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Baby names

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

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Original poster

If you have an unusual name or a very common name...

42 replies

cowbiscuits · 16/10/2014 13:51

Do you think this affects your choice in name for your child?

I have an unusual name, I didn't meet anyone else called it until I was a teenager, and met very few since. It's one of those old fashioned names that is starting to become quite fashionable for babies now. I like it.

DH has a very ordinary name, which was No 1 the year he was born in the 70s. Most people know a few blokes called his name.

DH insists he would like an unusual name for the next baby. All the unusual names I hear on MN seem a bit "London" and, well, not very suited to us.

I am not so bothered about being unusual just for the sake of it. I wouldn't want a top 5 name but if I really like a name I wouldn't be put off by it not being unique. So what if they meet another?

I wouldn't want to abandon a name I really really like just because they might meet another one day.

Two of the names on my girls' shortlist have already been mentioned over on that rather unpleasant "boring names" thread and they are not even in the top 30.

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ViviPru · 16/10/2014 14:09

I have an uncommon but not unusual (or 'out there') name. I've always liked the way I rarely meet another, but my name is well-known and has never been considered weird or difficult to pronounce etc. Its an underused classic, if you will.

And that for me is the holy grail category of names. Much easier to find names of this ilk for girls than boys though as the boy classics are all extremely ubiquitous currently. All the names I like for PFB due 31/12 are neither top 100 nor obscure.

MrsGSR · 16/10/2014 14:12

My name isn't that unusual, but as a child I could never find personalised items with my name in shops. DH had the same problem as his name is actually a nickname and places only have the full version.

I don't think it influenced the choice of DD's name, although I have already bought some personalised stationary (DD is 9 months old!), so maybe it was more of a factor than I realised!

I think I'm less likely to choose an unusual name because I know the downsides, but if I loved a name I wouldn't let it stop me. If any of that makes sense!

loislines · 16/10/2014 14:12

I grew up with an unusual name (although it's more common now) and I loved it. I do definitely look for less common names for my children but often find that the names I like happen to be more uncommon. My husband has a very common name and is less bothered about our children having unusual names.

orangetart · 16/10/2014 14:13

I have a very common (in my age group) name. I gave DS and DD names I liked no thought to whether they are common or not.
As it turns out DS is one of 3 in his year group at school with the same name.
And DD, despite having a name the mumsnet collective are utterly fed up of as its so popular, is the only one in her year group.

ThinkIveBeenHacked · 16/10/2014 14:14

My name is a G/J name and I was one of at least four every school/uni year.

DD has a name that is rare (one of only 13 born her year according to the stats) - however it is not a made up or americanised name.

DS (due next week) will have a rare name too but much higher on the stats than DDs.

DHs name is always top ten every blooy year

rachel234 · 16/10/2014 14:48

I did not like being one of several with my name in school. I would have much prefered to have a beautiful underused name.
As a result my kids have names that are not trendy, they're both outside the top250 names. I actually think there are lots and lots of great classic underused names for boys and girls out there!

MillyMollyMama · 16/10/2014 16:49

I have a name that appears to be confined to my Mum and me. We have never met another!!! Ever!! My DDs have less used names (not the MN names) and they rarely meet another. I think there are some wonderful, under used names and consulting a baby name book was extremely useful for drawing up a long list. I cannot imagine having the same name as lots of other people.

PureMorning · 16/10/2014 16:53

I have an extremely rare wierd name

My kids have very common names like tom, jack,emily ect

I didnt pick them because they were common, i picked them because i really liked the nams

2kidsintow · 16/10/2014 17:01

I'm Tamzin (and clearly not fussed about outing myself)

No one could spell it, most people mispronounced it. They still do.
No personalised things in shops when I was a kid, plenty of teasing.

I love it now, but it did want me to choose names that would be understood and spelled correctly for my children. I'd have opted for something more unusual but clear to read and spell, but Dh is more of a traditionalist when it comes to names so my children have classic names,

AlmaMartyr · 16/10/2014 17:01

I have a very common name and hated it, still not keen. Have always been one of several in any situation. I could never have personalised stationary/headbands etc because it had always sold out in my name. DD and DS have very unusual names, more unusual than we intended really but we fell in love with a name and used that. DD loves her unusual name (so far). Interestingly I never have to spell it for people or correct pronunciation whereas I'm always having to correct spelling on mine.

irregularegular · 16/10/2014 17:02

I have a very popular name for my age group - Katherine/Kate/Katy - I always knew loads growing up and seem to know even more now where I live and where I work. But I've always been absolutely fine with that. It's a classic, elegant name and doesn't feel dated.

My daughter also has a name that is extremely popular for her age. Close to number 1 for a few years - Sophie. There are quite a few around, but again neither she or I have a problem with that. I think she quite likes being one of the group.

I think both of us tend towards the individual rather than being one of a crowd, so having a popular names gives us something in common with others. A very unusual name can be quite a burden, I think.

BirdintheWings · 16/10/2014 17:07

If you pick a name that was top ten for your own age group, you might find it's currently unusual.
Helen, Sarah, Laura, Christina, Jenny come to mind (but probably out me as an old gimmer).

irregularegular · 16/10/2014 17:11

I think Katherine/Kate/Katy might be the exception to that rule. But otherwise, yes that's generally true.

Most of the mums I know are called Kate/Claire/Sarah/Emma/Helen and the men are all Mark or Steve!

weebarra · 16/10/2014 17:12

Both DH and I have names which were top ten when we were born (late 70's) - there were always at least two in every school class.
DS1 had a top 5 name but was named for my grandfather and it was always going to be his name.
DS2 has a fairly uncommon name, top 100 in Scotland but less common elsewhere.
DD has a top 20 name but I've only met another couple, she is only 13 months though.

FelixFelix · 16/10/2014 17:15

I have an unusual name. I've never met anyone else with the same name. DP has a normal common name.

I've not met anyone who knows someone with my dd's name, but I've seen it mentioned a few times on here. It's not unusual in the sense that it's hard to pronounce, but it's not very common. I think it was in the 400's in the top baby names list last year which surprised me. I thought it would be higher up than that.

Anyway, because my name is such a ball ache to keep spelling out to everyone and is mispronounced every single day of my life I gave dd a name which was difficult to get wrong, but still not very common.

Tournesol · 16/10/2014 17:21

DH and I both have very boring names and are always encountering other grown ups with our names. We both hated having boring names as kids.

So we chose rarely used (in this country) but proper names for our DC and due to having a rather unique surname I am certain they will all be uniquely named all their lives!

GreenShadow · 16/10/2014 17:31

I'm much the same as Vivpru by the sound of it.

In some ways I think I have the perfect name (although personally I'm not that keen on it in myself and wouldn't chose it for a child).

It is pretty unusual ( I've only ever met a very few people with the same name) but at the same time it is a recognised traditional British name, it is short, impossible to spell incorrectly, relatively timeless (in that it has never really been in or out of fashion) and you never have to repeat it or spell it when someone asks your name.

baskingseals · 16/10/2014 17:35

God I really want to know everyone's names now
My name is unusual for my generation, but not so much now. (Zara). My dc have more conventional names.

IHateHelloKitty · 16/10/2014 18:34

I think it does influence a lot what kind of name you choose for your children. Mine is common in my country and very unusual for people my age in the UK and I am looking for something that hits the right balance in both countries - so more vintage, underused or slightly exotic than top 50 or off the charts. Not easy. At all.

minipie · 16/10/2014 18:54

My name was unusual but was short, recognised and fairly easy to pronounce/spell. Perfect.

Until the 1990s when it went through a popularity surge and now there are loads of twentysomethings with my name. Dammit.

Moral of the story is you can try to pick a name based on its unusualness (or not) but fate may thwart you...

squeak2392 · 16/10/2014 19:01

My name has been consistently in the top 25 or so since the year I was born and surprisingly, I've never been in close contact with anyone with the same name. In school the only ones I knew had a different spelling and weren't in my class - the one that was in my class always seemed to sit on the opposite side of the classroom to me and had a surname at the very opposite end of the alphabet to mine, so it rarely caused a problem for us. However, I really don't like it when I hear my name and that person is actually talking to another person with the same name. My brain can't handle it :P

I'm really trying to avoid using a top 20 name. Not really because of my personal experience, but because there were multiple Laura's, Leah's, Nikki's, Abbey's etc in my year and it DID cause a problem for them, always having to be Laura Surname.

Luckily I can't use Oliver for personal reasons, but Amelia is on my list and if it turns out I love it when LO gets here, there are going to be internal struggles!

I don't think you should use an unusual name just because, though. A MORE unusual name, certainly (not in the top 20) but that doesn't mean you have to go crazy and call your child Hepzibah! (Although I actually quite like that).

I was reading American baby announcements last night and the VAST majority of the children on the newspaper I was looking at had such 'individualistic' names that Microsoft Word refused to automatically correct accidental capitals in the word... THAT is going too far imo.

ArsenicChaseScream · 16/10/2014 19:04

I was 10 before I met anyone else with my christian name (as we called them then). I like(d) being unusual. It is odd to me now that sometimes toddlers have my name and strange women shout at me to behave in supermarkets

It definitely predisposed me to choose uncommon names for the DC.

BikeRunSki · 16/10/2014 19:06

My name is well known, but unusual in my age group. No others at school. It's very popular now!!

My children deliberately have more popular names.

ArsenicChaseScream · 16/10/2014 19:07

OTOH my name isn't unheard of or crazy. I knew other people with my name existed in other places when I was child. I just didn't meet them in suburbia.

Maybe it's hard to get the same type of name now? As compared to the 70s?

hollie84 · 16/10/2014 19:45

DP and I both have common names for our age group - in fact I know another 30 something couple with the same names

DS1 has a top 50 name and DS2 has a top 10 name (and one that has been consistently popular for generations!).

Didn't consider popularity when we chose them actually, just picked names we loved.

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