Is Arthur too popular now?

[Mybobowler]

Three years ago, Arthur was our favourite boy's name and the only one we could agree on. We had a girl, so obviously didn't use it.

We're now expecting a little boy at the end of the year. My partner still loves Arthur but I'm not sure. I don't have anything against popular or common names but Arthur seems to have gone from old fashioned and obscure to the top ten in just a few years, and I'm worried it'll age him (I have a very late 80s/early 90s name, and I hate that it's so dated!). I'm worried he'll be one of several little Arthurs at school, known only by his surname 😂

Would its popularity put you off, even if you otherwise liked it?

I like classic but slightly underused names - my favourites are Francis (Frank), Charles and Patrick. Suggestions welcome, I need to throw some more into the hat!

Too popular is entirely subjective. There are enough parents who choose top ten names to keep them popular. Some parents will only look at names outside of the top 50, others the top 500.

It’s worth noting with name popularity that parents are choosing from a wider pool of names now, and the most popular names are used on a smaller percentage of babies. So the five Sarahs in a class effect should be less of a concern these days.

Name trends are also highly localised. I don’t know what area you are in, but if you are in a diverse/city area you are less likely to run into lots into lots of little Arthurs than if you live in a more rural area where the boys names are George, Harry, William, Oliver, Freddie etc. You can look up name data per region, I don’t think that’s super helpful as pockets of popularity are often more local than that. Not sure if you have any friends with babies in your area, but might be worth asking how many Arthurs they know.

Arthur has been rising in popularity for some time through. If you look at the Dark Greener chart. If rising popularity is important to you, then maybe check out to see where names are trending at the moment. I think Arthur will date, but as it's a classic name, I think it will be more dated in the way Richard is dated rather than the name Darren is dated. And I think most names date to some extent anyway, unless you go for something perennially popular like James or Elizabeth.

Peter
Tristan
Laurence
Wilfred
Austin
Ellis
Christopher Kit

Alistair

Gary

For me, yes - too popular. Popular names are fine if they have always been popular - Charles, William, Edward, Thomas, George, James and Alexander for instance have never left the top 100, so imo it is unlikely they will ever feel dated even if they reach top 10.

But Arthur is part of the retro/vintage trend and has increased in popularity quite rapidly (see Albert, Stanley etc, although not as popular as Arthur). Statistically most Arthurs will either be elderly (60 plus) or young (teens or younger).

Short answer - classic name (King Arthur etc) but not a timeless one in terms of being able to roughly guess his age. I'd go for classic Charles myself (as it has the choice of both Charlie and Cal if he wants) - Francis could get trendy retro nn Frankie (although Frank is rising too), and Patrick has the horrible (imo) potential nn Pat.

Agree with others that too popular is subjective. My MIL has advised me to pick a name from the top 10 'so they won't stand out or be bullied'. She was quite surprised by the names actually in the top 10 now, like Freya and Noah, which she considered very unusual when some of our friends used those names.

Some consider anything outside the top 20/30/50 'unusual', others would only class a name as unusual if it was outside the top 100/500/1000. A wider range of names are used now so there will be fewer Oliver's and Olivia's born in 2021 than there were Sarah's and Christopher's born in 1983.

If you really like Arthur, go for it, it's lovely. Patrick and Francis are lovely too. So is Charles but Charlie is also top 10, like Arthur. You might also like Peter, Laurence and Nicholas if you like an underused classic?

Arthur isn't overused in our area, in my opinion it's a lovely name. I'd avoid Charles unless you'd be ok with Charlie which is very common.
Patrick is nice, may change to nickname Pat or Rick/Ricky.
I'd make sure whichever name you pick that you're ok with the nicknames associated with it.
My parents picked a long name and I go by one of the short versions (think Elizabeth but always known as Beth) and they dislike it. I've always wondered why they didn't consider the possibilities.

Totally agree that "too popular" is subjective! And it hadn't occurred to me that there is a greater choice of names now. When I was at school, every other boy was James or Tom - I imagine there'll be much more diversity now?!

I think I'm just worried about Arthur being a bit faddy. The dark greener site (which I've had so much fun playing with, thanks @toastofthetown!) shows our daughter's name is in the mid-500s, so her name isn't at all common, despite it being a very similar vibe to Arthur.

Arthur does seem really popular where we are in the South West. Along with Edward/Ted variants, there'll be at least one in most toddler/baby groups and two at my daughter's nursery.

Tbh, I think that's enough to put me off. I like perennially popular names like George, Thomas and Harry, but like @IamnotwhouthinkIam I don't think Arthur is in the same category.

Patrick is my favourite, ticks both the classic and underused boxes. I'm not totally against Pat as a nickname but prefer Patch or Paddy. Just not sure if my partner and I will ever find a name we both like equally!

I have a 5 year old Arthur. Hadn’t heard of any other children with the name when we chose it (not that we chose it because of that). He is the only one in his school but I know there are a couple at my others sons nursery. Having a popular name doesn’t bother me really, we chose it because we loved it and it really suited him. I had a very popular name in the 80s and hated it but that was because it was quite a boring unimaginative name. People might disagree with me but I don’t get that vibe from Arthur.
The problem with names is you could have a really unique name and still end up with another one in your class. Or you could be the only Oliver in your school. Choose a name you love.

Personally, I think so. However, it's a lovely name, I can see why lots of parents choose it.

I think it's going to be very of its time, and I'm not a big fan of it in and of itself. Frank and Charles are both lovely.

We do really love the Arthur (and it sounds great with our surname), but I'm putting myself off it!

Back to the drawing board. Francis is back on top again, and I think Frankie for a little boy is very sweet. We've talked ourselves out of Charles (two close friends are Charles/Charlie and it feels a bit weird).

Open to more suggestions! Of those suggested by PP, I like Alastair and Laurence/Laurie.

...Naming children is so hard! He's got to live with this decision for his whole life, and my preferences can change within minutes. Poor lad. Baby Boy is starting to sound like a fine option.

I know four Arthur’s under one and both my midwife and my sister’s midwife (we’re 300 miles apart) said that they had so many Arthur’s and Florence’s last year.

I love Patrick and if you introduce him as Paddy then it should stick.

If you love it go for it. Does it really matter if at some point in the future people may or may not assume he was born in the 2020s because of his name? Surely once they meet him they'll work out roughly how old he is anyway

I love Jeremy so i suggest that! Hope you find something you love.

I'm biased on this name 😂

But mine is 7 and well ahead of "the trend" he's the only one on his school group/peer groups.

But then he will become an adult and the "popularity" of it will fade when he's in a big company or a Dr a police officer.

As adults do we genuinely ever meet another person and thing "god your name is popular?"

Remover you are an adult a lot longer than you are in school.

I love Arthur but yes there are a lot of them.

Of your other options I’d personally go for Patrick as while not out of fashion it’s very unusual right now. The grown up British Patricks I know use their full name, but I like Patch and Paddy also, Pat would be an unusual nn for a British Patrick.

Kester (Scottish form of Christopher), John, Robert, Josiah, Jethro, Jerome, Saul, Silas, Seth, Jonas - or for a more Victorian feel Gideon, Digory, Bartholomew (Bart!) might all be options. I like Alistair also and quite like Laurence.

Becoming very popular in the north west where I live....I put it down to Arthur Shelby in Peaky Blinders!

Patrick is lovely, I know 3 - one in his 50s, one in his 30s and one who is about 10.

The eldest Patrick goes by Paddy but the other two go by Patrick.

The only person I have ever met who goes by Pat is a Patricia in her 90s.

I agree there are a LOT of arthurs around- only surpassed in my experience by the Edwards!

Patrick is on my list, also in a similar vein Peter, Nicholas (Nicky is such a cute nn and Nick v cool when older), John, Paul, Simon.

Also like pps suggestion of Laurence. i know some lovely Laurences who use their full names.

Yeah way too popular!
Still love it but I hate that my one year old has a really common name now. It was always my fave too but having had girls never got used.