Where are all the Olivers and Emilias?

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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!

I think if you are having your first baby and are not coming into contact with young children its hard to appreciate the popularity of some names. When I was pregnant with my first our top names were Emily and Olivia before realising that most other people had exactly the same idea! We swapped at the last minute and so glad we did - the first baby class I walked into had 3 Olivias and 2 Emilys.

I know of a few Olivers (but only one who is in the same class as one of my DSs). I don't know any Emilias, but I know a few Amelias.

FWIW we named DS2 a traditional name that wasn't even top 100 in the year he was born, yet in his class of nine (yes, nine!), there is another one. The other one even has the name surname initial so ours has come to be known by his home nickname, which we never really intended to happen. So I would say call your DC whatever you want. Going for something popular or not is no guarantee that there won't be others.

The ONS government lists of all names given each year is really helpful, it shows how many babies are born with each name each year. The top few names typically have several thousands with the same name!

And yes, there are so many gorgeous classic underused names, why do so many of us choose the same overused few (even after they've been popular for so long...)?!

"Going for something popular or not is no guarantee that there won't be others."

But it certainly reduces the probability!

How do we have such a hive mind we all pick similar names at similar times? I know for some it's obvious, the jack/rose influence of titanic for example, but what about the rest?
My last child was born in 2011 and I found her name when looking up all the names from Shakespeare plays I had read, not really heard it around and liked it. Now I hear it's getting really popular. Funny how we do that isn't it, something must have influenced us without our even noticing.

If you love the name, use it!

Some anecdata for you: My DS1's name is outside the top 100, my DS2's is top ten. Neither of them has another child of the same name in their school year of 60.

My DS2's preschool had another by his name when he arrived, and then when he left a younger child also with the same name arrived. But he loved being Little X, then graduating to being Big X, and he loves running into either the original Big X or the current Little X when we're out and about!

I have an Emilia, she is 10. I loved the name and could not care less if it is top 10 or not (it was not so popular 10 years ago). There is so much judginess about name choice. if you pick an unusual name people accuse you of pretentiousness, if you pick a more common name you are accused of being in-original and lacking imagination. You can't win!

Two Olivers in Ds's Rec class and 1 in ds's y2 class.

No Amelias in their classes, but there are a few in the school.

I know an Emilia age 2 and an Amelia age one and an Oliver age 1

I don't care whether it's popular or not myself and Emilia is at the top of my list at the moment for a girl (I'm 15 weeks) and I considered Amelie.

You may not care whether a name is super popular but your child may not like to have to add an initial (or other adjective) to her/his name. In our Cub Scouts group we have 3 Harrys, two of which have the same surname initial - it can get confusing at times.

I know 3 Emelia/Amelia, 1 Amelie and 3 Olivers, all aged under 5- live in NW London

I've got an 11-year-old Ollie. He was our first, and we were the first of our gang to have kids, so it wasn't until we were at a festival when he was about 1 and camping for the first time in the family field that we realised it was common as muck. He's the only one in his class though, and only another 2 at school (210 kids).

I think it's hilarious that someone upthread said they like "timeless classics (outside the top 100)" - Emily, Isobel (etc), Eleanor, Harry, Thomas are surely the definition of timeless?

FWIW though there are 6 Tom/Thomas variations in DD's class.

That was me. Those names are classics but tediously over used. I mean other underused classic names like Mary, peter, Tess, Zoe, john. Loads. Classic names but nowhere near the top ten Ollie ben Eve grace dullsville.