Is Amelia really that bad?

[FleursDeFilles]

We named our DC Amelia because it worked well with English speakers, DH's non-western background and also my heritage. We get lots of compliments for it too. But then the other day I read a thread on MN about naming a baby Amelia. And it sounds like it's a very overused name. I'm so sad. I really didn't realise it was so overdone and common right now.

YANBU - Amelia is a nice name
YABU - Amelia is a rubbish name

It's a lovely name. More importantly, you and your husband chose it and like it, so other people's opinions are irrelevant really ☺️

I love the name but I spelled my Daughters name as Emilia just to be different lol ! I think I would much rather a common name than a 'unique' one.

I can never read boy name threads as mine are sometimes mentioned as common and shouldn't be shortened etc. Everyone thinks differently and voices it on this anonymous forum, best not to read it

Amelia was my first girl choice btw!

It's a gorgeous name, popular names often are. We only ruled it out because of the medical condition thing, which a lot of people either aren't aware of or don't care about.

Yanbu
I personally think people posting names online for the approval of random strangers, many of whom may be horrible people or people with completely different taste//values to you is a weird thing to do. I think MN should get rid of the baby names board.

Amelia is a lovely name, you don't need approval - as long as you like it, that's all that matters OP.

It's lovely but I prefer my daughter's name which is Amelie 👍

Agree.

Some people go out of their way to be ridiculous about names and I often think they likely pass such thoughts on to their children which later leads to bullying others especially those with “unique” names when often many such names are from different countries and heritages.

It’s a lovely name! Only 2 Amelia’s in the whole school here. It’s not that common everywhere.

I don’t know many Amelia’s but I know an Emelia, presumably chosen because it’s different enough - both parents are English but on one side Irish Italian and the other English maybe Irish.

I do know an Amela, but she’s Bosnian and is in 50 now.

There's nothing wrong with the name. I do know a little Amelia who goes by Millie.

lol what a strange response, to be that judgey because someone chose a popular name. “Couldn’t think outside the box” 😂😂what obscure and original name did you give your child?

This made me laugh. After years of seeing these names all over MN I finally met a real Wren the other day (age 4). Still never met an Ottilie though, I wonder where they all are!

OP, Amelia is lovely, I think it is fairly popular, but not 'overused', it's also classic and pretty and most people are likely to pronounce it correctly without help. It was on our girls names list, but we had boys. I like emilia as well.

It has been done to death and does make me think you couldn’t think outside of the box

I'm not convinced that choosing a name for your child is necessarily the right time to 'think outside the box'

It's a lovely name. It is popular in terms of the stats (was number 1 for several years) but I actually only know of 1 adult Amelia (Millie) and one about 14 I think (goes by full name) and 2 Emilias (again, one goes by Millie). I don't think there were many in DS's large primary. On the other hand, I hear Arlo absolutely everywhere, I know at least 5. I think there tend to be pockets of certain names and it's hard to predict, you could choose something less common and end up with lots of them in your area. It's luck of the draw.

It's popular because it's lovely. Some parents are obsessed with choosing a rare name for their children as if it's a badge of honour. Ignore them.

If you love her name that's all that matters.

It is a lovely name. It is popular. Both of these things are true. Being popular doesn't stop it being a lovely name.
I actually only know one little Amelia who goes by Amelia, and one who goes by Milly. I have to admit there was a time when it seemed there was one Isabelle in every sibling pair we met, and that name did start to feel a bit boring, but it didn't stop it being lovely. Bit like Sarah when I was young, six in my year group, three in my class alone, but I still think it is one of my favourite names.
Both my sons have classic names, one of them ended up in a class with a boy who had not just the same first name but also the same middle name, it wasn't an issue though!

It's lovely and popular. Nothing to worry about.

It's a lovely name but it is very popular - obviously because it is lovely. Some people will care more than others about the popularity. Many people who grew up with multiples of their first name in a class at school hated it and want a less popular name for their child. Which is fair enough, not really a verdict on the name itself.

It’s a lovely name, and from my experience with my children’s classes at school it’s not an overused name at all. Either 0 or 1 Amelias in my children’s classes.

Your child’s name doesn’t need to be unusual op

hth

@TheHeadOfTheHouse

you don’t need to think outside of the box when naming a child

Beautiful name. My DD is Emilia but there were no Amelia/Emilia's at her whole nursery and at school. There is only 1 other kid much older with the name.

I'm in central Scotland and it's not that popular where I am. It seems to get hate in hear as some places it's very popular.

The very popular names here seem to be Grace, Eve/Evie/Eva, Olivia and Emily.

My other daughter has a name that is much more popular here but I still love it. I also don't give a damn about what random strangers think. I often get comments from people saying they've got lovely names.

My friend called her DD an unpopular name that sounds quite harsh, something along the lines of Brenda or Shirley. Everyone hated it, but now, well, it is her DD, and the word that brings her to mind. This is true for you with Amelia, so whether other people like it or not, or whether you wish you'd chosen something more unusual, this is now the word that means your DD, and its lovely for that reason. (I also think its pretty. But that's by the by.)

I'm confused, why would it not be a lovely name? Surely if it's overused that means lots of people like it? I don't really know how to vote because I think YABU but not because it's not a lovely name, but because I'm confused what you're sad about tbh. Amelia is common but it's not exactly Olivia is it. (And Olivia is a lovely name!)

Fun fact! Emilia and Amelia are actually different names with different etymologies not just alternate spellings of each other 🤓