Is the baby names thread a good reflection of real life name choices??

[januaryjam]

I always find the baby names thread really interesting. I don't know whether it's just me, but when considering the names that are regularly suggested/loved on here, I NEVER come across them in real life.

To give you some examples, here are names of babies I know of who've been born in the past few months or so...

Poppy
Grace
Amelia
Annabel
Harry
Olivia
Ava
Anna
Oscar
Joshua
Oliver
Joseph
Isla
Max
Benjamin

I can't ever imagine anybody I know announcing that they've named their baby Susannah or Juliette for example. (Before I'm flamed, I do NOT mean to cause any offence, these are perfectly nice names but not names that are considered "potential baby names" where I am).

I guess the point I'm trying to make is are the suggestions made on MN actually representative of real life? Or do I just mix with difference circles to other MNers?

Names of babies born in the last year:

Imogen
Rose
Clara
Amelie
Sara
Lana
Evie
Charley

Oscar
Solomon
Isaac
Timothy

I agree it must depend on the area you live in I know some babies with very popular names such as Isla, eve/Evie, Poppy, Sammy, William and Noah and then some very unusual names - Hebe, Nell which I see on here a lot. I would be interested in a breakdown of names by area by they only do the top 10 on ONS which is the usual Harry's and Olivia's

People are pretty safe with name choices around here - but I'm in quite a small town which would suspect makes a difference!

Our classes are stowed out with boys called Charlie, Oliver and Henry.

Girls are mostly called Ella, Evie or Sophie.

The more unusual names I've come across recently are:

Otto
Seth
Heidi
Clara

Definitely no little Ottilie, Quentin or Clement's - probably no (other) mumsnetter's around here!!

An English friend who lives in Oz recently called her DD a very MN name. She had a few Aussies say, "That's a lovely name that you've made up."

I think Susannah and Juliet are just 'next up' whereas the list you typed out is what has been popular the last decade.

Mn-ers tend to be a bit ahead of the curve. So if you realise that it's that % of the population that chooses names when they're nearer the beginning of their lifespan than at the end of their lifespan then I think it's representative.

Babies I know:

Jack
Delilah
Charlotte
Isla
James
Jaydon
Ryan
Mia
Nathan
Teddy
Fletcher

Regional I guess. I have no evidence for this but it seems like the majority of mners are London and South East.

Babies and toddlers I know:

William, Samuel, Wilkie, Tristan, Luca, Jake, Jayden, Elijah, Micah, Noah, Arthur, Oliver

Poppy, Xanthe, Joanna, Olivia, Darcey, Esther, Rebekah, Annabella, Jemima, Cleo, Rose, Ava, Abbie

MN has a certain demographic, I know it's an expanding forum, and there are more users now than ever, but to me, there are definite identifiable types of names you hear in real life that are never met with positive remarks on here.
For example, there was a post on here last week about the name Tilly Mae (or similar) I quite liked it, but was in the minority, there was lots of remarks like "she will never be a high court judge" that's just disgusting, and the kind of small-mindedness I hate about this site- let's hope it's the faceless internet that makes people say ugly things like that, and they aren't like it in real life!
Another thread that supplied endless judgment was one about the name Jayden- it was suggested that this name should never be used, as the only children who are named this are the ones that end up going through the care system!!!! I was astounded at how offensive people are on here.

When I worked in the Midlands, there was lots of names similar to Tilly Mae, Jayden, Cory, Armani, Chantelle. As I said in a previous post, if these parents decided to post on here, they would be bullied out.

So no, I dont think this site is at all representative.

If mumsnet was representative the popular name list would look very different!

I'm in London and have never heard of a real Ptolemy or Persephone but do know a Harry, Jacob, Megan and Emily.

I'm also in the South West and baby names I have heard over the last year are

Finley
Dolly
Poppy
Edward
Sophie
Evelyn
Logan
Sid
Balthasar
Toby

The popularity of Poppy really surprises me. The 3 I know were all born in the same hospital in the same month but the families don't know each other. I wondered if it was inspired by someone or something.

Sophie and Sophia were on my shortlist too but I think they're more popular than I thought as well.

The babies and toddlers I know in real life are:

Marina
Alfie
Isabella
Thomas
Peter
James
George
Madeline
Kyle
Maisie
Billy
Colby X2
Lucas
Jasper
Isaac
Alice
June
Emily

I wonder sometimes if a lot of the more unusual names suggested on here are 'loved but not used' names.

I live in Wales. All my Welsh speaking friends seem to have mostly chosen names which sound English but are spelled Welsh like Anni, Maggi, Beti, Casi, Elinor, Alys, Bobi, Hari, Tomas, Luc.
Many of the English people I know either use very Welsh sounding names Osian, Dyfan, Clwyd, Deiniol Gwennan, Elliw, Glesni.
Also surname names are popular Hudson, Riley, Lawson, Jackson, Benson, Piper, Harper.
Wyatt, Eli, Eben, Isaac, Poppy, Taya, Lola, Lila, Ava, Eva and Mia all seem popular too.

Mumsnet has a certain demographic but also baby names section has a certain demographic too: ie. the people who frequent it are more interested in finding interesting - " out of the top 100" names than the average parent to be.

It totally depends where you live/circles I think.

Round here I can't move for Evie, Eva, Eva May, Ella May, Isla, Isla Rose type names, but if you drive 10 minutes in the opposite direction it's all much more traditional Williams and Charlottes.

East of England here:

Oliver x3
William
Ella
Darcy
Amelia
Oscar
Kieran

My DD's name is outside the top 700 but I've heard it loads of times on MN.

It is representative of the circles I move in now.

Not so much former school friends I vaguely keep up with on Facebook.

Mumsnet fits the kind of names I like, more often than not, though some are too out there for me. Ptolemy (utterly vile family, historically speaking) and Hebe are examples.

I often wonder if a lot of mnetters suggest Ptolomy and Hebe but whose own dd's are named Lily, Molly, Milky, Ben, William, Oliver.

I love looking at the lists but most of them are very conventional. I think a lot of us suggest Bathsheba over Evie, say, just because we want to see something different. Not necessarily for own dcs necessarily.

Im in a Northern City and i haven't heard any of the names some people have put on here. Dd2 has an unusual name. Its not way out there but was 980 on the popular list the day she was born. Ive yet to meet another on and shes 10. Dd1 has an Irish name which is popualar now but wasnt then and she hates it as no on can pronounce it. Dd2 has a popular MN name but ive used the NN as her name and havent met any others although i know its popular further south. I love Ethne and Thomasina but got vetoed on all 3 lists

There are lots of names here that I haven't heard in real life.

babies I know who have been born recently ( I live in Scotland)

James
Logan
Brodie
Jessica
Connor
Sarah
Alexander

All quite traditional.

Interesting point re demographics of Mumsnet. Popular names definitely do vary from place to place. For example, for Scotland, here are top 10 baby names 2013 by region:

www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/files2/stats/popular-forenames/2013/babiesnames-2013-t3.pdf

burgatroyd I think Milky's pretty unusual

I agree with you though - I think people suggest more unusual names on here than they'd use for their own DCs. It's a place to play out naming fantasies that we wouldn't be brave enough for in RL or which have been vetod by our partners.

How is Xanthe pronounced? It looks awful written down; I can't imagine it sounds any better...