Help me avoid a common name!!

[rusmum]

Hello. I named my daughter Ruby Mae 4 years ago, when this name was still quite unusual, However it is now No2 on 'the list'. I hate this fact!!!!! I want to aviod this with number 2 due in July. I fancy Oskar but fear this may go the same way (Eastenders!!).and nave no girl ideas at all. Any ideas for unusual but not wierd names!!

You can't avoid a common name. My Mum thought she was with Nicola, but so did everyone else. Daniel wasn't common when ds was born, which is why ds and 2 of his friends are now called that!
Oscar is lovely, but not with a 'k' in my opinion - he will constantly have to say "with a k" when he is asked for his name and his birthday cards will always be spelt incorrectly.

Hadn't thought of that. Thanks.

Call it Sludgebottom, nobody else will be called that

How about something like Christopher? I fine, strong name that isn't overly common?

I have a book called cool names for babies which has lots of uncommon names for both boys and girls. its really good and splits names into old, famous, creativeand mainstream. its worth a look for a fiver!! We used it with DS as we struggled to agree on names and I wanted something a bit different.

Oscar is a lovely name (when spelled correctly) and as far as I know it's never had a real 'popular' phase.... I think it might be a safe choice even despite eastenders.

I'd say go for that.....

The cool names for babies is a good idea
I really like old fashioned names for a girl.
Olive
Kitty
if I had had a girl I would have called her Percy.

Boys names that you can't shorten are good Oscar
Felix
Stirling.

If you go to the national statistics web site you can get the last 5 years most popular boys and girls names and avoid them. I won't name my LO's with any of those names. (currently pg with no.2)

My RL name is very very common (and has been for years!) and I didn't want to inflict a common name on my small people.

Oy ye bitches

My DS (2.2) is Oskar, with a K.

For various reasons, but mainly because it looks nicer alongside his surname, which he will ALWAYS have to spell anyway.

My DP was mortified when he heard the eastenders baby was called Oscar, it is true it has a ripple effect. I guess we'll just have to live with our common baby.

A few thoughts :
We've plenty of Oscars around here.
Any name mentioned on MN is bound to become more commonplace, so if you really like a name, don't shout it around... people might not consciously copy, but it gets into their brain. Of course, once the child starts walking, you can't but shout it around..which is another good test, how does it sound YELLED?
If you choose something really unusual, you might consider how it can be shortened or normalised if they want to be ordinary later on.
Several of the names I considered for DS have since become very popular, I hate the fact that my name was very popular when I was young - 4 out of 90 girls in my school year had the same name.

It seems that the only way to ensure your child has a unique name is to call it something "normal" like John or Sarah or Denise rather than something deliberately "strange".

Something like Erin or Fiona for a girl is nice and whilst it is not very strange, it is not really common either. I prefer to go for a middly, nice sounding name that no-one would find hard to read or pronounce. That is surely better than a 'apple' or 'coco' name! (I have Evan and Holly and next one will perhaps be Flynn, or Lola/sasha).

For a boy how about something with a meaning you like rather than aiming for it to be less common. Go on baby names websites and have a search through.

Doris is a safe bet.

My DD (born Jan 07) is called Erin, because we thought it was a bit different but not bonkers. Since she was born though i've noticed half a dozen Erins in the local papers birth announcements.....We really liked Finn for a boy, similar reasons.

girls:
sasha?
aria?
leni?
mollin (mollyn?)

oscar is lovely!
other boy names i fancy are:
lucacs
jaxson
caleb

You always could be completely retro and go for John or Jane, your lo will probably be the only one in the class!

We had the same when ds born 6 years ago with Harry. We have just called dd martha all midwives have commented how they don't hear that name !

now is the time to read all the trashy mags/watch soaps - get genned up on popular names.Most popular names england&Wales 2007scroll to page 3 for top 50 list

Ds1 is Oscar and we love his name.Not many around here just yet,but I'm sure if there's an Eastender's baby with the same name,it won't be long.
Also love Felix,Elijah,and Tobias for a boy.

I predict Martha will be very popular in a few years - Dr. Who's last assistant was called Martha.

I often speak to women on the phone who have the same name as I do . Go with what you like, I was mortified when I heard 3 other women in my ante-natal class were considering the name I'd earmarked for dd since I wanted it to be her name iyswim but there is only one other girl in her year at school with her name and none at ballet/Brownies. I expect she'll encounter gluts of Phoebes later on though .

[pedant alert] HG, Oskar with a k is not an incorrect spelling; it's the normal spelling in Germany and elswhere in Europe! Though to be fair, I'd probably stick with the C in the U.K.

If you're worried about the upward trend of a particular name you can look at it over a few years on the gov't website. That should give you a good idea of whether it's going up, down, or staying about the same in terms of popularity. I did this (doing a lot to counteract my nerd image here) and that's how dd is the only one registered in Scotland in her birth year [irrationally proud] (It is a real name, too!)

Look at most popular names in scotland 2007

I know 2 little Marthas, both of whose mummies thought the name was very unusual.

I remember back when Jordan or Olivia actually were very unusual names...

Every where I go there is another woman about my age with the same name as me...

Lets face it if a pregant lady hears a name and thinks 'oh thats a nice unusual name' then so does every other pregnant lady who ever meets that child/its mother/grandmother etc etc

it doesn't really matter, we gave dd1 and dd2 quite unusual names and now people delight in telling us how many other X's and Y's they have heard of. a week after dd2 was born my dh was shown into a building by a 6.4 afro carribean security guard with the same name!! Just chose a name you like.

a friend of mine called her daughter (rather radically) Helen

I don't know any other Helens and it is the name which allegedly launched a thousand ships...