Popular names which I adore Vs less popular names....

[clarabellarocks]

Don't know what I'm having but our boys name is sorted and in the bag.

Girls on the other hand proving much harder. Since I was about 16 I was in love with Isabelle but it's so popular. I was one of 5 in my year and I was so envious of those with less popular but V pretty names.

So anyway, help me decide. Do I go for something which I love but is really popular (even though I don't know any babies of these names) or do I plump for something a not in the top 20.

POPULAR NAMES:
Isabelle
Olivia
Amelia
Ava

LESS POPULAR:
Beatrice
Aurelia
Annabelle
Iris
Florence (although I know there are lots but it's still 94 in the name charts!)

What do you all think?

Go for the one you like best. My children are half unusual names and half in the top 25 names!! Just pick your very fave. There may well not be one in the class even if you choose a popular name (unless it is Alfie or Charlie in which case there peobably will be!! But it isn't the end of the world).

Isabelle..love it, pretty and lots of good short options
Olivia...dislike and too popular, may get Oli or Liv
Amelia...OK
Ava...quite like but abit too trendy, there were none a few years ago and loads now so it will outdate quickly (whereas there were isabelles, albeit not as many, a few years ago)

Beatrice..OK
Aurelia..not keen
Annabelle...love it
Iris...reminds me of Eyes, not keen
Florence...too old grannyish, Very often hear people pulling faces when people give their babies these types of old granny names, just my honest opinion

loving Beatrice, Florence and Iris.

My DS has a name in the top 5. I loved the name so I didn't care. It was the only boys name me and DH could agree on anyway.

If we have a DD, Amelia is our name as we have had that picked for about 7 years. I want Harry for a boy. Again both very popular names but I go with what I like.

I have a feeling that Florence is going to go way up the list now anyway.

My favourites are Beatrice and Florence. Am not terribly keen on very common names, which is totally personal choice, but I like those two whether they are popular or not. However, if I had loved a name since I was 16 (and still really liked it) and it was now very popular then I would probably use it anyway as I would regret not doing so simply because it was popular.

I do like Isabelle though - would Isabella make it less common? Suppose it doesn't make much difference...(and you like Isabelle!)

Annabel is much nicer than Isabelle.

I also like Beatrice and Florence.

i agree that annabel is much nicer than isabelle, and i really like iris.

Love beatrice and Iris, Florence is nice but it is getting more popular.
Like annabelle too.
I know lots of olivias and isabels so find those names a bit tiresome sorry,

I like Annabelle best from your list.

I think it´s best to go for a name you love.

Fashions/trends change & it´s always possible that a very unusual name will have a run of popularity, so you could end up with your child having a name you don´t like much-and it´s popular!

You need a name you love. If that's Isabelle then go for it. My ds has a popular name but is the only almost 6 year old I know with it, but there are lots of babies now called his name. I loved his name (Charlie btw) since I was a teenager and I will always love it. Jack is soooo common people tell me but I know 1. None in my ds class or the class above. You may know no Isabelle's or loads in a few years. There's no way if knowing.

Florence will prob be in top 20 soon. Not keen on your less popular names tbh. On my list when I had my dd were;
Ava
Isobel
Sophie
Jemima
Eliza

If you love Isabelle go for it - it's classic and timeless. Don't worry about how popular it is in the name charts. I've always loved Evie/Eva for years. When I was pregnant I searched hard to find the perfect other name as I was fed up with seeing the name slated on this site for being too popular. I did call her Evie/Eva in the end and have read so many more posts since about it being too popular that I kicked myself for a year and wanted her to have a less popular name (like Sylvie or something).

All has changed now and I've given up caring and thankfully still love the name and it really suits her. I haven't met that many round here but have met many Florences and Iris's in playgrounds and playgroups. Both are beautiful names.

We have 8 nieces and nephews under 12 and they are all called names in the top 20. They don't care and their parents don't either. In fact Olivia Grace was telling me she thought it was 'cool' that her names are number 1 and 2 in the charts!

When I was at school in the 80s/90s there were a handful of names - Claire, Sarah, Katie, Louise, Joanne, Vicky, Nicky. These days there seem to be so many more options that I can imagine a wider range of names at school.

Anyway, I will stop rambling on! Good luck!

My daughter has a top ten name and middle name - both classic names. I didn't know at the time I chose the name as hadn't checked the baby name charts.

With people slating 'common' names so liberally, I have spent a good deal of time regretting the choice of name I gave her and even tried to fathom a less popular nickname for her. I seem to only tune in when I hear of other girls with that same name and cease to notice when I frequently hear any other names, as if my daughter's name is the only popularly used name there is.

Then I realised that the only reason I care is because people are frequently negative about popular names. I still love the name and it was the name both DH and I liked. Anything else would have been a big compromise for one of us. As it happens, we have moved to an area where regionally, the name does not appear in the top ten and DD is the only one in her class and I have only heard of one other in the playground.

So, I say go with the name you love, but know that you might get a bit irritated by people always going on about the merit of less popular names.

Pernickety - Everything you said about regretting and trying to fathom a less popular nickname is exactly what I did for a year! I also only tuned in when I heard other girls with the same name as if it was the only girls name around! It's good to know someone else has been through the same thing. What a lot of time wasted worrying.

Personally I don't slate anyone's choice in baby names so I would feel so hurt when I saw my daughter's name slated. I'm learning to block my ears.

I so wish DH would let me have Aurelia! It's lovely.

Just choose the one you like. After all, there is no guarantee that a less popular choice won't become incredibly popular down the line.

Just chose the name you love the best, I never worried about where my dd's names were on the top 100. I don't think my eldest is very high and my youngest isn't on there at all but it isn't really important.

Isabelle and Olivia are beautiful names. Be aware you may get Izzy though!

Choose a name you love. I dithered over a name I loved as it apparently is a popular, top 20 name. In fact I just found out that DS's name is the most popular boy's name in Canada for the year he was born. I only know two other little children with his name and one of them is in Australia. It really doesn't matter. Isabelle is a lovely name.

We have a really common last name and therefore I wouldn't choose a really popular or common name. Our son has a normal but very unusual first name, but if we had an unusual surname, I'd have been happy to use one of the more traditional or popular names.

From your list I love Beatrice and Iris. Just go with the name you love.