Is it really that big of a deal?

[Kelsey28]

Is it really that bigger deal if a child has the same name as other children in the class? I see so many people on here give that as a reason not to pick a name and just wondered what the general consensus is? My mum called me my name and very few people had heard of it in the early nineties yet when I started school there was another girl with the same name sat next to me. It never bothered me.

Interesting that someone mentioned class- one thing I find with a lot of the popular old-fashioned names at the moment is that they although they are very trendy, they do transcend class. Names like Isabel, Mabel Freddie, Archie, Alfie and Ava might not be as timeless as "king and queen" names but they are popular across different socio-economic groups in the same way that 80s names like Laura, Andrew, Claire, Sarah, and Michael were.

According to the book Freakonomics most 'posh' names move down and eventually become quite common. Names like Sebastian, Quentin, Isabella or Arabella are all examples of such names that are fairly mainstream now. But I don't think really answers the op.

"the benefit of a common name is that you are difficult for potential employers or Sherlock's to google you. "

That can equally be a disadvantage.

"As soon as they send an email out or their name flashes up on your phone you'll guess they are 55 etc. "

I don't know why that matters. As soon as you meet someone you know their approximate age anyway.

I think it matters for applying for jobs. There's a reason why people don't put their DOBs on CVs anymore. I think age discrimination is real and I think if you've got an "old" name you might not be called for interview because people assume you're about to retire, not every time but some times.
Anyway I just enjoy that noone has an idea in their head of me based on my name until they meet me.

There are enough people complaining on these boards that Claire or Alison or Sharon etc was so popular when they were at school (and in some cases saying they hate having such a name) to also know that it matters.

"There's a reason why people don't put their DOBs on CVs anymore. "

Yes, but there are years next to everything else so you can always figure out the person's age.

Very true Gwen as most people put the dates they were in education it's quite easy to work out their age to within 2 years from CV's/application forms.

Also it's not recommended to include your first name on your CV these days to avoid discrimination based on sex so best to only include your first initial & surname.

If I got a CV through without the person's first name on it, I'd think 'what sort of precious prick is this', and toss it in the bin, in all honesty.

That no doubt says a lot about me.

Dowager the last time we were filling a vacancy I received a CV with no name at all on it safe to say they weren't invited for an interview.

The no name at all hasn't filtered through to where I live yet. I've heard about it mainly being used in France.

We used to look at CVs, looks at when they did their A levels/equivalent and subtract 18 to get the dob.

Some organisations deliberately remove applicants' names before CVs or forms are assessed. There was a study that showed discrimination against applicants with "ethnic minority-sounding" names - [[https://fullfact.org/economy/job-applicants-ethnic-minority-sounding-names-are-less-likely-be-called-interview/]]

Sorry - try again - link here fullfact.org/economy/job-applicants-ethnic-minority-sounding-names-are-less-likely-be-called-interview/

Gwen I'm in Scotland so can only pinpoint year of birth to within a few years using CV's due to our intake system & the fact that highers can be taken over the course of a few school years - I sat some of mine in 5th year at 16 & some in 6th year at 17... I'd been working full time for 6 months by the time I turned 18 jeez I'm old

So subjective no right or wrong. As the owner of a dull common name myself didn't want that for mine though didn't want wacky moonunit type ones either.

The names I like and am impressed when people choose are proper names - but not the faddish top 10 ones. Say Miranda Tess and Zoe rather than eve poppy and lily. Very common names do seem abit unimaginative to me though would never say so. Like a pp also had an acquaintance with a 6 week wait and massive build up for....Olivia.

Part of me loves it because when I meet a Sharon I know she's in her 50s, and if I meet a Noah or an Ava in the future I'll be able to work out their age easily and place them in a generation.

But personally having grown up with an unusual (but not weird or made up)name, I think an unusual name is a very desirable gift to your child. I'm looking outside the top 500 myself. But many people hate having an unusual name. I think a lot of it's actually quite predictable from the upbringing you'll give your child- are you the kind of family to like being pretty conventional? If so, don't give your child an unusual name because they will crave to be another Oliver or Sophia.

34 Sharons last year!

And how do you know whether your child is going to be conventional or not?

Hmm, that's a nature v nurture debate!

I think an individual's personality has more bearing on whether they will prefer a conventional or unusual name (and that's not something you can predict).Many people raised in conventional homes long to break out! And vice versa.

I have one of the most popular 80s names (mentioned several times on this thread). Weirdly, other than reception when there was one other (which I liked; we bonded over it) I was the only person with my name in the entire school for my whole school career. My sister, whose name was much less obviously of its time, was one of seven in a year group of 40. It's impossible to predict, and must be much more annoying if you think you've chosen something really unusual and end up alongside another, than if you knew it was likely.

Since school I've been one of at least two of us with my name in every possible context, from work to NCT to volunteering groups to yoga classes and now the school playground. I honestly don't mind. It's a nice name, with no class associations, and I was named after my granny so it's meaningful to me, rather than a failure of imagination on the part of my parents.

We did consider popularity to a degree, and nearly talked ourselves out of DD's name as it was descending a wave of intense popularity when she was born. But it was a name we'd both always loved, we didn't know any others and we decided it really didn't matter. She was at nursery with one other child with the same name, which they both quite enjoyed, and she's now the only one at school. DS narrowly escaped being Bartholomew or Zachariah...and instead has a ten-a-penny classic name which is utterly him and which I adore. And don't know any others!

That's a lovely post Minty82. Good to hear the positives of using popular names as most have slated them on this thread. Lovely that your name was meaningful to you and your parents and that you've used the names you love for your dcs (see my post further back on this thread).

My DD's name was practically unheard of when she was born, there was less than 70 registered in the year she was born (1999) with her name.

Fast forward a decade there are over a 1000 born with the same number and is now top 50 in the popularity ranks.

Not the end of the world but the name is now viewed as the 2010 names and as twee on mn. Oh well, at least I was ahead of time for once.

I like having a relatively unusual name (currently in the 700s with regard to popularity and around 50 babies named this each year), yet it is a short English word which no one ever has to query the spelling of.

However the 3DSs all have names which regularly feature in the top 30, so I obviously didn't follow on and give them similar names. I've just checked back to see what sort of boys names are comparable to mine in the listings and most are of non-English origin but do include Colin, Chris, Neil and Bruce. Glad I didn't go there....

The only time I minded was a bit in high school. The 2 most popular girls in my yr group (only 90 in my yr group) had my name. And I wasn't one of them. So I learnt to ignore my name.

I know that Cheryl is a made-up smush of Cherie and Beryl but it doesn't deserve to be A) tied to the fifties and sixties and B) declared a non-"legit" name by name snobs just because it was only created in the 20th century.

I want to pick a name for my child which is definitely a real name, but not overused. I don't want a name which is everywhere (everyone our age has a mate called Dave, John and Tom), it's just a bit dull to me. Also don't want something like Fifi Trixiebell. It's hard to find the balance, I think.

DH likes the name Isabel, which is nice enough, but I really can't bring myself to use a top 10 name. I like most of the top 10 names and I'm sure they're popular because they are lovely, but massive popularity does bother me. I'm fine with top 100, but would prefer outside top 20. For example, I love Genevieve nn Evie, but I can't bring another Evie into the world, I just can't!

DH also likes Jack for a boy, which arose out of a private joke. It's a nice enough name, but again just tooooo popular. I used to work in a nursery and we had Jack G, Jack R, Jack T etc, four in the same room (and half the girls were Izzy and Grace). I said I didn't want our child to be constantly known as First Name Surname Initial....

However DH pointed out that Jack L (our surname starts with L) would actually be kind of cool. I had to admit he had a point!