Is Olivia too common?

[SqidgeBum]

We are expecting our second baby in november. I love the name Olivia but I know it features in the top names of the past few years. For my last girl I purposely avoided popular names. However I also know there are so many girls names that rotate yearly that this may mean very little. I dont want my baby to be one of 4 Olivia's in her class so I thought I would ask how many Olivia's do you know that have been born over the past 2 or 3 years?

When we named our children we didn’t care that the names would be popular - they were the names we liked best and they seemed to suit the babies when they arrived (and still do). Having other children in the class with the same name has never been a problem - nor was it when I was growing up surrounded by numerous Andrews, Davids, Sarahs and Jackies.

i know quite a few olivias (all lovely) the littlest one is my friend's little girl and she gets called livy which I think is really cute. :) Alice is gorgeous and not too common either Alice and Heather go nicely together

Having other children in the class with the same name has never been a problem

Maybe not for you. But many don't like having to add a surname or other adjective (Sarah with the glasses or little Sarah) to be identifiable! And as a teacher it's no fun either.

There are enough names to choose from, there's no need to share names !

ye as a teacher myself I hate having, for example, 3 Mia/Myas in my class and trying to differentiate one from another. Funny enough, I have never taught a Faye or an Alice, so no negative connotations.

Nope, never had the “Sarah with glasses” thing either growing up or with my own children.

And school is such a small proportion of a person’s life.

OP I read your update Alice is gorgeous and unusual. I have only ever met one Alice.

And school is such a small proportion of a person’s life.

But it doesn't stop after school! In our office we have 3 Steves and 4 Clares! Names are meant to identify people!!

But why, if you really love a name, should you have to choose another one just because the first is popular? I agree as others have said, it's not necessarily going to be the case that there's a cluster in one class/year group or office space.

When I was growing up there were lots of Janes and Susans, Daves and Stephens; I cannot think of the last time I met one in adulthood.

The other thing is that you can always use a diminutive "OP"?

Yes

Susans, Daves and Stephens; I cannot think of the last time I met one in adulthood.

Really? I know so so many adult Steves and Daves! I need their surname to identify which one of the many Steves I'm talking about.

Alice and Faye are lovely.

I like Heather with Hazel, but that might be a bit too samey

Heather and Florence
Heather and Juliet
Heather and Cadence
Heather and Gabrielle

I don't know why people don't like "common"/popular names! Surely in this day and age the greatest advantage you can give your child is to make them ungooglable? I have a very common first and last name and am grateful for it

Actually after PPs suggestion of Hazel, it's now on the list! Which is a massive help. We have 19 weeks left, so lots of time to mull over the names and see, but I think Faye may be winning at the minute. The weird thing is, my MIL sent a list of 'girlie' names last night, and Faye was number 1 on her list, despite us not saying a word! Of all the names in the world that is what she picked!

I think it’s the most popular name I can think of sorry, I know 5 between ages 21-27. One in most year groups at primary at the minute as well. Ds has two olivias in his class alone (yr 3). And still popular for babies as well.

I only know one, a newborn sister to a child at my dc preschool. It's a lovely name. I only personally know one other, and that's a cousins daughter who is now 18.

Faye is lovely and goes well with Heather.
There are four Alices at my daughter s nursery and three Olivias.

Fwiw I prefer Hazel. Also gorgeous but more rare, if that's what you're looking for.

I prefer Hazel.

Really frilly names will sound like older women's names by the time your dd is 25. My dd has one. But for so long, all names were so soft, lots of elles and ening in ella, ia, elle, ie.

Hazel is very pretty but stronger sounding..

I don't know why people don't like "common"/popular names! Surely in this day and age the greatest advantage you can give your child is to make them ungooglable?

Actually being 'google-able' Is very important to all types of business, to consultants and other professionals, bands and musicians, authors and journalists, politicians and many others.

It really helps to have a distinctive name. People with common names use various techniques to distinguish themselves. These include varying their first name (Edward, Ed, Eddy, Eddie, Ted, Teddy, Ned, Neddy etc), adding or dropping a middle initial, or expanding and hyphenating their surnames. Some people have become known by their initials, including the American poet EE Cummings and the English author JRR Tolkien.

@Puppilangstrumpf, is it though?
If you have an unusual name and have your own business, a lot of information comes up when you google them. DoB, Address, Accounts, Turnover...
Add SM like LinkedIn, FB etc and you will know or be able to deduce a lot about them.

If you are famous, there will be a lot of newsy type stuff, but if you are an ordinary person, it could potentially be TMI.

I think that you ultimately have to go with the name you love and not worry about popularity. Where I live, Olivia isn't a commonly used name at all, I know a couple of adults and an eleven year old, I know of at least three young Alices. I know of children who have fairly uncommon names who have still ended up being one of two with the same name in the class and children who have popular names who end up being the only one in the school.

@NannyR I totally agree. You may find a cluster of Olivias that you know at one point in your life and then never again. As I commented upthread, I had four Susans and three Davids in my class at school. I cannot remember the last time I met someone with either name.

I don't know many little Olivia's though I know a few in their teens. Choose the name you love, popularity comes in peaks and troughs, I think it's a beautiful classic name :)

Where we live there were loads of Olivias born about 20 years ago. It has been much less popular since. My children were at primary school with one Olivia (who would now be about 15) and there isn't a single one in their (huge) secondary school now but there were several who would now be about 19-22 years old.
My niece lives about 100 miles from us and she knows 2 Olivias aged 5 so I think this is probably quite regional. I am in London if that's helpful.

Alice is much more popular in my area currently.