So I called my baby Alana...

[FoxSake]

Got very mixed reviews on here which suited me as I didn't want to the short list was Annabelle and Arianna, she looked like neither, not girly enough and oh I said to myself, there are Annabelle's and Arianne's everywhere we don't want one of those names despite the fact that I loved them

4... That is how many I now know in few short months since her birth, how does that happen? The only other One I knew was a childhood school friend in another country.

What other names are becoming popular that I didn't know about?

Dd is Alana Eve Estella which suits her perfectly and is just plain old Lana boo to us, despite everyone saying it's just Alan with an A

Congratulations! I love the name, but it doesn't matter what I think she's your little girl.

That's my name. Mine is not pronounced like Alan, more A -lar-na. I like it.

I think you just notice it once you've decided on a name. FWIW I don't know any, but I love the name!

I know one Alannah and I think Alana is beautiful. I also didn't know anyone with DDs name and now she is one of a few! Oh well!

DS was going to be Alannah/Alana if he was a girl! I think it's a gorgeous name and should I be blessed with a DD her name will either be Alannah or Dylan (Yes. We are aware that it's a boy's name. We don't care).

DS doesn't have a common name either and Alana is timeless and popular but not a name you hear everywhere.

Enjoy your baby girl and congratulations!

Alana is now #224 on the name charts, with 226 babies being called it in 2011. So it's still not that common, you've just had the misfortune of running into a few. It's like Arabella - there were only 242 Arabellas born in 2011 (#208 on the charts), but I've come across three in the last six months or so where I live.

Do you thin names just get in to yur subconscious and you think you are being original but really there is a buzz about a name?

Also regional I suppose eldest dd has a top ten baby name and we don't know another, she's in a girls schools and lots of similar names are multiplied isabelle, Amelia , Grace. Perhaps I just chose the worst of the most popular baby names

Lovely name

I think there is a certain element of zeitgeist about baby names, but also you just prick up your ears when you hear your own child's name being used, in a way that you wouldn't normally.