Is Olivia too boring?

[Crazyblonde000]

Hi,
Basically I’m trying to decide on a name and for as long as I can remember, Olivia has been my favourite name. I think it’s absolutely beautiful and I adore the nickname Liv! The only problem is it’s the most popular girls name and that’s all anyone says to me when I suggest it! So my question is, how much would the popularity of a name put you off? And do you think it’s a ‘boring’ name? as I’ve been told by a few people 🙄. I’m just torn weather to just go with it because I love it or choose something more unusual! Thankyou ☺️ (Sorry for the long message)

You always see on here that Olivia is so popular and it’s top in the top 100 but I only know 1! Don’t let it put you off

A family name. I always think a middle name should be a family name if possible. Especially if the baby will only have one surname, ideally they should have a middle name from the other side of the family.

Namechange30 I agree with you and think a family name would be lovely! I always thought I’d use Elizabeth as a middle name as it’s mine, my mums and grandma’s but I just feel like Olivia Elizabeth is a bit of a mouthful! Perhaps a shortened version of Elizabeth may work?

Elizabeth is beautiful and it would be wonderful for your DD to share a middle name with her mother, maternal grandmother and maternal great-grandmother - what a lovely tradition to continue.

It's a bit of a mouthful but she will hardly ever use her whole name.

I would love the tradition to continue but I’m just not a fan of the names together unfortunately! I was thinking about Olivia Lily? I’m pretty sure it’s a nickname for Elizabeth (I know an Elizabeth who goes by Lily) so possibly an option?

I normally can’t bare top 20 names but I can see why Olivia is number 1. It’s just so beautiful! I’d never use it.. I only know a few adult Olivia’s and one child from my daughters play group (out of about 50 kids)

And I think Olivia Lily is really pretty 🙂

Personally I'm not a fan of Olivia Lily, too much repetition of the "li" sound.

I would prefer Olivia Beth.

No, I think it is a great name. Even the most popular names are only given to a tiny percentage of the population, so that wouldn't sway me.

At least Olivia is the only name of its kind apart from Olive which is less popular - Lily, Lilly, Lillie has variations along with Layla etc - so it’s not gonna get mixed up or misspelled

About 0.8% of babies are called this - 1.6% of girls

Olivia is a beautiful name - I only know one aged 4 - she's cute as a button & her shortened name is Liv too - go for it I say

It is your favourite name than that is why you should choose it, it doesn't matter if it is too popular.

If I had another dd then she would have been called Adeline, I absolutely love that name. I might call my next cat that instead!

I work in a nursery school and I haven't actually met that many Olivia's. Such a pretty name

It’s a nice name but it is extremely popular.

We were going to call dd1 this name. Had no idea it was so popular went to a friends baby welcome party and met a really annoying woman who had just called her newborn Olivia “even though it was really popular”. Went off the name there and then. So glad I didn’t use it my first baby class there were 3 Olivias. Baby now 13 most classes have one but not as popular as Eve!

I'm a teacher. Olivia is quite popular, usually at least one in every class and I think that will probably get even more common as the popularity of the name increases. I have a really common name and growing up, was one of 4 with my name in secondary school. I hated being qualified with my last initial- I know it seems silly, but I felt less important that way. However, you won't get misspellings with Olivia and it is a really pretty name. Personally, I wouldn't go for anything really popular.

There’s a reason it’s popular it is a lovely name. But agree with above poster I have a popular name and it’s not great didn’t want that for my kids. Popular names become abit “wallpaper” and lose their appeal.

Funny that people all choose the same few names basically Eve Olivia Grace Emily Amelia Isabel / la Lily etc. I am really bored of all those names. There are loads of lovely proper names that are underused - Miranda Zoe Tess off top of head. Why do we all pick the same ones?!

@Pixielou16 you’ve said “i think Olivia will probably get more common as the popularity of the name increases” but actually the name Olivia has been on a downward trajectory for the past 2 years and is very likely to be even less common when the 2020 stats are released. I really love the name and agree with other posters that it’s a name in its own right so actually feels less common than it actually is. Often certain names like Eva Evie Eve Ada Ava can all blend into one for me but Olivia is beautiful and special sounding

So glad you’ve decided you’re sticking with Olivia @Crazyblonde000 - have seen your update

How about:

Olivia Margaret
Olivia Edith
Olivia Clementine
Olivia Cleo
Olivia Ivy
Olivia Martha
Olivia Margot
Olivia Molly

@Whatsyourflava that's interesting, I didn't know that. I think I was thinking at it from a teacher's point of view- we get children through the school 4/5 years after the peak of the popularity hits, so it's interesting that it is becoming less popular now. I agree, it's a lovely name.

It's not an exciting choice but it's still a lovely name. Go for it.

I don't think Olivia Elizabeth will work though.

Olivia Beth could work.

Do you have any other family names you could use?

I love it and it’s one of my favourites. DH not so keen, bizarrely he finds my choices a bit ‘out there’ and doesn’t understand why I don’t like more ‘normal’ names. I had to laugh whilst explaining how Olivia has been number 1 for however many years. I think he still thinks every baby is called Jane or John.

As for popularity - it does put me off a little bit and I am trying to come up with less popular alternatives, but do keep coming back to the fact that I like Olivia best!

I also teach and would say there’s been an Olivia in most classes I’ve taught, but never more than one per class and overall feels less common than the many Lily/Evie/Eva/Avas etc I’ve taught.

I had the exact same dilemma with DD2's name. I thought she was a boy so had it there as a "just in case". I do think I did the right thing in going for it, but also wish I'd known it was a girl so that maybe I might have thought of something unusual (always gets slated on here which is why ai feel doubt!)