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!!

Cantsleepwontsleep, according to the bounty popularity lists for 2007 your 'unusual' names are:

Philippa (Pippa/Phil) no 1317
Tabitha no 469
Cadence no 1412
Verity no 684
Georgina (Georgie) no 257
Antoinette no 12029
Gabriella (Gabi or Ella) no 234

so a few of these aren't unusual at all (and their lists combine boys and girls, so they are even more popular than they appear )

ivykaty your Eunice wasn't a Marris was she by any chance?

I have a Xanthe. People occasionally think she's called Zante after the island but it doesn't bother me. There are worse things than Greek Islands to be mistaken for.

I think it depends where you live.

All 3 of my DDs names have been in the top ten apparently - but DD1 is the only one in her whole year with that name (and there's only one other in the school).

I only know one other girl locally with DD2s name, and none with DD3s name!

But we are overrun with Jack, Chloe, Keira, Rhys/Reece, and assorted 'made up' names.

My friend went against the grain with fairly old fashioned names - Michael and Rosemary, which I think are lovely.

Lydia and Toby are my current top names but I fear Lydia is too like dd's name (Lucy) and no way will dh go for Toby (some relative of his once had a cat called Toby so another such ridiculous reason...)

Also like Kirsty v much and don't know any baby Kirstys.

(though don't know why I'm on a thread about not common names as my 2 have v common names and can't see us changing that with number 3!)

Ruby's a great name BTW and I don't know any round here!

I like for Girls
Athena (dd's name)
Callisto
Isabella
Nemesis
Sayumi
Eri
Takahashi
Hitomi
Yuko
Yuki

For Boys
Charon
Ares
Chiron
Archie
Achilles
Apollo
Jet (my DH's name)

Thank you all!! Lots to think on here!
Thinking Olive or Phoebe for girl, may stay with Oscar yet. I do love it so.

Why is it so hard to get it right!!! LOL!

nemesis? seriously? do you know what it means?

We names DD1 Sophie in 1989 when it was unusual. Look what happened!
DD2 is Jemima. Never come across another child called that. When people say 'Puddleduck?' I say 'No, Jemima was Thomas Hardy's mother's name' and feel really cultured. or 'No ,Jemima Khan' and feel like a typical Hello reader!

Nemesis is abit frightening. Are you aware it means goddess of vengeance?! If I were a teacher and saw I had a Nemesis in my class think I would run for the hills.

My dd1 is a Phoebe, and I still love that name even tho it is not uncommon. It is also my big sister's name. She is 36 (I think) and never met anyone remotely her age with that name.
I'm not telling my dd2's name, as I love it too much and I enjoy her being the only one I know (of her generation).

i never tell mine red!

i liked finnley and rueben for ds but they didnt go well with surname
always liked cameron but found out it means crooked nose
i always check meaning and origin etc..

i'm another one. keep dss names to myself.... they are so fab everyone looking for names would nick them......

Please tell me that Nemesis is a joke so that I can go to bed.

Or is she Hubris's little siser?

I know someone who was considering Epiphany for a girl

There's a Trinity in ds's class!

Trinity is lovely. I must admit when I hear the name Olive I conjure up and image of the one in Popeye. It probably won't be relevant for little kids, but it's such a strong image - I can even here Popeye saying it. 'Yuck yuck yuck!' (that was Popeye laughing)
Phoebe is a pretty name, is that not in the top 100?

I called my lil munchkin Tracy, every1 comments on how you never hear thatname used very often these days, when or if i have a lil boy he will be called Marcus its my partners name but not 1 uses much these days i dont think

If you want an unusual name - my mum is called Jonquil! (It's a type of daffodil) It's shortened to Jon most of the time, but I like it and don't know anyone else with that name
My DD is Kirsty and there are no others in her school so think we did quite well with that one.

My sis used to nanny for an Epiphany (in the US!) - wondered if she'd be 'Fanny' at school.

I know a few Trinity's up north but tends to have connotations of hearing it yelled down the street in a fishwife style IYKWIM!

haven't read the whole thread but a word of warning re the "cool names for babies" book

ALL THREE of my kids names are in there

ds's name has crept to around no 40ish since he was born

dd1's name has shot up to nearly top 20.

dd2's name isn't on the top 100 but she was only born on monday

Now I don't care at ALL where my kids names are on the charts, and I actually didn't check them before they were born or anything.

What I think I am trying to say is that if you like a name enough to use it, you are quite possibly tapping into some sort of zeitgeist and so that name might well become popular in a year or two.

I know about 3 babies called Jonquil, for example...

my mum is called Alena and noone seems to have ever heard that name. My book said it is possibly short of Magdalena or derived from Helen.