Name popularity

[toastofthetown]

Inspired by the 2020 ONS release. Oliver and Olivia were the most popular names for the fifth consecutive year, but that doesn’t tell the whole story at the top of the charts. Increasingly parents are moving away from the most popular names. The number of babies called the Top 100 names has dropped 7% for each sex since 2019. Since 1996 it's a 39% drop in babies given names in the Top 100.

Looking at the Top 10 there was a decrease in 8.5% for boys given these names compared with 2019 and almost a 10% drop for girls in the same time. Rosie entered the top ten, but there was actually one fewer Rosie born in 2020 than 2019.

Would you avoid a name just because it’s popular? What would you consider too popular to use, or does name popularity not affect you at all?

I try avoid top 50 names. Also it wouldn’t bother me if a name I chose later became popular as even if it later became dated and stuck to a period in time your child would still be seen as belonging to a group younger than them and so not old fashioned for them.

I’m in my 30s and my name was top 5 when I was born but the year after drastically fell and continued to do so. A few years later it was out of the charts. It’d been popular for about two decades. So the typical woman with the name is seen as in their 40s.

I've always wanted to use Sophia. It wasn't that popular years ago but now it's so popular I couldn't possibly use it. I chose a less popular name and I love it.

We have a boy due in a few months and I'm stumped for names. We haven't even started a list because there's none we like.

@urbanbuddha

I saw the names today and was struck by the fact that I don't know anyone under the age of 8 called any of them.

The top 10 girls’ names in 2020 were:

Olivia
Amelia
Isla
Ava
Mia
Ivy
Lily
Isabella
Rosie
Sophia
The top 10 boys’ names in 2020 were:

Oliver
George
Arthur
Noah
Muhammad
Leo
Oscar
Harry
Archie
Jack

I don't know many under 8s, DDs are in Y5 and Y7, but I know girls with each of those names, for example 3 Mia's, 4 Amelia's, 2 Ivy's, 2 Rosie's, 3 Olivia's, one of whom is under 8 and 2 of which have sisters called Amelia. So although they don't seem as popular as some of the madness when I grew up, for example there were 8-10 Catherine's in my year at school and where I live, there are lots of woman called Kate, Katie or other variants of it, there are still probably a couple in each school year.

In the boys list I know all of them except for Jack and Harry, but the only ones who I know more than 1 of are Muhammed and Oscar. (Not counting grown up Olly's of which I know several).

*madness should say names!!

Whereas for boys the equilvalent feels somehow a bit dated: Julian, Cecil, Claude, Anthony

Personally I don't at all find those names dated. I find them refreshing sounding - classic but not overused.

Similar names would be Raphael, Christopher, Quentin, Marcus etc

There are hundreds of lovely names outside the top 500 for both boys and girls imo.

Interesting!

I wasn't too bothered about whether a name was very popular (Sophie was on our shortlist) but having said that i think one of the things that unconsciously pushed us towards the name we did chose was having never met another person (adult or child) with that name. So she was a brand new person with a brand new (to us at least) name.

There is a lurcher round the corner with her name but somehow that doesn't count 😂

*did choose

My DS’s name was always my top choice of boy’s name - he’s named after a character from a favourite book when I was a child. The name hovered towards the bottom of the top 100 and Sod’s law, suddenly became wildly popular the year he was born, and has increased in popularity every year since. There were 4 at his nursery, although not all using the same shortening, however there’s only one other in his school. Even the most popular name doesn’t really apply to that many children.

I have sort of changed my mind on this.

The problem is that you cannot gauge how popular a name will become.

I purposely chose an "uncommon but not unusual name" for DD1 (it is number 300ish). For DD2 I scoured literally thousands of names. We eventually settled on one that was a lot more popular but not a top 10 name. Then it shot to being a top 10 name.

I have made peace with this on the basis that it was the only name I actually liked and even though it is top 10 it doesn't actually mean it is as popular as it might have been in previous years, because of the proliferation of a wider choice of names.

Now I read threads like this and think avoiding a name only because it is popular (if you otherwise really like the name) is quite snobby!

The only issue I see is that certain popular names will likely become dated (but not all - really just ones that are having a "moment" e.g. some of the more timeless top 20 names were popular 30 years ago too...)

My name was constantly in the top 10 throughout the whole of the 1970s when growing up. I was the only one in my secondary school which had over 1100 pupils. In my workplace I am only 1 of 2!
I think it depends where you live.

As the OP points out, a far smaller percentage of babies born now are given a top 10 name than they would have been 30 or 40 years ago so using a top 10 name doesn't necessarily mean your children will be known as Oliver B or Olivia S throughout life

When I was at school in the 80s there were multiple Sarahs in every class at school (there were 3 in my primary class of 30 so 10% of the year!), most classes also had a Nicola, Joanne and Helen too. You do get multiples in a class now but you wouldn't find the same name replicated in every single class.

90% of boys were one of Dave, Andy, Steve, Chris, Robert, Richard, James/Jamie, John/Johnny, Paul, Mike, Nick

I'm definitely concerned with popularity, whether it makes me snobby or not! My own name was very uncommon for my age group where I grew up in Canada, and I loved it. Only to move to the UK as an adult where we're a dime a dozen. It did rather take the shine off a bit. 😆

That said, I'm not sure whether popularity would actually keep me from using a name I otherwise loved. I've not been in that position as, like someone upthread, I don't tend to gravitate to the currently popular sounds. For girls especially, I dislike longer, liquid, soft vowel-heavy names and tend to love clunky consonants, plosives, Scandi and Germanic influences. I think those names are starting to become trendy, so perhaps in 20 years I'll love the top ten names!

I named my daughter (7mo) something I've always loved in the 800s. I had others on my list ranging from just inside the top 100 to the 200-400 sweet spot, and some outliers in the 2000s. I just picked the one I liked best.

In general I'd prefer to steer clear of anything top 100 or likely to go that way (you can't always tell but if something is 100-200 on the charts and the graphs indicate a sudden upswing, I'd avoid).

I don't think wanting to avoid popular names is snobby. I don't really see how that would be the case.

In most situations I think it's possible to avoid choosing a name when it's less popular and seeing it become a top ten name in five years. Name trends move pretty slowly on the whole. It's unheard of of for a name to be ranked 400 one year and 8th the next. That happens after years of a name rising and rising. Anyone concerned with that should check out the Dark Greener website. I'd avoid anything which is shooting upward. For example Vinnie is currently out of the top hundred but it's rising very sharply upward. The problem with an upward trajectory is that you don't know where it will stop until it's already peaked.

Another note on name popularity I find interesting is when a name becomes popular people will lament that that they've loved the name for years and now everyone else is using it. Almost no-one sees themselves as part of the trend that made the name popular - that they grew up in the same culture and were exposed to the same trends and media that influenced their tastes in the same way.

I’m of the ‘choose a name you like, or has meaning to you’ school of thought. I’m not sure uniqueness matters. I was one of 7 with the same first name in my year at school and it’s honestly never bothered me. Interestingly of course my Mum always said that when she gave me that name she’d never heard of another one!

It does help that in my lifetime I’ve only met 2 people who share my slightly odd surname…

Due first baby in about 6 weeks and planning to name him after my Dad who died a few years ago. It’s a fairly timeless name that although dropping in popularity remains steadfastly in the top 20. Can have a whole other debate about lumbering children with family names and expectations but I like the idea that something will link my little boy to the Grandad he never met.

I'm of the pick a name you like, and that you liked years ago, and you will still like in 10, 20, 30, 50 years' time

We chose a name that wouldn't be very common although it appears to be growing with popularity. I have never met one!

I will do the same with my next baby.

I grew up with a very unusual name but now it's pretty common amongst 5-8 yr olds

Do you think being bothered about name popularity is more of a female thing? I know there will be exceptions. I do know 2 men who wanted unusual names for their kids but the vast majority wanted a normal popular name. I mean 99% of the posters on this forum will be women (and yes I know that this forum is "mumsnet" so probably not the best example to use). The huge majority of youtube viewers for baby name videos are women.

There are far more Olivers than Olivia's (though each are the number 1 name). Boys are much more likely than girls to be given a top 100 name if you look at the official figures.

My partner says he's never bothered to think if he likes his name or not (it's a top 5 name from the 1980s when he was born). He is glad it was nothing outside the top 50 as he'd have found that embarrassing as he just wants to fit in. He said he is just happy to have a normal name and I'm imagining he's not alone given the total lack of interest most (not all) men have about names.

I don't think wanting to avoid a popular/widely used name is snobby.

A name's main purpose is to identify. Much easier if your name isn't shared with lots of others. Especially important if you have a common surname. I actually know two people called Steve Smith, Sarah Smith and Harry Jones!

Why would it be snobby to try to avoid this for your children??

I have a popular name (it’s not Ruby btw!) and it’s never bothered me in the slightest, in fact when I was little I used to delight in finding my name on things and I would love it when my name topped the charts as I had the ‘best liked name’.

I’ve often been in situations where there has been two of us in a class/workplace but we just laugh when we answer together. I’ve been Name X (letter of surname), ‘blonde’ Name, even ‘big’ name (as I was taller!) - never an issue. And if I turn round if someone calls my name on the street and I realise it’s not me they were after, I’m certainly not scarred for life .

You could choose the most unusual name for your child and find it shoots up in popularity, there is no controlling it.

Use a name you like and that is special to you.

I have an unusual first name/surname combo and actually dislike being the only one of "me" in the digital age, I have changed my name online to avoid being so identifiable as anything related to me can be found with one quick search.

I think chart popularity and regional popularity are very different too.

I've worked with children for 20 years, have DC in primary/secondary schools and gone to local baby groups etc in that time and have met a handful of Olivia's/Oliver's/Amelia's/Jack'sEve's over the years but I know lots of Isla's, Brodie's, Skye's, Esme's and Matthew's.

@Doublethecuddles yes, I know of a couple of people who have recently officially changed their names to more common ones so they can't be found online. They found having a rare name really hard as they work in certain fields where you don't want people to be able to find out information about you. Interesting.

@Blubells

I don't think wanting to avoid a popular/widely used name is snobby.

A name's main purpose is to identify. Much easier if your name isn't shared with lots of others. Especially important if you have a common surname. I actually know two people called Steve Smith, Sarah Smith and Harry Jones!

Why would it be snobby to try to avoid this for your children??

I know 4 Sarah Smiths

No guarantee that unusual stays that way. When dd was born her name was three hundredth and something. It's now not far off the top 50!

It’s clear from MN threads that people tend to fixate on the number of Olivers in one class and not consider the cumulative effect over time. A Jack born in 2021 might not encounter many namesakes through his schooling but there will be many when he enters the workplace.

I avoided very popular names partly because DH and I both teach and most of them are ruined for us. I do think that if you have a very common middle name and are considering a very popular name it is wise to give a middle name, or possibly even two. There are some professional fields, eg academia, where it is really important to have a reasonably distinctive name.

I have an unusual first name/surname combo and actually dislike being the only one of "me" in the digital age, I have changed my name online to avoid being so identifiable as anything related to me can be found with one quick search.

That's a good point.