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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

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Original poster

Would you pick a name in the top 200??

110 replies

nappyaddict · 04/09/2012 08:50

I've heard a few times that names in the top 200 will date and be the next Sharon/Tracy/Kevin/Trevor etc, unless they are timeless classic names that have remained in the top 200 over decades.

Do you agree with this?

Did it affect your choice of name?

If you liked a name and then found out it was in the top 200 would you change your mind about it?

OP posts:

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picnicbasketcase · 04/09/2012 08:52

I chose a name for DD that I had only heard a few children called but that year it became incredibly popular and there are five of them in her year at school. I still love the name but I do wish it wasn't quite as common as it is.

Bonsoir · 04/09/2012 08:54

I excluded names from the top 100 in England, France, the US and Australia before choosing DD's name. Names below the top 100 are really not given that often.

oreocrumbs · 04/09/2012 08:56

My DD's name was in the top 20. I love the name, and while in an ideal world my DD would be the only girl in the world with it, it is popular for a reason.

I've still only met one other girl with her name so far, so it's not that popular around here, people still look at me funny when I tell them her name and say they have never heard it before (it's Freya).

It doesn't bother me. It now belongs to my DD, and any other data about the name is irrelevant. I am a Claire of the early 80's, I know about 10 others, doesn't bother any of us, there were 5 of us who were close friends when we were young, a bit confusing but never a problem.

ArthurShappey · 04/09/2012 08:58

Most of the names in the top 100 don't date though... They are names that have been used forever...

Oliver, Matthew, Henry, Harry, Samuel, William, Emily, Catherine, Isobel, Charlotte, Emma...

They don't date. There's popular and there's popular classic.

ArthurShappey · 04/09/2012 08:59

Oh I have just read your OP properly...

Go for popular of you want, but I would steer clear of modern celebrity popular,

BeattieBow · 04/09/2012 09:06

I've given dd4 a name that is about 800 in the list. i've met 3 since she was born (in May).

otoh I do sort of regret giving naming dd2 Isabella - it was in the 40s when she was born, but is now much higher. She is still the only one in her school though.

I do think that we will be able to pinpoint most names to this decade though, because even classic ones, have their own modern take or nickname - e.g Kitty for Catherine (rather than Cathy in the 1960s, or Kate in the 1970s) or Annas or Annies now rather than Anne.

jkklpu · 04/09/2012 09:07

We chose names we liked. Who cares whether they're in top 10, 100 or 1000? Why would you bother checking?

greenhill · 04/09/2012 09:11

I named DD after my grandmother and then discover it was the number 1 most popular name. It did not put me off even when we saw books and a tv series with the same name and got bought the merchandise as presents. However we have only encountered the male version of my DD's name so far in RL.

My name was unusual when I was a child and the only other children named the same way as me and my DB were ones that had asked my mother if they could use it for their children too. So there were a brother and sister who lived opposite my grandmother with the same name as me and my DB. Weirdly they had no interaction with us at all! My name is now considered either v posh or v chavvy depending on which celeb you think of first. I am about 10 years older than these celebs.

HiHowAreYou · 04/09/2012 09:11

DD's name was about 370 when she was born. Now it's about 110!

I would probably be slightly put off a name if it was in the top fifty. But I don't think I'd entirely cross off a name I truly loved even if it was number one.

Sirzy · 04/09/2012 09:14

I didn't look at any "top names" lists I picked a name I liked for DS I don't understand the fear of another child having the same name as yours.

As it happens the name I picked was according to lists very popular - DS is nearly 3 and I have only met 2 others with the same name

dreamingofsun · 04/09/2012 09:15

looking at it the other way, at least it was in fashion and popular at some stage. i have a name which i'm pretty sure would have been outside the top 200. I hate it and wish i'd changed it when i was at school.

YouForgotToCallMePeppa · 04/09/2012 09:26

Surely most names are in the top 200 .

And most people must pick them or they wouldn't be in the top 200.

I didn't look at statistics before naming DD1 - I would maybe have avoided the top 20. I did look at the lists when I was pregnant with DD2. I didn't really like any of the top 20 girls names that much anyway, but lots of my favourite boys names are in the top 20. I might have picked one anyway - if DD1 had been a boy, when it didn't occur to me to look at statistics, her (or rather "his") name would be in the top 10.

I don't know if my daughter's names are in the top 200 or not though. I imagine they probably are.

DoingItForMyself · 04/09/2012 09:42

My DD's name was no. 80, which I thought was quite acceptable, but everyone we met after we named her said "oh I know a xx, my niece is called xx, my uncle's dog is called xx, meet my new puppy xx" so I very nearly changed it.

Fortunately I was going to change it to Pepper (before I'd ever heard of Peppa Pig!) so she would now be greeted a piggy snort every time she introduced herself! I'm glad I stuck with her name, its suits her and there are only two others at her school, in other year groups.

rezzle · 04/09/2012 10:05

There were over 1000 babies born in 2010 with DS's name and I still haven't met another. It depends where you live really, but over the whole country 1000 babies really isn't a lot. His name was ranked in the 50s.

citylovernow · 04/09/2012 10:22

I would love to know what all your dcs' names actually are!

I have a mixture I think - DD1 is definitely not top 200, DS is possibly top 20 and DD2 is top 20 in Scotland but unheard of in England. I think boys' names tend to vary less though? We certainly know/chose more traditional names.

citylovernow · 04/09/2012 10:23

For our ds/boys in general I mean.

Meglet · 04/09/2012 10:24

I refused to choose any names in the Top 100 when I named my DC's.

My name has been near the top of the charts for years and it isn't much fun having such a common name. Made school a PITA as there were 4 of us in my class.

rezzle · 04/09/2012 10:25

If you type their names in here citylover it tells you what rank they were for the last 16 years. It's slightly addictive actually!

MrsBovary · 04/09/2012 10:32

Yes, I agree, Nappy.

Though it can be difficult to choose, and predict, a name not likely to date. The safest course is perhaps to select a name which has never been in fashion or popular, nor likely to be.

But they're not always great, some of the most obscure names. Perhaps better to just choose something you like.

Camelsshouldnteatcrisps · 04/09/2012 10:34

I spent ages choosing youngest DC's name and then discovered that it was very near the top of the popularity list, at that point he was named so I couldn't go back.

The name is a classic though and is hundreds of years old so I don't think he'll be a future Kevin.

lljkk · 04/09/2012 10:35

There's nothing wrong with Sharon, Tracy, Mike, Kev, Sarah, Julie, Dave etc.
They were popular for a reason, they are nice names, even if they've fallen out of fashion now.

citylovernow · 04/09/2012 10:40

Thanks rezzle - quite surprised actually but probably as all my dcs have Scottish names. DD1 is 709th, DS only 68th and DD2 1332nd! In England and Wales. Is there a similar site for Scottish names?

TudorJess · 04/09/2012 10:45

There are some names which are popular for babies at the moment but were hardly ever used a couple of decades ago. So it will be these which make people think of this era, whereas the classics will stay timeless.

SooticaTheWitchesCat · 04/09/2012 10:49

To be honest it never even occured to me to check whether my chosen names were in the top 100 or 200!

I have just checked on the link above and my eldest is actually at No. 41 in the list with 1,468 babies registered with that name the year she was born, my youngest is at 2,589 with just 12 babies registered with that name the year she was born!!

TheWalkingDead · 04/09/2012 10:49

When we chose DS1's name, it was outside the top 200 I think, but is, according to figures from 2011, 78th (he's a Dexter). However, the rank held no sway over what we were going to name him, it was just the name we happened to love.

DS2 has a much less common name: Dawson (according to the link rezzle posted it was 609th). Again, we didn't chose it because it was less common and a bit more unusual, just loved it. If DS2 had been a girl, he would have been Lyra.

I've never really thought about names, and definitely didn't aim for unusual names or classic names or anything like that - I thought the best thing to do was go for something I loved and not worry about trends and what might happen.

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