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Baby names

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

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Original poster

Where are all the Olivers and Emilias?

39 replies

makingapplecrumble00 · 08/02/2016 10:10

We have made a short list of names but it turns out a lot of our favourites are in the top five of the ONS names lists. Are there really lots of babies with these names because I don't know any, but I'm slightly put off by sending my child to school with the same name as everyone else. Urghh names are far too stressful!

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mrsschu · 08/02/2016 10:28

My DD has a top 10 name. She's 4 and so far I could count the number of children we have met with the same name on one hand. She actually loves it when she meets someone with the same name. My DS on the other hand has an uncommon but not unusual name and we met some with his name the other day! And according to the ONS stats there were less than 60 babies with his name in 2014!

I have a very popular 70's/80's name. There were 3 of us with the same name in my year of 100 girls at school and I can honestly say it never bothered me. Lots of people are horrified on here at the thought that their DC might be Amelia X or Oliver Y at school but I think it doesn't bother the majority of children. Better to have a popular name than a bizarre or yooneeq one IMO.

TheMshipIsBack · 08/02/2016 10:38

It doesn't have to be a top 10 name to have another child in the same year with that name! My DS's name was between 60 and 80 the year he was born, but we live in an area with a lot of Catholics and it happens to be a popular name in that community, so he's been DS X since starting nursery. He loves it, and gets annoyed when you don't add his surname initial to his name.

AllMyBestFriendsAreMetalheads · 08/02/2016 10:47

I know of a few Olivers, but I have only ever personally known one Amelia, and another who is a friend of my niece. I know no children with the name Amelia, which is odd when it's so popular.

Also anecdotally, one of the local 'post-natal' groups, where babies are all born in the same 6 weeks or so, had 3 babies in the group with the same name which was around 50 on the names list for that year. All had chosen the name because they didn't want anything hugely popular. Ironically, I don't think I've come across any other children with that name since!

AnchorDownDeepBreath · 08/02/2016 10:53

Emilia is very popular - and it'll continue to be so whilst Game of Thrones is on and the character alive, I think. I know 11 Emilia's under 12 months in my hometown, London seems full of them too.

The only Oliver that I know is 27.

NNalreadyinuse · 08/02/2016 10:55

I only know one Oliver and one Amelia. Dc is 8 and there are no kids in her class who have the same name. MN seems to believe that there are too many Eves and Ellies but I don't know many if those either.

wigglesrock · 08/02/2016 12:59

All my dds names, I've 3 of them are in the top 10 baby girls list. They're the only one in each of their primary school classes and dd1 and dd2 are the only ones in the whole year. Dd2 has the ubiquitous O name and she's 8. Dd3 is in P1/ reception and there's another girl with the same name in the other class. It really is just luck. In dd2 and dd3s year group there are 2 girls in each year with same unusual name (we're in NI, they're both Irish names but one I hadn't heard of in years).

I don't know any Emilias but do know a few Olivers in dd3s friends/school year.

FunkyPeacock · 08/02/2016 13:04

I have an FB friend (old friend from Uni) whose 2 DC (both born in last couple of years) are Oliver & Emilia! - They live in London

I also have a good friend with 5 year old DD called Amelia, but she is the only one I know

I know loads of Olivers who are a bit older now, age between 10 and 20 but none born recently

Pipilangstrumpf · 08/02/2016 14:25

We know loads of Olivers/Ollies and even more Emilias/Amelias/Emilys etc. They're both very popular names and it is very likely that they will have others in their year groups (but of course there will be exceptions) and their names will probably fall out favour at some point and start to sound dated.

Personally, I prefer names that are not as overused, more timeless classics (outside the top 100).

MrsHathaway · 08/02/2016 15:48

Three Olivers in DC (4)'s class and two in the class above. A sprinkling through the rest of the school.

No Emilias.

Names come in clusters though. Here all the girls are Eva/Evie/Ava. The boys who aren't Oliver are Finley or Oscar.

CwtchyQ · 08/02/2016 15:53

Emilia is just such a bloody lovely name though biased

CottonFrock · 08/02/2016 15:59

Well, names aren't evenly distributed throughout the country!

I was at a five-year-old's birthday party at the weekend, a big village hall one with thirty kids (mostly reception class in the local school, some still pre-schoolers and one or two slightly older cousins). I was helping to give out the party bags at the end, and there were no fewer than five Emilias/Amelias, two Millies, and about four Olivers that I counted. Lots of others appeared to be called, Jack, Harry, George, some variant on Isabella/Belle/Bella/Izzy, Eva/Evie/Ava or Lily. Oh and one Nevaeh.

I was one of four girls in my class with the same name all the way through primary school.

NNalreadyinuse · 08/02/2016 19:42

Imogen and Megan are quite popular where I live. Funny how names go through fashions. A few years ago everyone was Jessica or Jack. For my age group, Sarah, Michelle and Nicola were popular and for boys David, Andrew and Stephen - you hardly get any babies with those names now.

mydogeatsnutstoo · 08/02/2016 20:59

In my son's quite small nursery I counted on the pegs the other day 4 Olivers, an Ollie and 2 Olivias! There are no Amelias although there were 3 in my daughter's cohort a few years ago.

SellFridges · 08/02/2016 21:04

Very few repeats in DD's reception classes (two parallel classes so 60 kids in total). There are two Evie's and an Evelyn and two Erin's. I have a feeling there's also a Lily and a Lily-Mae. Otherwise no repeats. They have an Oliver but no Amelia's.

PickleSarnie · 08/02/2016 21:46

My son's name is quite a bit outside the top 200. The toddler he went to once had less that ten boys. There were three of them with the same name.

Not a single Jack or Oliver though

soundsystem · 09/02/2016 07:24

I'm in North East London and there are quite a few Emilia/Amelias here.

In my work, three people have had Oliver's in the past two years. Thinking about it, that's all the baby boy's of my colleagues! (there have also been four girls, none of whom are Amelia/Emilia)

Passthecake30 · 09/02/2016 07:25

My daughter has 2 Oliver's and an Amelia in her class....she's 6.

Pointlessfan · 09/02/2016 07:33

I teach 3 Amelia/Emilias in one class! Not as many Olivers at school as there were a few years ago though.

rollonthesummer · 09/02/2016 07:46

DD is 14 and there were lots of Olivers in that year and seem to be loads ever since! I love the name-it was my number one choice if she'd been a boy but I'm very glad I didn't choose it now. Both my younger children come home talking about OliverG or Oliver T in their class.

I love Emilia actually, it's really pretty. I only know girs with that name under 7. I expect it might date a bit but I still like it.

Marcipex · 10/02/2016 23:07

I know lots of Olivers, age 3-8. No baby ones, they're all apparently called Oscar now.

I don't know any Emilias, but lots of Amelia, Emily and Amelie, so very similar.
Also, exactly what Cottonfrock says up thread about the party. Spot on.

ceeveebee · 10/02/2016 23:08

DTs nursery class has an Amelia, Emilia, Amelie and an Emily. No Oliver's though

KERALA1 · 11/02/2016 07:34

Most classes here have minimum one Ollie. About 5 Amelia's in the school but the really popular one is eve. Reminds me of the film heathers, one goes another appears.

There are loads of traditional lovely names out of the top 10 (speaking as someone with a popular name myself I tried to avoid them)

gruffallofriend · 11/02/2016 10:14

I think the replies to your op show where all the Olivers and Emilias are - most of us know at least one, so they're pretty much everywhere!

KERALA1 · 11/02/2016 12:59

Sorry but these names are now so overused they are like wallpaper to me. So many great names everyone picks the same 20. Why?!

StitchesInTime · 11/02/2016 13:31

I know a few Oliver's - I think in DS1's infant school there's one in most years. I've never met a single Emilia, Amelia's much more popular.

YY about names not being evenly distributed. And the wider number of names used these days means that a top 10 name these days won't be given to as many children as a top 10 name 30 years ago would have been.

The only "duplicated" name in DS1's year at school is Charlie. There's boy Charlie and girl Charlie.

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