To regret my child's name..

[paranoral]

I couldn't think what to call her.
We settled on Esmé.. I had liked it for about 10 years.

I've been out twice this Easter and heard "Esmé" been shouted by other mums.
It's everywhere. She's 2.. is it too late to change now? I really regret it.

I'm a, secondary school teacher so have taught hundreds of children in the last 20 years. I'd only encountered a couple of Esmes in that time. I've called my daughter it too (3.5 years) and like you have heard it lots since. Name trends are interesting. No name is unique. If you like the name then it's the right one.

Are you sure you really liked the name in the first place, and not the fact that it was unusual (during the 10 years you thought you liked it)?

If it helps - it can't be everywhere, I've only ever come across it in books 🤷🏼‍♀️

Get a grip lol call her Peter not many girls have that namelol

Esme was a name in the Twilight books and movies so I imagine there’s a cluster of Jacobs, Bellas, Allices, Edwards, Leahs, Esmes, etc. well into their teens by now.

I dropped my son off to childcare last week. The two children before my son had the same name as him. We all laughed and said it was a good choice. His name isn't overly popular either

Of course it's too late.
She is a real person with her own identity. NOT some possession or doll you own. Don't be so self centred and ridiculous!

Wasn't there a Renesmee as well, that would make the name more unusual for the op!

Hepzibah is due for a comeback OP. Go for it..

Unfortunately whilst you chose it, it is no longer your name now it's hers. It's part of her identity and she's definitely too old to change it, it would be confusing for her and it wouldn't be fair.

Esmé is a lovely name. Even though it's not unique, it's still unusual.

Names can be reregistered for up to a year after birth or by deed poll after that time. It would be confusing for your DD. Can you not see yourself falling back in live with it?

They do in Australia (Peta).

My son was only one of eleven born his year but still managed to find one at his uni. Admittedly I don’t know if he was born the same year but there would only be a year difference and the name would have still been quite rare. What was even weirder is my best friend at primary school has a son with the same name and we haven’t seen or spoken to each other since we left primary school many many years earlier (I found out we’d given them the same name when I was about forty five).

Even if it wasn't too late to change your DD's name (which it is), you can never guarantee that no-one else will have the same name as her, unless you call her something completely random.

My DS1's name is outside the top 300 and we know two others with his name under the age of 5. DS2's name is in the top 20 and we have never met another little one.

Funnily enough I think Emse is a beautiful name and was going to call my twin girl that name and Ezra for a boy. But ended up going completely different. Just leave the name as it is. 2 is too old to change it

Its such a lovely name.

I don’t think its common at all, I’m surprised you know more than one!

Don't burden your child with a shit name. They have to live with it. Show some compassion

What's the shit name? Esmé is a perfectly normal name.

My DD2 has an unusual name. However, I've since discovered it's a popular dog's name. She thinks it's funny when she here's people calling her name, when they're actually calling their dog. 😂

YABU. It's her name. I have an 18 year old niece whose name seemed remarkably unusual back in 2005 when she was born (she's called Ruby).

There have been LOADS of girls with that name since then.

I think you would have to have one of those awful double-barrelled first names to be safe from duplicates; Rose-pumpkin, Loopy-lou, Natasha-polly or whatever the dregs of society are naming their numerous offspring these days.

The year of DS’s birth, 2012, so few children had been given his name that it was under the minimum number for listing numbers in the naming stats— which I think is three or fewer? So it might just have been him. And it’s not some hyphenated horror, it’s a Biblical name.

Since then, it’s never gone above seven annually.

I bet there's not that many more Esme's! Probably only a few! My 2 DD (in their mid 20s now,) have names that were fairly popular in the 1990s - think Olivia and Hannah, sorta like that. There were about 5 of each in their school, but they all had different surnames so never got mixed up with the others!

My older DD had 3 Sophies in her university house share of 6 young women. They were just Sophie H, Sophie P, and Sophie T. Didn't cause any issues in their life at ALL.

I can't fathom why you're stressing about this when your DD is TEN @paranoral ! Of course it's too late.

As pps have said - unless you're going to go with a name like Andromeda or Jupiter, or something outlandish, there are very likely going to be other children with the same name as your child!

I bet there's not that many more Esme's! Probably only a few!

It's number 34 in last year's top 100.

I wonder if many Mumsnetters are just to young to remember Bunty comic and their long running story The Four Mary's.
Four teenage girls who became BBFs for life (well the 43 years they were stuck in the 3rd Form together 😂) as they were all called Mary.
When you have a slightly unusual or unpopular name it's quite nice when you meet a fellow one.
(I have an not used very often name)