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Baby names

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Original poster

four in a class - really?

234 replies

mogandthecat · 10/10/2011 14:48

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?!

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RantyMcRantpants · 19/10/2011 18:00

samstown do you mean that one was called Fraser Martin and the other was called Martin Fraser for example?

JamieComeHome · 19/10/2011 18:48

I'm in multi-cultural, multi-ethnic London, where there is a great spread of names. The names that are repeated (eg two in one year) are Harry, Charlie, Ella, Louis,

ByTheWay1 · 19/10/2011 18:53

Repeated names in our reception class - Masie x4, Thomasx3, Eviex3, Dylanx3, Charliex3 (1 female) and Amyx2 last year it was all Emily/Emma/Amy/Esme and Thomas/William/George and Lewis.

samstown · 19/10/2011 21:36

Ranty - yep, just like that! Some documents (for assessments, register etc) were surname first and some werent so it could get very confusing at times!

LikeABlackFlameCandleBNQ · 19/10/2011 21:41

I was always one of at least 3 in my year, and probably about 8 in the whole of secondary school.

Only one at work though Hmm

ByTheSea · 19/10/2011 21:43

Of sixty children in Year 5 at DD2's school, seven are named Harry.

SeamStitch · 19/10/2011 21:46

There were 6 of my name in my primary school class of about 30. It was the 80's and it was a very popular name. It was a bit of a pain TBH, though I haven't gone one to choose unique, unusual names for my DD. Both may end up with a duplicate in their class, but we didn't go for the very popular names like Grace, Lily and Olivia which maybe make it more likely.

Jenstar21 · 19/10/2011 22:36

I was one of 7 Jennifer's in my year at secondary school (big school), and am one of 3 in my section at work. Two of us have the same second initial. My mother swore she knew of no-one else with a Jennifer in 1976! My surname is also very like a famous Jennifer, which gave me no end of hassle (think phoning for a taxi, etc.)

You can understand why we chose something slightly more original for DD. So far, she's the only Zara at her nursery....

RantyMcRantpants · 20/10/2011 00:09

Jeez samstar that must have been a bit of a nightmare sometimes.

JiltedJohnsGhoulie · 20/10/2011 10:03

Jenstar Zara is a lovely name, I think you've chosen well [hsmile]. Just shows how regional names are though, I only know one Jennifer and she is much older.

rachel1970 · 20/10/2011 11:29

This thread should make us all become a little more supportive of more name diversity - it really would make life much easier for everyone concerned! And more interesting Smile.

And I'm glad I'm not a teacher Grin

bruffin · 20/10/2011 14:39

At DC's school two boys with the same christian and surname name and identical birthday applied under the apptitude test for a place at the school. One passed the other failed but they told the wrong child. Thankfully mistake was noticed and it was sorted out in the end.

There is also a girl with almost the same surname as us and the same christian name as DD. They work out the log in computer names by taking the first 3 letters of the surname and last 3 letters of christian name. This worked out identical for both girls and the were issued with the same log in but different passwords. This caused lots of confusion and pass words kept having to be reset until someone made the connection and they were issued with new log in names.

tammytoby · 20/10/2011 15:23

"At DC's school two boys with the same christian and surname name and identical birthday applied under the apptitude test for a place at the school. One passed the other failed but they told the wrong child."

Poor child (who failed) Shock .

I guess if you have a common surname (Smith, Jones etc), it's even more important to find a first name that hopefully isn't shared by lots of others...

bruffin · 20/10/2011 15:30

Thankfully it worked out ok, because the child that failed had it down as his second choice and had been offered his first choice anyway, so it didn't matter to him. I suspect that family were never told as it made no difference to the final outcome for them.
I think the boy who should have been offered the place was very bright and his parents were shocked he didn't get a place so rang up to find out what happened. It was then the mistake was uncovered. Thankfully worked out well for everyone.

Sirzy · 20/10/2011 20:44

I was one of 5 sarahs in my class at secondary school. It didn't do me any harm, and I don't really get the making sure the name is unique fuss!

fastweb · 21/10/2011 10:26

I was one of 5 sarahs in my class at secondary school

There are rather a lot of us.

I suggest moving to Italy.

I am the only one now Grin

But they can't say my name right Sad

Even my husband calls me Sara

I used to long for the exotic Sara to be mine, all mine.

But now I have it I miss my bog standard Sarah.

halecromp · 21/10/2011 14:14

The class I used to work in had 2 Rebecca's/1 Rebekah, 2 Mitchell's and a Ellie Ella, Eleanor and Elisha who was nicknamed Ellie.

SaffronCake · 21/10/2011 18:50

Isobel/ Isabella if you include all spellings is a dead cert around here for at least 2 in a class.

Montsti · 21/10/2011 19:12

I have a very popular name (for my age group) and, although I don't love it it has never hindered me/been teased and actually my friends with unusual names were teased and constantly spelling/pronouncing their names. I love beautiful unusual names, but to be honest think you should just choose a name you love rather than one that isn't too popular as you may well regret it....personally I would rather have chosen a popular classic name for DC than a faddy name that you think is unusual and then suddenly hundreds appear...also although there seem to be way more "used" girls names half of them are very similar e.g. Annabel, Isabel, Isabelle, Annabella, Isabella, Arabella, Tilly, Lilly, Milly, Molly, Ava, Eva, Evie, Ella, Ellie, Sophie, Sophie, Amelie, Amelia, Emilia, Emily, Amy etc.. Etc..versus the supposedly super common boys names, Oliver, Jack, Thomas, Harry, William etc.. That are not very similar to other names...

IdHarmAPumpkin · 21/10/2011 21:45

My niece is one of 5 girls in her class, and four have the same name!! What are the odds. However, they quite like it and are like a little club... I would have thought they would hate it.

PricklyThistle · 21/10/2011 23:43

I was always one of several Fiona's in my class, in different parts of Scotland as we moved! Even now, in my FB friend list, it's the most common name.

My DC go to a small rural school and both are the only one, however DS has already had to be identified by his firstname + surname at Beavers as there have been 2 others with the same first name.

Repeated names at school are - Keiran (and spelling variations of) and Ella. I also know loads of Abbie/Abby/Abbey's.

befuzzled · 21/10/2011 23:51

When I was at school there were 4 Lisa's in my class. You're right though, I think it is less common now as there is more choice of names used. In my ds2 room at Nursery there are 4 Theo's though and 3 Zach's - they may not all end up in the same school class i guess. Lot of Sam/Samuels and Joe/Joseph's arorund too.

Mspontipine · 21/10/2011 23:54

No H's in DS's school then 3 (inc him) turned up in swimming group. 3/4 for 1st lesson!!

Moomim · 22/10/2011 11:52

In my primary class there were 3 x Clares.
In our year at secondary there were 10 x Daniels, which in a year of eight forms means there must've been at least one class with multiples Daniels.
Even more of a struggle for me was when I had a group of children one summer with a Mia, Maya and Nia- like a tongue twister Confused

BehindLockNumberNine · 22/10/2011 11:54

Dd's birthday party invitation list one year contained Mia, Mia, Mia, Leah, Leah and Thea!