Is Ava too popular?

[cakepopsandcoffee]

I’m really liking the name Ava for my baby girl. I’m wondering if it is too popular, as I hear it a lot and it has been one of the top baby girl names for a while. Big sister is Lily Kate, and we are going with the middle name Mai for this baby. I’ve also thought of Amelia as it also goes well with Lily but it may also be too popular/boring. Just how popular is Ava? Is it more popular than ever now? I don’t want my daughter to be one of 5 other girls in her class with the same name. Should we go with something more unusual this time round?

Mai is a valid name and pronounced differently to May and Mae. It's pronounced like My.

I think choose the name you love regardless of popularity. Popular names are popular because people like them. If you choose a less popular name there's no guarantee there won't be more than one in a class. It's not much more popular than Lily. Even the top names aren't given to a high percentage of babies.

Everyone convinced me Ava was far too popular. Baby is now 10 months old and I haven’t met a single one across a whole load of prenatal classes, baby classes, mum meets, etc. Not one 🤷‍♀️

@TakeYourFinalPosition , it has been in the top 10 for a decade, so there will be lots of them, and it also is similar to Evie, Eva and Ivy.

Names are popular because they fit in with what is currently popular, and names that seem to be loved by many do fall out of fashion. I can remember when Rebecca was hugely popular, but it's fallen out of the top 200 now.

Popular names are popular because people like them.

People love them at a point in time. They become fashionable and all parents suddenly 'love' them.

However, like anything fashionable, they eventually fall out of fashion and become 'old fashioned' or dated!

Ava Mai is going to date really fast like Sharon and Tracey, way too popular in society.

Choose names that are classic and not too maimstream:
Iona
Anna
Clara
Erica
Violet
Heather
Cassia
Camelia
Rosa/Rosalind/ Rosanna
Delphine
Dahlia
Jasmine
Azalea
Zinnia
Veronica
All of these names apart from the first 3 are floral names so they're known, quite classic but not massively common like Ava.

I know a few Ava mays. It’s really popular. Eva is nicer and less popular I think

Ava and Lily are both in UK top 10 baby names and Ava is in the US top 10 as well.

I think it depends on what region you’re from with how many babies you will actually meet with the same name. You could check UK name statistics by region.

But if you like the name then go for it :)

Lily and Ava are both popular so if you like it you should use it.

I guess Lily has always been popular whereas Ava is having a moment so it stands out more as a trending/overused name.

I know two baby Ava’s and two baby Lily’s. Both named in the past few years.

Nice enough name but its popularity means it's lost that aura of old school Hollywood glamour that it used to have.

We’re drowning in Ava’s around here. So dull and overused it’s no longer pretty just meh

Ava May is the Emma Louise of this decade.

I don't think names become old fashioned, they just put an age on the person when they get older.
Don't get the obsession with unique, unusual names, the need for it is maybe time specific and aging too, as I doubt my parents where that bothered about my name being unique, they just picked a nice name that they liked. Just go for what you like.

I don't think names become old fashioned

Sharon, Barbara, Ethel, Maureen are not old fashioned?!

I love Ava but really dislike May / Mai

There's more diversity in names so it's more unlikely there will be multiples in the same class. It also depends on area. If you really love it then it's up to you whether having a name in the top 10 bothers you.

Ava and Lily work together well imo - both short, pretty sounding names which have had a popularity surge over the last 20 or so years. So neither are timeless and may date slightly, but that didn't worry you for Lily so I'm not sure it would matter for Ava? Amelia has also had a similar popularity surge so it would be the same situation.

Equally both are very popular - if you add together both spellings of Lily (Lily and Lilly) it actually beats Ava. But again, does this matter? Most of the more popular names are used by fewer parents each year so there's a very good chance there wont be more than one of a name in a class, unlike in our own schooldays or especially in our parents/grandparents day (although obviously they will likely meet other Lily's and Ava's in larger schools/at groups).

Agree about the May/Mai/Mae thing ,it's so generic as a middle name, where as your previous choice of Kate is a bit more uncommon - although May as a first name would be much more unusual and a lovely sibset with Lily (as both Lily and May are flower names, just May is a bit more obscure).