Does it matter if it’s popular?

[littlemisssunshine81]

It seems to me that lots of people are on the hunt for that ‘unusual but not too unusual’ name nowadays. Consequently the unusual but not too unusual names have become the most popular, so they aren’t that unusual anymore. When I was at school everyone was called Leanne or Michelle and Steven or David. I don’t see those names coming back that soon into the ‘most popular list’. But does it matter? Would your chosen name being in the top 20 list put you off??

I like really unusual names. DS2 is the 1st person with his name in the UK for 200 years. 😆

Possibly none sunflower. Depends on the name.

There's five of us in my office with my name. I was the only one at school with it as it was very rare until it experienced a big surge in popularity when I was about 10. I love sharing my name! I feel like part of a club.

I love sharing my name! I feel like part of a club.

I wonder if your boss/teacher/colleagues also love not being able to differentiate between you all

Totally depends on the name Sunflower.

There’s some names outside the top 100 that most people will be familiar with, but that are currently out of fashion.
E.g. Peter or Susan - currently unfashionable, but well established names that won’t raise many eyebrows.

And then you get the wacky trying to be unique ones - Apple, Gandalf etc.

One sort is a “statement” name and the other isn’t, despite both sorts being outside the top 100.

My boyfriend's name is made up. As in his mother picked some sounds she likes and put them together. He hates it. He maintains that if we have children they're having popular names so they don't have to deal with the nonsense he does. People have to hear it pronounced atleast 3 times on first meeting and then they still say it wrong. The variations of spellings always entertain me too. It's not people's fault, it's his mother's because its not a name. Popular classic (non fashionable) names are the best in my opinion.

Need to know the name to determine what the name is sunflower.

If it’s a well known but underused name, probably none e.g Terrence

If it’s a name associated with the aristocracy or a lengthy hard to pronounce Greek mythical name - the statement you are making is ‘look how posh and educated I am compared to you’

If it’s a double barrelled phonetically spelled name, it could be: I consider myself unique, and don’t set much store behind the ‘proper way of doing things and don’t set much value in education

Etc etc etc

If it was the name of a prestige luxury item, e.g Mercedes, Gucci, Vuitton then the statement you are making is: I’m very materialistic, and I want to be seen as mor rich/aspirational than perhaps I am

If you give them a very naturey word name that isn’t typically used as a name, E.G Acorn, Ocean, Oak you are saying: I consider myself a hippy, and will raise my children in an alternative ‘natural’ way as I disapprove of modern society

So, what’s the name?!

I think the point people are making is: it’s more difficult to guess the statement/intention/view of themselves of the parents of Oliver/Harry/Owen/Peter, than Gucci/Acorn/Lexi-Maii/Lysander

I personally wouldn't pick any name in the top 100 but I'm weird lol, my little boys name has now crept up to the 60s but wasn't in the top 100 when I named him, my little girls name I highly doubt would ever be in the top 100, it's never been mentioned on mumsnet or even in RL as a suggestion x

I think the point people are making is: it’s more difficult to guess the statement/intention/view of themselves of the parents of Oliver/Harry/Owen/Peter, than Gucci/Acorn/Lexi-Maii/Lysander

But the mistake people are still making is thinking that popularity has much to do with that. Lots of names ranked below 200 are normal names that are not car brands, not nature related, not taken from ancient mythologies, etc.

Then you get below the 1000 mark where they get a bit more "unique", but tbh they're mostly just alternative spellings and foreign names.

Agree with the comments on depends on the name. I like the girls names Sally and Jane, both outside top 100 but easy to spell and not pretentious. My DH didn't like either though.

I don’t mind at all. I have an unusual name and don’t think about it at all. I agree that popular names are popular because they’re nice.

My D.C. are now in the top 20 ish (they were more emerging when we chose them) but this year it was still only a couple of thousand babies called by their names. A couple of thousand amongst a population of millions. School years are fleeting, although I do sympathise with the point about being one of 7 Sarahs

Dds name is now top 10 but 15 years ago when I had her it wouldn’t even have occurred to me to check the lists (were they even available then?)

Ds1 name is in the top 100 now and ds2 is way down at the bottom somewhere, but if they had have been near the top I wouldn’t have changed my mind.
Funnily enough, the only repeated name in dds year group is Shannon - which I wouldn’t have thought of as popular at all.

Think of how many cities, towns and villages there are - these children with the top name will be spread all over the U.K. - it’s very unlikely they’ll all be in the same school.

*If it’s a name associated with the aristocracy or a lengthy hard to pronounce Greek mythical name - the statement you are making is ‘look how posh and educated I am compared to you’

If it’s a double barrelled phonetically spelled name, it could be: I consider myself unique, and don’t set much store behind the ‘proper way of doing things and don’t set much value in education
*

No, it's not the statement I'm making. It's what YOU assume I'm stating. Big difference. You can make all sorts of assumptions about why people chose the names they do. But don't be surprised if they turn out untrue.

Well I think those are the assumptions most people would make about those names. I’m the same way I would assume a Mohammed came from an Asian/Muslim background and a Hamish was Scottish.

If you don’t like them, pick a different name?

Insisting that you picked Persophone because you loved it, and didn’t even realise it could be seen as Posh/pretentious seems a bit disingenuous to me...

Who picked Persephone?

Well I was obviously using that as an example,

Though I do know a Persophone, and her parents are social climbing idiots

If you were naming a child in the 1970s the popular choices were Tracy, Sharon, Dawn etc. Middle ground was Claire and Jane then statement was what? Elizabeth or Isobel maybe. I don't think there was the free flow spelling then ie Jorja or the celeb thing ie Gucci

Though I do know a Persophone, and her parents are social climbing idiots

I wonder if there are also parents of Persephones who are lovely people?

Of course there will be nice parents of Persophone, in the same way there will be lovely parents of Jorja-Payge’s and Blaine-Lees.
Doesn’t stop me wincing at the names, and the point is that these names are more easy to see/guess the intent behind than Leo or Isla.

I've always avoided it because as a child I had a top 10 name, and I absolutely hated being given a number instead of my name when registration was called out because there were 4 other girls with the same name in the class alone (more in the year). It feels impersonal. Currently I am in a work environment where I'm older than a lot of colleagues and my name dates me. I certainly wouldn't want my child to have a name like the next Michelle or David. However, there are popular timeless names that don't date, so if someone wanted to give their child a popular name I'd urge them to chose a timeless name. Like Joseph or Charlotte for example.

When did people start thinking outside the box for naming? Is it the last 20 years? I remember reading a piece by a registrar who would inwardly sigh with relief at a Kate rather than Cate. And she itched at any hypens. Anyone remember the episode of Cheers when a woman is asked her name? "Brandy" she said " with the traditional spelling, double e" ie Brandee