Names touted as "very popular" on here

[SomeSunnySunday]

I have noticed the name which we have chosen for our baby girl, due in 4 months, mentioned as being "very popular" and a "one of 3 in a class" name on here quite a few times recently.

I want to avoid a very, very popular name (probably top 20). However we don't know, or even know of, a single other baby, child or adult with this name (and as a mother of 2 young children, I go to a lot of activity groups etc so come across a lot of children). There are no children with this name in DC1's primary school, and when I checked the name stats for Scotland (where we live) for last year, it is listed at 155 (which I am fine with!).

Does the mumsnet demographic skew people's opinions? Are lots of posters London based? Do mumsnetters know something I don't - have hundreds of babies been given this name in the last year, and is it about to explode with popularity?

I'm just curious really, as I thought it was a less-used name than many.

What's the name?

Noted to know the name to be able to comment! But I do think there are different naming trends in different parts of the country.

Need not noted

Need to know name.

Is it Eva/ Ava/Evie
Isabelle/ Isabella
Sophie/Sophia/Sofia
Ellie

None of those! It's Clara. Please no "I don't like it" type comments, it's taken us ages to find a name that we both like, that works with our other children's names and in English and German, that it is (fairly) obvious how to pronounce etc, and we love it, which is the main thing. I'd just want to know if it was going to become a ridiculously popular Olivia / Isla type name (both lovely but which i personally would avoid as we know so many). More popular than it is now is fine.

Clara is lovely

DS has a name which is constantly top 3 of the boys names lists. Yet he is the only one in the whole infant department of the school he is starting (120 pupils so around 60 boys). There are multiples of names which I wouldn't traditionally have as popular and nor do the lists suggest they are.

I don't know any Claras in this area

I'm up north and I've never met a child/baby called Clara (beautiful by the way) and yes I do think mumsnet popular and real world popular are different for all but I few names ie. the ones mentioned above

It's lovely and i wouldn't expect it to become popular - i don't think it's cutesy/girly enough (in a good way!)

Clara is a lovely name and not overused here (bucks)

I love Clara. Makes me think of the little girl in Heidi. I loved the Heidi books.

Congrats on your impending arrival

I think MN is incredibly snobby about names. Either a name is too common as in popular. Or common as in lower class. You can't win. Both of my DC's names have been scoffed at on here as too popular and to be honest I couldn't give a shiny rat's ass about it. I love them!

I don't know any Clara's and I live in south East England 40 mins from London

It's a lovely name! I'm 20 weeks preg and if it's a girl in going with Eve. I don't care how popular it is!

And ds has what MN consider a popular name - I've yet to meet another

And in fact they are both on burgatroyd's list of shame ??

Love it. And I only know two. One is 44. One is 8. I'm sure there are others.

yes, mumsnet is not the real world. in my world, if you called your child Persephone there'd be a silence that would make people on the other half of the hemispere feel awkward. And these wouldn't be 'plebs' as would be assumed on MN.

I've never met a Clara !

I don't know any Clara's. It's lovely, btw. But then I don't know any Xanthe's either, despite every second mumsnetter's child being called that... Apparently.

Clara! What a lovely name! I do know a girl of 8 called Clara but there are certainly not classes full of them here (Oxon). Congratulations!

I know one little Clara and it may have a small rise in popularity due to Doctor Who but I'd still go for it, it's a lovely name.

Clara is lovely. I've only ever taught one and know of no others.

Clara is a lovely name and I've not met or heard of any babies/toddlers with that name recently.

Thank you, that is very reassuring. Some of the comments on the recent "Claire" thread in particular were along the lines of how much more unusual Claire would be compared to the 'very popular' Clara - I wondered if we were missing something (but couldn't really see how I could be).

And yes, I thinking turning up at the village toddler group with a Persephone here might cause a few sniggers. Or an Ophelia, or a Ptolemy... And I've only met a horse called Xanthe (although it is nice, for animal or child!).

Never met a Clara. Name trends tend to be very localised, though: when I lived in a small town in Surrey, literally every second baby boy I met was called James but here (London), I haven't met any and there are none in my son's year at school.

Go with Clara if you love it! And good luck x

I know a baby Persphone BTW and people generally don't bat an eyelid - or snigger - when they hear her name.