four in a class - really?

[mogandthecat]

I've noticed on here that many people seem to dread the possibility that their child may be one of 'four or five' in a class. Just thinking about this when my friend showed me the list for her dd's reception class intake the other day. Of thirty children there were only two names replicated, each with two children with the name (one of these being Ruby, which was the most popular name for the year anyway). When I was at primary school in the seventies when there were probably fewer names used overall there was only one duplicated name in a class of 20 girls (Claire). So, just out of interest, what names are there more than one of in your dc's classes and are there often '4 or 5' of one name or is this actually an extremely rare occurrence?!

:o

There's a few Meron's on the register i think, but so few that it's unlikely you'd come across another!

How old is your Merryn 4 ?

The only duplicated name in dds class is Bethany.

PureBloodMuggle - 2 Aisling's. I have only ever met one Aisling, in my life.

JiltedJohnsJulie - refers to a name to identify her. I have a common first name (Jane), and it was fine, as I had a very unusual and rediculously long surname. I appreciated not having to spell out my first name, as well as surname. My one syllable first name was perfect.

Now that I'm married, and have a more common and much shorter surname, I see the attraction of unusual first names, to identify person.

I have still kept my unusual surname for work though. My brothers also love their short first names (names similar to Ian and Guy).

Jane is not that unusual name, but it was not common for my age group, and I was always the only one in my class at school. I did used to work with another Jane but she was ten years older than me. It was never a problem.

My best friend in school was called Mary. She was also an 80s child, and the only Mary. Perhaps going for names from a less fashionable era works.

Mary always wanted a trendier name (such as Gemma - there were always lots of Gemmas), but I thought it really suited her sweet personality. As an adult she likes her name.

There were loads of 'me' at primary, secondary school and now at work there are zillions of us (sarah).

And this is why my DC have more unusual names.

Last year in dd's reception class of 25 children (one class out of two) they had,

2 x Molly (1 x Mollie, 1 x Molly)
2 x Evie
2 x Alfie

In the other class -
2 x Elle (both spelt the same but pn differently)

Each called Alfie B or Molly E etc depending on the first letter of their surname.

"There were loads of 'me' at primary, secondary school and now at work there are zillions of us (sarah).

And this is why my DC have more unusual names."

Funny isn't it. My Mum was the only one with her name at school and work and she didn't like having such an usual name so she gave me and my sister more common (yes, I do mean common and not popular[hgrin]) names and we both dislike our names because they are so common! Think you are better trying to find a name that is somewhere inbetween, but gawd knows how you do that!

I went through quite a few primary and secondary schools being the only 'me' Since then my cousin has married a 'me' and my dd's best friend's Mum has the same name as well. Also DH bf's wife.
None at all and then three. Where were they all when I was growing up??

"we both dislike our names because they are so common! Think you are better trying to find a name that is somewhere inbetween, but gawd knows how you do that!"

Jilted, it's not that difficult imo. The ONS lists every single name (or all those used at least twice) given in a year. If you look beyond the top 100 or even top 250 you'll find loads of nice, classic easy to spell/pronounce names - they may not be as fashionable (but then they won't date either) but they are perfectly normal nice names.

My ds's name was used 9 times last year - it is a classic, old latin, two syllable name that is easy to spell/pronounce, yet it isn't 'popular'.

ohhlaalaaa i live in ireland - guess that makes a difference to the pot of popular names

you would be highly unlikely to find an oliver, a ruby or an alfie here.

In my primary class, there were 3 Marks, 2 Dannys, 2 Jamies and 2 Ruths. At secondary school every other girl seemed to be Rachel or Kathryn, and in my group of friends from those days there are 5 Matthews.

In my office of 12 people, there are 2 Janes, 2 Rachels and 2 Elizabeths. Also a Paul and a Pauline, which is nearly as bad. The two bosses have exactly the same initials.

In my 1980s primary year we had four Michelles, four Rachels (two were in my class), four Emmas and duplicates of Rebecca, Natalie, Keely, Kelly, Sarah and Chantelle. We also had three Davids, three Pauls and two Jasons.

In my DS's (aged 6) school there are two Isobels (well, one Isobel and one Isabelle) and two boys called Max. In DD's nursery there are duplicates of Isobel/Isabella, Sophia, Ruby, Ava, Eve/Eva and for boys Zach, Oscar and Finn.

should have said in my DS's class

I teach A levels, and currently have in the same classed 4 Emmas, 2 Elizabeths and 2 Hannahs.

Last year I taught two girls with exactly the same first name and surname. That made handing back work difficult. This is the second time I have had this now - but the first time I have had two students with exactly the same name in the same year.

In ds's year there are duplicates of 7 names. And in his school, one year has 4 Nathans and one has 3 Harrys in one class.

In my infants school class there were 4 Sharons, and at my secondary school we had 4 Susans in my class at one point. And 3 Karens........

DC1 is the only one in his school.

DC2 is one of 3 in the whole school and one is a different spelling.

DC3 is the only one in his school and I suspect he will never meet any one with his name though there are a few worldwide.

Most the ladies at school PTA are Sarahs.
Nice name, but It is a bit freaky and several are or were very close mates with each other and get referred to as "The Sarahs". They are very very different personalities, though.

I can't believe all of you with such accurate memories of your own childhood! I don't remember sharing a class with anyone with my name (very 1960s common) until age 16.

I'm a Megan. There were three of us in my class at school (1980s)

In my school year there were two girls with the same first, middle and surname - that got very confusing!!!

As a child we moved around a lot, I had something like 12 schools, but only ever encountered 1 or 2 other people per school with the same name as me, except for one school when there was 3 of us in one class. So we were first name, first name with a y stuck on the end and I was my first 2 initials (which I actually took through my school life.)

"So we were first name, first name with a y stuck on the end and I was my first 2 initials"

Depending on the name, this may or may not work so well .

Gosh, this has been really interesting - did not expect such a huge response when I posted the question.

Thinking about it, although I was never in a class with lots of multiples of the same name, in my (80s/90s) secondary school year as a whole there were 6 Fionas - equating to about 1 in 20 girls. I have a fairly common name for my age group but was only ever in one teaching group with another - can't say it ever bothered me though, or that I felt any less of an individual so not sure why now people seem to think it is a really bad thing!

mog, no-one is saying it is a 'bad thing'. What people are saying is that is can be a pain in the XX!

At the end of the day, we give a person a name so that person can be identified. If that name is already used by many others, then that name doesn't really serve a purpose and it needs an added modifier.
So, either your parents give you a name that identifies you, or your mates/colleages add something to your name to make you identifiable.

And, having read on here some of those modifiers (big, thick, the other, etc), I'd rather give my child a name that doesn't need any modifiers added to his/her name.

And, life is much more interesting (and easier) if we have different names .

Three Thomas Cs in DS' year, plus some other Thomases with different initials for their surnames. Luckily we decided against Thomas at the last minute or he'd have been the fourth Thomas C.

Agree with mayanna, giving me a common name was not a "bad thing" my parents had done to me but might have shown a little lack of judgement/imagination.

There are lots of worse things that could have happened but again mayanna is right, its a pain in the arse! [hgrin]