Really popular names

[DulcieRay]

Would you be put off if a name was really popular but you loved it?

I mean like Olivia or Oliver popular?!

I would absolutely love to see a study which followed the people with the most and least common names of the seventies and found out what they had named their own children.

If the name is a classic, popularity isn't much of an issue, but if it is a name that has become very popular quickly, I'd avoid.
So Oliver and Isabel would be ok, but Theo and Lyra would probably date.

@WinterWife, I feel your pain, my name isn't unusual, but there are so many spellings of it. Annoyingly, people still get it wrong when replying to my email with the correct spelling of my name

Names like Catherine/Kathryn or Claire/Clare must get misspelled a lot?

In other words, popularity has no correlation to having to spell out a name!

Some very unusual names (used only 3 times last year) are very easy and unambiguous to spell.

Ask yourself how you would feel about having a very popular name yourself? Many people called Steve or Sarah might feel that they'd rather have less popular name?

Dh would have loved to be called something like Tom or David. He has a very unusual (not made up) name and he hated it. I met a guy once who had a very unusual Dutch name that was traditional to use in their family (great great grandfather was dutch). When his baby nephew was born, his brother was going to use it and he went to them and said "please don't do that to him".

I would use any name if I loved it. I would not be put off a name if it was popular but I might be put off if it was trendy rather than popular.

I have an Ava and its still my all time favourite name. Wasnt that popular (at least I'd never heard it) when I chose it 9yrs ago, names become popular for a reason and we've only come across 2 others irl.

I would put good money on a much higher percentage of James's and Annabel's ending up as doctors, lawyers and politicians than Darcee-Mai's and Jaxon's.

Oh come on. Of course middle class James and Annabels are more likely than working class Darcee-Mais and Jaxons to become doctors and lawyers . But are you seriously telling me that's solely down to their names rather than the multitude of other factors working against working class kids?

Give me strength.

As PP said, I think if a name is really popular, it’s hard to disassociate that name from those already with the name, of that makes any sense?

I liked the name Nancy for a long time, and it was definitely on my list. But then I met a couple of Nancys and the name no longer felt the same, like it ‘belonged’ to a personality that I didn’t associate with my (unborn!) child. Which seems ridiculous in some respects, but we are where we are 🤷‍♀️

My best friend’s daughter is Olivia, and I nearly always think of her first when I hear the name, but not always... I guess, having a VERY popular name myself, I would want my child to have a less common name....but who knows when it comes to it? 🤗

I've got 4 Freyas in my Brownie unit.

“But are you seriously telling me that's solely down to their names rather than the multitude of other factors working against working class kids?”

I don’t know about the other poster, but I’m certainly not.
I think what’s I’m saying is that there is practically no upward social mobility in names. The “professional classes” for want of a better term, will always use the same pool of names, and while there is trickle down, there is no trickle up. So lawyers will almost always be called James and Annabel, and practically never Darcie-Mae or Jaxon, working class kids might be any of those names.
And while there are loads of reasons for the lack of social mobility, it is sad but true that people make judgements based on ridiculous things. And names is one of them. Lots of research shows that. Shouldn’t be true but it is.

My daughters name was hugely popular at the time she was born, I had no idea when we chose it, I knew no one with kids, didn't look at any name lists online , my OH suggested it and I liked it . It continued to be very popular for years after she was born too , I only discovered this when joining parenting website etc and seeing these baby name lists.
Despite its popularity though my daughter has never had someone with the same name in any of her year group (she changed schools once too) or in any of her out of school clubs ( probably in excess of 10 different clubs throughout the years) , if I had known how 'popular' it was reported to be it may well have deterred me from using it but I'm glad I never knew because it's definitely not an issue.

But are you seriously telling me that's solely down to their names rather than the multitude of other factors working against working class kids?

I was the first poster to mention social mobility and although I also can't speak for anyone else that certainly wasn't my point. The concentration of certain names in particular professions or social groups is a symptom of wider poor social mobility, not a cause.

@BertrandRussell... I remember a post recently about Telegraph Baby Announcements, and in amongst the Annabels and Tarquins was a Charmaine (read into that, and me, what you will!).

I’d also (very judgey of me) suggest that Archie and Harrison would not, before now, have been names associated with the ‘professional class’ nor with British Royalty, and yet, here we now are 😊

I always thought this was a silly reason not to pick a name.
HOWEVER my niece is in a year group with six ALFIES. 10% of the children in the year group are called Alfie!

I’d also suggest that Archie and Harrison would not, before now, have been names associated with the ‘professional class’ nor with British Royalty, and yet, here we now are

Meghan and Harry calling their son Archie Harrison will not make these names any more 'professional' or 'royal'!

Archie certainly is one of the “trickle down” names. When I was young it was a stereotype posh name. TRF are reclaiming it! Harrison less so......

DS has a top 4 name from when he was born. We live in an area where people try to pick more unusual names (and also ethnically diverse) so he has been the only one with his name through nursery and school, except for 1 club where he’s one of 4! There are 2 boys in his year with the same uncommon name which was probably not top 100. Oddly, we knew 2 Olivers in baby groups but met hardly any since then.

@Bertrand As a diminutive of Archibald, I’d go with that... But a diminutive? As a full name? In the Royal Family? 😳🤯🙈🙊🙉😂