Over- used baby names

[Luluuuuuuuuuu85]

Hi all, I'm interested in what the attitude to 'over used' names is. We've had a lot of discussions recently about what to call dd2 (dc3) and a name that is growing on me is Violet. To make things even more exciting, awkward dh is ok with it! However the theme about it is is that it's too popular/ over used. I don't want to call my baby a name that I know lots of other children called, just my personal preference. But how much attention do people pay to this idea of over use? I don't know any other Violets but I know it is not unusual. Does that bother most people or just on the internet?!

Violet is lovely.
What about Violetta?

I love Violet and know of only one preschooler with this name. Go for it. You can’t predict what names are going to shoot up the charts unfortunately. My own name was relatively uncommon when I was born and now there are millions!

In all honesty, as a teacher who comes across a higher than average number of children on a daily basis, I do get tired of constantly hearing the same narrow subset of similar sounding names when there are so many lovely and underused names in the world. DP and I deliberately picked a name that (to us) sounded fresher and was way down in the official ONS stats, without being too outlandish.

But for me Violet wouldn’t fall into the overused category. For me it’s more sounds or ‘types’ of names that end up feeling overused rather than the individual names themselves. So currently I find the ‘Short girl’s name starting with L’ trend to be very much overdone: Lily/Lucy/Lara/Lyra/Lila/Layla/Luna et al. Also the Ava/Ada/Eva/Evie/Evelyn trend and the ‘Longer, vowel-heavy, super feminine’ trend: Olivia/Amelia/Isabella/Jessica/Aurelia/Arabella/Ophelia/Ariana.

But Violet doesn’t fall into any of these categories and doesn’t have a group of similar sounding names that are also currently trendy, so I don’t think it risks sounding ‘faddy’ and dated in the same way. I’ve come across a couple of Violets at baby/toddler classes (London) but not many and have yet to come across a school-aged one.

I say go for it if you like it - it’s a pretty name.

@magicstars

Violet is a lovely name & I've not come across any.

I know at least 4...

Like it though!

I know 2, but know of way more Olivia/Isabel/Eve type names.

I know a few Violets ranging from baby to old lady but it's definitely not popular enough for me to think it's overdone or a problem

Beautiful name, not overused at all.

I'm a teacher and I've never taught one. Current school has 460 children in it and not a single violet.

If you like it use it

I'm also a teacher, and have two older kids so I think you are just more aware of what kids are called as a result! Don't think I analysed it like this with me older two, I would have had no idea what naming trends were then! I'm a bit out the loop as my older two are both at school and trends change quickly 😂

I have a 7 month old and have never met a Violet at any baby group. I love it

I know two Violets, one is nn Vile let truly awful 22 yo & the other a lovely 89 yo known as Vi.

I don't know any Violets but I do know a lot of girls with flower names. Iris, Lily, Something-Rose, so i do think it's part of a wider trend and not entirely timeless.

However my dd has a name that's super popular and has been for many years, there's another one in every one of my friendship groups and I have relatives with the same name. I love the name so much that I just don't care. Do you feel like that about Violet?

I only know of one Violet, at my kids' small primary school. Never come across another in any groups/ activities, though it is probably one of these names that is becoming popular and on an upward trajectory.

My daughter has one of the names always mentioned on popularity lists and has never had another in her class, including now at secondary school, or at any extracurricular groups she attends. On the other hand, when she was in reception there were 3 Rosie's in the class..... so it's very hard to predict!

I have a baby, toddler and primary aged dc. Don't know of any Violets in baby clubs, nursery or school! Ivy, Ella and Florence seem to crop up a lot round here - these are the ones I have noticed repeated a lot.

Violet is really nice. You just never know. In DDs class at school there are a bunch of girls ending in "ayah" like layah, tayah, alayah, amayah, it goes on! Never heard of one when she was a baby.

I don't think Violet is overused. I don't know anyone who has a daughter named Violet in my circle. Perhaps it's more popular in some areas. I do an older woman named Violet who is always called Vi. To me, "overused" would mean a top 10 name (or a former top 10 name), and I don't believe Violet has ever had that level of popularity.

I’m not a fan of Violet personally, but I can’t say I know of one.

I also work with children and hear the same names over again and also in the playground.

Evelyn/Evie/Eva/Ava/Amelia/Florence/Mia/Lexi/Isla/Ella/Olivia/Lily.

All with the obligatory Rose/Grace/May as middle names. Often hyphenated.

names.darkgreener.com/#violet

Violet isn’t overused and even if it does become popular it’s not the same as choosing one of the many similar sounding names popular for young kids now. @ISmellBurnings list is pretty accurate.

Someone mentioned Ruby which I’d say is a good example of a name which got very popular but as it’s starting to decline is becoming useable again without sounding too common. And it’s because it’s distinct. Whereas the Ella/Isabel/Olivia/Amelia/Evie type names are so similar sounding. You won’t have that issue with Violet. Plus it’s lovely.

Violet is a beautiful name. It's my DD's middle name. I've not met a Violet yet.

Violet is a lovely name and while it’s not unusual, it’s certainly not the most common.

Violet is nice stop worrying what anyone thinks or how over used it may or may not be. It u love it and your husband does too then this is all that matters

I believe in using names you love, regardless of popularity. There is absolutely no guarantee that if you use something not as popular, that someone else won't have also come up with that same name.

When my husband and I named our twin sons, we went with names we loved, neither particular rare, but not popular either. One of them was name given to 89 boys in the year they were born, and yet there is another boy with the same name in his year at school. Which doesn't bother me at all. It just demonstrates what I said, that you choose a name that isn't popular, and there still be another one in the class/year/school.

Go with what you love.

I think it's a lovely name. A friend's MIL is called Violet but I don't know any others and I have two small children so I come across a fair amount of little ones. Agree with others, it's the Eva, Evie, Ellie, Isla type names that are overdone here, and they all kind of blend together even if you only know one of each. Violet isn't in that category at all.

We gave DD2 a well known but little used name. We're in NI and it doesn't feature in the stats meaning there's never been three born here in a single year. Well, we've come across another little girl with this name in the park a couple of times now, there's every chance they'll end up in the same school. Can't win em all!