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Original poster

Which would you regret more?

119 replies

Onceuponatime123 · 19/07/2020 20:34

Which would you regret more?

Choosing a popular name and child being 1 of 3/4/5 in class.

NOT choosing a popular name that you LOVE because it is popular.

The name I am referring to is Evelyn but the question is relevant to any popular name.

OP posts:
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Dozer · 20/07/2020 07:19

Wouldn’t bother me, was one of 4 or 5 DC with my name in school years, quite a few of us at work too, and has also ‘dated’. Still like my name!

Dozer · 20/07/2020 07:20

My DC have popular names as we liked them.

Subordinateclause · 20/07/2020 07:27

I'm a primary teacher and have only ever come across one Evie and two Evas (no Evelyns or Eves) out of maybe 1000 children who have been at school in the time I've taught. Names aren't similarly popular across all areas of the country.

sothebellsring · 20/07/2020 08:01

I have an Evelyn (ev-uh-Lyn)and didn't realise how popular it was when we used it tbh. In her class there are two Evie's and one Eve, just my Evelyn and she doesn't like it shortened. I hate when people call her Evie as I really don't like the name mainly due to its popularity (I'm a teacher and have taught many) but accept she may prefer it in the future.

I still love the full name and would use it again anyway. She likes the nn Evvy.

Megan2018 · 20/07/2020 08:10

@Grufallosfriends what utter nonsense.
Are you really that shallow?!!

Any name identifies you, it doesn’t matter how many others there might be and everything in life dates-it’s not a bad thing. What an utterly miserable way to view the passing of time.

Unfollowtherules · 20/07/2020 08:15

The only Evelyn I know is in her 80s. I don’t know an Eve.

I have a dc with an E name and occasionally people forget it and call her Evie as Evie is so popular.

In my dc’s primary school class everybody seemed to be called Ellen or Eleanor.

20viona · 20/07/2020 08:20

Go with what you love. I hate the name Evelyn but it's all personal choice.

RedCatBlueCat · 20/07/2020 08:27

Go with what you love.

DS1 has a well known, but not top 3, name.
Primary school 1: 3 kids in his class with the name.
Primary school 2: one of 2 in the whole school (60 place intake)
Prinary school 3 (yes, weve moved a lot!) : only one in the 90 intake year. I dont know the rest of the school well enough to know elsewhere, but there are none in DS2's year.

So, picking a name doesnt guarantee you wont be surrounded by those with a similar name. Go with what you love.

BrutusMcDogface · 20/07/2020 08:37

I love Evelyn. It was a strong contender for my first daughter. I’d pronounce it EV- Lyn and shorten it to Evvie though (short e sound), if I was going to shorten it at all.

Grufallosfriends · 20/07/2020 08:55

Any name identifies you, it doesn’t matter how many others there might be

Well, we have 3 Harrys in our local scout group of 13 and I can tell you it's not easy!

And at work there are 2 Sarahs in my team. Again, unless you add a modifier (surname, big, small, etc) then the name alone doesn't identify them!

MsTSwift · 20/07/2020 09:04

In my local friendship group there are 20 of us and with the odd exception all Of us are called one of 4 names. Terribly confusing. Odd how people all flock to choosing the same names as everybody else

UsernameNotValid · 20/07/2020 09:24

@Grufallosfriends so do you suggest we all start making up a name to ensure that no one has the same name?

Does it really matter if you have to add something on to identify in a group? Never bothered my DS (his name jumped from top 20 to top 5 the year he was born) nor me as an adult working with 2 others with my name desire only having met 1 other in the rest of my life.

No name is unused and names fall in and out of popularity.

MrsNoah2020 · 20/07/2020 09:29

Evelyn isn't usually abbreviated to Eve.

I would go for it, but also choose a middle name you would happily use as a first name. That way, if your DD is bugged by having a variant on a popular name, she always has the option of using her middle name.

Crimblecrumble1990 · 20/07/2020 09:31

Evelyn is so lovely. It is a family name to me and I would love to use it but the fact it's so popular does put me off.

I have a popular name and always being known as 'crimble & surname' does affect your identity a bit in my experience.

SockYarn · 20/07/2020 09:32

Ava, Evie, Eve, Eva - they're everywhere.

IggyAce · 20/07/2020 09:37

Choose the name you love. We picked a name for dd that wasn’t even in the top 50 yet when she got to primary she was 1 of 3 in her year. It appears that the name had become popular in our area. Least if you know it’s popular you expect others in her year group, but might be surprised to find she is the only one.

HoHoHolyCow · 20/07/2020 09:38

I don't know any children called Evelyn/Eve. There are none in my DSs' primary school and there weren't any in their nursery.

DS1 has a relatively uncommon name and is best friends with a child with the same name! It doesn't matter at all, to me or DS or the other child. I bonded with the child's mum over our awesome taste in names Grin

Use the name you love.

KetoIFWinnie · 20/07/2020 09:44

I only know of one child Eve.

My friend's niece. Haven't even met the child. But my kids are older.

The thing about using a name that has been already popular for over a decade though, by the time you get to your forties, it's considered an old person's name already and you're Shock omg!? ME? I have an old person's name!

TheFormerPorpentinaScamander · 20/07/2020 09:49

DS2s name has been top 5 for probably 20 years now. We've only met a handful of others and none his age.
Go with what you love.

Yankathebear · 20/07/2020 09:57

Both my ds have really popular names (Jack and Ben) and they are both the only ones of those names in their year groups.
Dd has a more unusual name (so we thought!) and has two others in her year group.

Go with the name that you love. It’s really pretty btw!

Grufallosfriends · 20/07/2020 10:02

@Grufallosfriends so do you suggest we all start making up a name to ensure that no one has the same name?

No, I suggest choosing one of the thousands of beautiful names available. There are so many lovely normal names outside of the top 100 names!

mogtheexcellent · 20/07/2020 10:05

No Eves in DDs year at 60 intake primary.

Loads of Charlotte's though. I think some names are locally popular.

I would use it regardless.

Poppydaisies · 20/07/2020 10:06

In my friendship group we have 3 Clares and 4 Emmas. Yes, it can be confusing. I wish my parents had given me a less fashionable name.

I don't understand why some posters suggest that popularity doesn't matter. It may indeed matter to your child.

Poppydaisies · 20/07/2020 10:08

And the alternative to a popular name is not an obscure made up one Hmm. There is a happy middle ground of lovely names to choose from.

TweeterandtheMonkeyman · 20/07/2020 10:17

I would use it.
I have an extremely unusual name. As in I’ve never met anyone with the same name! I hated it at Secondary school - I just wanted to fit in. But I like it now.
All my women friends are called Sarah , so you can still date me even if my own name hasn’t dated 😂

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