Is Isla very very popular now?

[violetsmile]

Me and dh are ttc dc2, we have ds aged 3 and already have a name if we have another ds but for a girl I love Isla, dh prefers Amy. so which would you go for? Popularity of a name doesn't actually put me off, there's obviously a reason a name is popular, usually because it's a nice name! BUT dh says Isla is bordering on over used and a too common for his liking now.

Just realised, it wouldn't actualy bother me if Isla had been the top name for the past 10 years, I just LOVE it!!! Have shown dh a list that shows Amy as number 10 name in 2009 and Isla as 29 so I think I have convinced him. Thanks all. Will probably be a boy after all this!

Common up here in W. Scotland .

Isla was 36th most popular name in 2008 according to the national stats office, with 1592 baby girls being given that name. Amy came in at 34, with 1699 uses!

HTH

It's not so much the absolute popularity, I think but that Isla is rocketing up in popularity in England and Wales it wasn't even in the top 100 in 2005, then was #94 in 2006, #65 in 2007 and #36 in 2008 so can seem quite "trendy". In Scotland it's even more popular -- has been in the top 100 for ages and currently running as the #11 name.

Amy, in contrast, had been a top 20 name in England and Wales for ages up to 2006, then dropped down to #23 in 2007 and #34 in 2008 (although it's been a pretty consistently top 10 name in Scotland and doesn't seem to be losing any popularity there).

So while there are more Amys than Islas, in England and Wales an Amy could have been born at almost any time while there's an overwhelming chance that an Isla will have been born somewhere around 2006-2012. And going forward Isla (a name on the way up) is likely to be more popular than Amy (a name on the way down).

In Scotland they are both madly and consistently popular and there's not much to choose between them in terms of popularity profile.

I do know a LOT of Isla's under the age of 2. But it is a lovely name

Isla is massively popular in Scotland but less so in other parts of the UK. I love it personally and have never been a fan of the name Amy.