uncommon name (but not unusual). Our next door neighbour has the same name, as does my husband's bosses wife and another girl in her class at primary school.
She's in secondary school now so probably even more girls with her name (although she never mentions them).

Named after.

We picked seriously unusual but lovely names for all our now-adult children (we were both teachers so basically you have to!) and watched as both girls' names pretty much exploded in popularity as they grew up. Didn't happen to DS.

One result is that both of them are often assumed to be much younger than they are and DD1 still gets ID'd at 30+!

And from agreeing on names because we loved them and neither of us had ever taught one, it turned into one or two in every class within a decade. 🙄

Archie is a lovely name. As others have said it’s been common for a long time. There’s two in my sons class (they’re 9) and others in the school too.

Don’t change it :)

Same situation here. Expect mine is 6 now (and I never really liked the name, it was a sop to my husband's Irish heritage)

Unusual /quirky nickname all the way 👍🏻

Only read to the bottom of page one, but it's a lovely name OP. It's become popular for a reason, it's a great name!

He's only 3, he will define the name when he meets people not the other way round.

Archie's a great name!! I am slightly biased because it was the name of our very, very special dog. I genuinely don't know any children called Archie though, even though it's statistically quite popular.

You always run the risk of a cultural connotation. With Archie I wouldn't have predicted it to have gained in popularity due to its harsh sound and full-name of Archibald. It was a more unusual choice next to safer Arthur, Archer and so on. But at least more interesting than the other 'old man' names that resurged over the last few years. Now with its Royal connection it'll explode.

But as parents of Elsa and Isis found, suddenly there's a popular connection and all people who are very bad at maths will say is "did you name them after...?"

New parents need to be aware of fads and fashions. Names that will scream "2010! 2018!" just as much as Kylie and Jason, Sharon and Gary did in the 80s. Nevaeh. Amelie. Sheldon. This is why choosing something timeless works.

Look at the top 100 - discount everything above 50, maybe even above 80, too popular - but then look at the 81-200 table. That's where the gems are.

LuxOlente
"All the people who are very bad at maths"

I knew an Arch once. You could use that to sound less popular. Or 'chie chie'

I have a friend who changed her name going into school so it's not beyond reason. I guess it's Archie who should decide though.

It's a gorgeous name. Don't worry too much about it becoming popular. The more popular a name is, the less like it is to be associated with a certain type of child as there will be all sorts of Archies in the world.

My DS (4) is called Jack. We knew it was a popular name, maybe always will be, knew there would be lots of other Jacks in his peer group (although actually am yet to meet one when I think about it) but we didn’t care - we liked the name, always had, so why would we change it? Stick to your guns OP and just enjoy YOUR Archie, no other Archies will be like him!

Archie is ok. Its not to my personal taste but it's a perfectly normal name. They pick their own nicknames when the grow up, one of mine is known as "Rubba" to his mates. They all collapse laughing when anyone asks.
Another teen I know is called "Moth".

"Look at the top 100 - discount everything above 50, maybe even above 80, too popular - but then look at the 81-200 table. That's where the gems are."

But why? I genuinely never understand the MN obsession with hating popular names. If you love a name in the top 50 names (or top 10) why wouldn't you use it? Why is it a problem if other people use it too?

I'm on the brink of choosing a name that's been really popular recently and now no one wants it because everyone is called it (think Evie or Ruby level of popularity a few years back) but it's always been the girls name I liked the most even before the popularity boom has been and gone so I'm going with it. Who cares what other people call their kids?

I thought you were going to say Tyler, or Kayden, or something. Archie is lovely! What do you mean by "reputation"?

@Pipsquiggle

I thought it was going to horrendous - one of those names that was trendy for 6 months and was of its time - but FWIW Archie William is lovely.

As PP have said - think of all those lovely reasons why you chose it in the first place. Also think of a nickname that just you, the close family, can call him.

If you decide to have any more children and are thinking of names, may I suggest you do something similar to what me and DH did. We looked at the last few years' of 'most popular baby names' - we vetoed every name in the top 25 - even if we really liked them. We just didn't want our children to be 1 of 4 'Henry's' in the class (there are actually 4 Henry's in my son's class).

We also named our DSs with names that can easily be abbreviated / changed according to what they want to be called when they are older.

This is a good idea in theory but names can suddenly mushroom in popularity, as others have said.

Our first set of friends to have DC, nearly 20 years ago, named their son Oscar. Not at all popular at the time and seemed seriously cool and a bit quirky, very like said friends and a few of us laughed at the time and said how typical of them to go for quite a way out make. It was very definitely outside the top 20 at the time.

There are bloody thousands of Oscars around now

You can never predict what’s going to happen to a name, you’re best to just go with what you love and have positive connotations with. Far better have a popular nice name than a ‘younique’ type one.

Archie is a lovely name OP.

I know loads of Georges. Flipping loads of them. But at the time they were chosen, it was an unusual name!

The old names ( like George etc) made a big come back around ten years ago or more. Even knew a Stanley once. Suited him though.