How many Islas do you know?

[loulou2021]

I'm 37 weeks and Isla was a name for the baby suggested by my 5 year old DS. My husband loves it and I like it too but I'm concerned about it's popularity. I don't actually know any little Islas myself (and have lots of friends with babies and small children). How many babies called Isla do you know and how old are they?

I know 3:

One is 2 in July;
One is 18 months in July; and
One is around a year old (neighbours, not close friends, so don't know exact birth date).

Two of mine are in the NW (Sefton).

1. She's about 3

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/articles/babynameswhereyoulivecouldshapewhatyoucallyourbaby/2018-09-21

You need to scroll down to 'Explore the top 100 girls’ names by area', and if you hover over the map it gives you the figures for your area

@MerryChristmasToYou this is incredibly helpful - thank you!! Thanks also to everyone for responding

I'm in the south west and I know 4 under 5.

2, one is 5, the other is 8.

One who is 11

You are welcome @loulou2021. Bear in mind that the figures on the map is only in one year.

The figures on the map may look low but overall the name is very popular, which might be an issue. I'd check how it sounds with the surname, and if it is a common surname go for a strong middle name (not May, Grace, Rose or Skye)

I'd avoid it if your surname is White.

I worked in Early Years and about 5 years ago we had three all join at once, so three out of about 15-20 children of similar ages as we took 2 to school age. No idea how popular it is now.

Two. Both about 5 years. One local, the other the other side of the world( Australia). Beautiful name.

I’m in the NW too OP, it’s very popular. Every second person my niece talks about seems to be called Isla. There are also a lot of Bellas and Ellas.

I know 3 in the midlands, age 45, 10 and 5.

NE, know 2.
Ones 8 and the others 3

Very popular with friends of my age (as in their children). I know 7 under 5, but they are spread across the country. It doesn’t matter if it’s popular though, as long as you like it! It’s popular for a reason!!

There's 2 in my sons class

1. I'm in South Wales and one is my DD's friend (teenager) and the other is my friends Dd age 5.

There are 4 Isla's in my sons reception class!

It is very popular here in SW

Heaps of them at my DC's primary (Yorkshire)

It's a lovely name though so go for it if you really like it.

Two in dd’s class so both 7/8. Known as Isla Surname and Isla Hairstyle!

2, my own and one of my Cubs.

My own daughter has never been in a class or club with another Isla. Thats over 5 schools and numerous youth groups, sport clubs, swimming classes etc. At her first two schools she was the only one in the whole school. Shes now 10. The other Isla joined the Cubs as she moved up to Scouts.

Its popular, but its still less than 1% of babies.

I know four: someone in her mid-fifties, an eight year old, a four year old (who is Isla-Rose) and a toddler I don't know the exact age of. But unless you know everyone I know, that's not really relevant to you. 2791 Islas were born in 2020, which was 0.92% of girls born.

Isla is popular enough that there will always be Islas around. Fewer babies are named the most popular names now than were a generation ago so the three Sarahs in a classroom effect is likely to be lesser nowadays. Just under one in every hundred girls was an Isla in 2020, to theoretically less than one per classroom, though name trends aren't evenly distributed. As Isla has been in the top hundred for sixteen years now, when she goes to work, she will also probably be around several Islas there too. Whether that bothers you (and her) or not is very personal. Personally I didn't like having a popular name so will choose less popular names for my children. But some people don't mind or like having a popular name.

I know/have known a fair few but I'm a teacher so it doesn't mean it's really popular just not unpopular! It's a nice name and a "good girl" name

Two. Both between 7-10 years old.