REALLY popular name with REALLY unusual siblings?

[CouldWeStartAgainPlease]

I'm due baby 3 this week and DH and I have struggled a bit with names.

DC 1 and 2 have very unusual names, DC1 was the only one born that year and DC2 was one of 2 born that year. They are not ooneek spellings or made up or anything just quite ancient underused names that we happened to like.

For baby 3 we have some names in the mix but probably the frontrunner is incredibly popular. Like top 10 for the past 5 years popular.

The 'sibset' would be something along the lines of, say... Lysander, Ottilie, and Jack. Not those names but that kind of unusual 1&2 and very commonplace 3.

I know popularity doesn't really matter if it's a nice name but it just feels a bit weird. Surname is very, very common surname as well (ie Brown, Jones, Smith type name)

PS also looking for inspiration so feel free to post your favourite names (we don't know the sex)

We have this with 2dc. Dc1 is consistently top 20 (although don't actually come across that many - far more Arlos, Dylans etc) and dc 2 is very much bottom of the rankings. I think it's fine.

Weirdly I've seen another mum on social media who has almost the same named dc!

If the names are in a similar style then I don't think it would be noticable - I mean, Lysander, Ottilie and Jack does sound a bit funny together. Two long, elaborate names and then the short and plain Jack made me smile a bit and think "poor Jack".

But if the common name 'fit' with the siblings names better, I'd not have thought anything of it. Something like Arthur, which is extememly popular, I'd have thought atill works together - Lysander, Ottilie and Arthur.

I also know siblings Isaac, Jonah and Amos. Obviously Isaac is an awful lot more common that either Isaac or Jonah, but it isn't noticable as they're a similar classic, biblical style.

Although I don't normally think sibling names need to 'go', I do think that it would be a bit odd to have two names of a very similar style and one name that just is totally different, like Lysander, Ottilie and Jack. Ophelia, Genevieve and Sue. Henry, George and Tyler.

As a bystander, I honestly wouldn't given it a second thought. But if I did think about it I'd think it was nice mix of names as the third name being more popular suggests youve obviously picked 3 names you love rather than just picking names because they're unusual.

My top 10 names

Ezra
Kairo
Roman
Sawyer
Jacob
Demetrius
Matthias
Luca
Orion
Isaac

Sienna
Alaia
Amara
Thea
Athena
Ave (AH-vay)
Autumn
Maliyah
Mya
Linnea (Lyn-nay-AH)

Lysander, Ottilie and Jack sound fine to me. Maybe skewed by the fact that Ottilie is so trendy though. But both example names, while unusual (in Lysander’s case), sound very familiar.

Pollux, Mnemosyne and George sounds more jarring. But as long as they don’t rhyme, I don’t think sibling names matter too much. They’ll only be a set of a short time in their lives.

More importantly than the siblings mix matching, I'd be concerned about giving my child a super common first name combined with a super common surname!

How well do they go together otherwise? For example Edward is pretty popular, and Patrick and Alistair less so, but well known so if I knew 3 brothers named Patrick, Alistair and Edward that wouldn't register as they are all classic names with a similar feel.

If it's something like Hepzibah and Kerenhappuch with a new little brother called Harry or a new little sister called Isla then it's more noticeable as the unusual names are very unusual and less well known.

I've said before on here that I have a group of siblings in my family who all have very Welsh names, bar one - think Esyllt, Llŷr, Siôr, Gwawr and Malcolm. 'Malcolm' stands out and gets negative comments as a result.

So I would try and avoid anything that is very noticeably put of step with the existing DC's names.

Hepzibah, Kerenhappuch and Isla

My DD1 has a very unusual name and one that I would be surprised to come across ever, so had to give her sister a slightly more unusual name... that name is now becoming more popular, still out of the top 100, but have heard or a friend of a friend calling their child it.

I have 2 children with uncommon names and one with a more popular name. The popular name wasn’t even in the top 100 when I used it but it exploded. They don’t sound silly together I don’t think, but maybe it’s just because we are used to them.

As said above if they go together then it’s fine. I’ve got an extremely common name for dc1 then much less common for 2 snd 3 but they all sound fine together snd all names I love so 😱

I have this with my own DC but I don't think it matters if the names 'go together'. After all, you can't depend on names staying unusual because (in theory) it just takes one celeb to name their baby that and suddenly it's top 10 fodder. X

Would Wilfred go with your first 2?

Thanks so much for the feedback. I think it is fair to say that as long as it's a similar kind of style it should be ok. We do have a little list for each sex so once he or she arrives it might become more obvious which one will work best.

More importantly than the siblings mix matching, I'd be concerned about giving my child a super common first name combined with a super common surname

This does put us off a bit! Not only might there be 3 in the same class but could be the same first and second name combo... DH and I have the very common first name and surname thing and it is a bit annoying. We both work with people with the exact same combination of first and last name as us! I've chosen to keep my maiden name at work which makes life easier but DH and this other guy are constantly muddled up.

DH and I have the very common first name and surname thing and it is a bit annoying

I bet. Definitely worth remembering why we name a person (so they can easily be identified)!

@Blubells

More importantly than the siblings mix matching, I'd be concerned about giving my child a super common first name combined with a super common surname!

This

How do you find out if there was one or two born that year?

ONS only publishes names over 3 babies per year.

My DD was a name less than 3 but we don't know if she is a 1 or a 2.

@Pumpkinstace in Scotland they publish all names given, even to just one child. So my OP should have said just one/two in Scotland, I've never actually checked the stats for the other parts of the UK!

Choose names you love but I wouldn’t want a name that every other child has too.

DD1 has a name that I thought was really unusual. I’d never met anyone else with it and only read it in books. I now know of several people with the name. Still love it though.

DD2 has a quite well-known (in Ireland) Irish name but it’s quite unusual in my part of England. A lot of people have never heard of it but more than I thought have met someone with her name. It’s a beautiful name and I’m glad we chose it.

The name DH and I had chosen for a boy has become incredibly popular and that’s sort of putting me off if we were ever to have a boy in the future. I wouldn’t want him to be in a class with several others with his name or a variation of his name…

It might end up like the infamous mn triplets. Faith, Hope and Kevin.

I think Otis or Rex would be good names if you’re wanting something a bit less unusual but still a little bit ‘off piste’.

Though Ottilie and Otis wouldn’t work. Damn. Just realised.
Lysander, Ottilie, Rex/Jack/Theo… fine!
Ned or Ted, no!

How about Atticus?

I have a name that is incredibly rare and people comment on whenever I introduce myself. dsis has an more usual name although not as common as Sarah/Katie names for our generation

I hate to say it but I feel sorry for dsis. Imo I have a unique (and people always say how beautiful my name is when I tell them) name which makes people remember me and dsis has the less exciting name.

Howver my kids have an unusual and usual name so I've repeated it some how! They are in the same vibe though

Imo I have a unique (and people always say how beautiful my name is when I tell them) name which makes people remember me and dsis has the less exciting name.

I agree with you, and I certainly remember interesting unusual names much better than a top 10 name.