Naming: everything I choose is super popular

[Qwerty2000]

Reposting here as accidentally put in pregnancy thread: This is not a major problem but it is bugging me. This is my first pregnancy and every name I think I like, when I google it it appears in the top 5,10,20 of popular names in 2019.20,21 and even 22! For mums that have children already, is this an issue? Are there ten kids with your child's name in their class now, making you regret the choice? I remember there being a massive bunch of John, Sam, Helen, Jennifer and Louise in my school years. I made the mistake of running some names by my mum and the phrase 'too common' keeps coming up. (Although this is apparently not a problem for classic names like Thomas, Charles etc). Help

I'd just choose a name you love.
When I was at primary school there were 5 children with the same name as me in a class of 28. It never bothered any of us.
My dc went to a tiny primary school (less than 100 dc). 2 have top 10 names there was not another child with the same name as them in the whole school. Dc3 has a name ranked 58th the year she was born and had one in her year and two others within the school with the same name. So you never know what will happen hence me saying choose what you love.

It has always been thus, though. Look at the late Victorian names, eg it seems every second boy was named Alfred in the 1890s, then a virtual total embargo for about a century until it was revived and there were suddenly tons of little Alfies.

In my class at primary school, mixed so about 15 girls, there were I think 3 Traceys and 4 Sharons. I was the only girl with my name all through my schooldays but it became popular much later (quite disconcerting to hear it yelled in public when my little namesakes were less than optimal!) I know 'Dean' or 'Darren' will be within a couple of years of my age. Musing a bit on this, there is something comforting about being able to identify your own generation!

Rambling way of saying something being popular is not necessarily a bad thing

Both of mine have popular names although they weren’t as popular when we chose them and they’ve crept up!

There are 2 more in each of their years so not huge numbers.

What kind of names do you like? Then people will suggest slightly less popular alternatives.

Darkgreener is a useful site, you can see how names are rising and falling so predict how they’re going.

I agree with @SirChenjins go for the name you love for your baby. Why shouldn't they have the name you love?

“ All research shows children do better with more familiar common names. There are more Emma’s at Oxford and Cambridge than any other girls name. The modern obsession for choosing a different or outlandish name the research suggests results in more bullying, more negative assumptions my teachers and employers. So to be honest I wouldn’t worry.”

Well of course there are! It’s a popular name, probably more Emmas working at McDonald’s than any other girls name too!! I think your last point is untrue though.

Ds goes to a large primary school and there are no Oliver's in his year at all. But two girls in his class share the same unusual name that we haven't met another child with. So go with what you like and never mind if it is popular.

Go for a name you love.

A name might be very popular one year but not in your area.

If a name is very popular only for a short time, it might date your child. Not an issue when you are young but might be a Karen or Gary in a few decades (I llike both names BTW)

You could pick a name that seems fairly unusual and find that it becomes super-popular.

We briefly considered Chloe which was unusual when DD2 was born but now they are everywhere.

A friend has a Sophia now 28 and it seemed a bit try-hsrd.

A colleague has a 30-yr old Freya and it was pretty unusual then

Oliver has been #1 for ages and ages but I don't know any under 30.

Have a look at names.darkgreener.com to see how popular a name is. A steep rise in the graph means that even if the name seems fresh and unusual it could be a lot more popular than you think. e.g. names.darkgreener.com/#roman, names.darkgreener.com/#aurora

If the name had a surge but is on a sharp downward slope, it might be a name that is falling in popularity e.g names.darkgreener.com/#tyler
names.darkgreener.com/#jayden

I’m really mystified where @Frankiefarr has got her impressions but in the meantime I’ve found this study: thetab.com/2014/04/16/you-are-100-times-more-likely-to-get-into-oxford-if-your-name-is-eleanor-than-if-it-is-jade-13701 where frequency of names at Oxford is compared to their distribution in the wider population. It finds that people with names like Eleanor and Peter are far more likely to attend Oxford than people named Jade or Reece. Of course this has nothing to do with causation and everything to do with correlation. Naming your child Eleanor won’t make it more likely that she will get in. It just shows that people from the social groups most heavily represented at Oxford tend to choose names like Eleanor and Peter.

@Frankiefarr

All research shows children do better with more familiar common names. There are more Emma’s at Oxford and Cambridge than any other girls name. The modern obsession for choosing a different or outlandish name the research suggests results in more bullying, more negative assumptions my teachers and employers. So to be honest I wouldn’t worry.

But isn’t that because those names are more common in general? so obviously there will be more there?

Long story short as long as your names are not offensive or hysterical, then it’ll be ok. How much do you love saying it? That’s the question.

Also there are so many different types of names now.

Personally I know a few Leo’s, Harrys and Ellies (short for a range of things). Really doesn’t matter.

My child's name was outside the top 100 when I chose it. It's now in the top 20.

Things can change.

I know what you mean @Qwerty2000, I really like the names Freddie and Charlie for boys but they are both so well-used and I know they'd have to So&So First Initial all through school. And it won't just be school, it will be work as well.

I think there is a difference between having an uncommon name and an outlandish name too. My name is fairly uncommon in that I've rarely met another, I think I was one of 2 in my school and haven't met one at work - but it's not a rare name or odd at all. Same for my sister. But my class and year group at school were full of Lauras, Laurens, Sophies, Sarahs, Jennys...probably dating myself there 🤣

I know it doesn't make a massive difference and you can't predict the names that will be around them, but I'd prefer to avoid them being one of 3/4 in the class with the same name if possible.

I live in NZ we chose names outside the top 100 for our daughter's and they both still don't feature.
They have never been in a class with another.

I'm an ece teacher one year we had two girls ended up being bff with the same name Carys very unusual yet they encountered another so you can never really know.

I think it's more important to choose a name you love but if popularity is important check out the recent top name lists for your country.

OP have you checked the stats for your particular local area here (Figure 3 or 4)?:
www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/bulletins/babynamesenglandandwales/2020

You can also check how often a popular name was used in your area in last few years here (as obviously some school classes/clubs mix a few different years/ages together):
www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/bulletins/babynamesenglandandwales/previousReleases

All my list for my soon to arrive DS are top 50 timeless/classic names, but imo it isn't like the way it was years ago when the most popular names were very heavily used - all of my "commonplace" choices had only 3 or 4 boys named them last year where I live (much less than 1% of babies in my area). So imo my DS would still stand a good chance of being the only one in his class - although obviously there will likely be others with the same name in his senior school year/in the whole school or at sport/social clubs etc. Might be the same for your choices?

The only names that I think are mega popular are Olivia and Oliver. I have met, not kidding, 10 Olivias in the past year. We also consider it for our dd and I'm so glad we didn't use it since the popularity is overwhelming.

I don't get the obsession with having an unusual name. My dad's called Juan, all five of his friends are called Juan, they go with their first name and middle name to differentiate. And if there's more than one Juan Antonio they add tall or short to the mix!
I've worked with lots of boring people with unusual names over the years, including someone who was christened Sith

I grew up with a name that was in the top 20 at the time but especially common in my area, it seemed like my school was the epicentre of people with our name and I really didn't like it.
People were always mixing us up. Kids would compare us, like 'who's the prettiest A8888?'. As an adult I'm always A8888(last initial). Who wants to be Big (name) or Old (name)?

I once taught a year group when 10% of all the students had the same first name. In tried not to use initials (3 of them had the same) I just made sure I was looking at them when I spoke to them. I had the same name as a girl in my class at school. A very uncommon name but we ended up together. The downside was she was (is) a complete cow and we were always associated together.
When I had DD my friend said she liked the name we gave her but it was a bit too popular for her. She gave her DD a name no-one else would have...Isla in 2017!

I am the owner of an unpopular name. Not rare. Just unused and thus uncommon. I can’t tell you how much this pissed me off as a child when I’d go into a gift shop and they NEVER had my name on anything.

Honestly a child doesn’t mind a popular name. Doesn’t bother them at all. Both my children have names that were once unusual and are now top 20. I don’t mind. Makes me realise I have good taste and when we meet another child with the same name I always say how lucky they both are to be the recipient of such a fabulous name.

So my advice is forget trying to find unique and instead find a name you love. That you like the diminutive of and crack on.

Just use a name you love and don’t worry about popularity. My DD has a name that was top 10 for years and is still top 20. She was the only one in her nursery and is now the only one in her class (there is one other child in the school with the same name). Parents worry about this too much - there is very rarely a situation these days where you have four kids in one class with the same name.

It doesn't really matter if there are 4 in the class with the same name, does it. My name is very common and at one time there were 3 in my primary class but they just called us Hannah A, Hannah T and Hannah P - no big deal.

My daughter also has a common name - one of the ones always mentioned on here as "yet another X" or "at least its as common as X". She's in a school of 300 and she's the only one with that name in the school.

Actually I’ve just checked and DD’s name is top 30, not top 10, but the point still stands!

Why does it matter if it's popular? It's popular for a reason - because they're nice names!
If you like it, what's the real problem? There may be one or two others in their class with same/similar names? Is it really a problem? No. A name doesn't define the personality or the person.

It just shows that people from the social groups most heavily represented at Oxford tend to choose names like Eleanor and Peter.
100%

Ds has a top 10 name, he has never had another child same name through nursery, school, groups etc. I think there may be another at senior school but in a different year group