using a popular name

[Allthe7s]

myself and DW will be starting to TTC soon.

since being together we have had a boys name set, and we did have a girls name but in the 5 years we have been together it has climbed in popularity and now I'm having second thoughts.

My eldest DS has a super popular for his age name and looking back I wish I had chosen something else (although he is named after my grandfather I was gutted it was the most popular name for a few years around his birth)

would you still use a name that's very popular or do you prefer something a little different (or even something totally unusual!)

What is it?

It wouldn't put me off, if you like the name you like the name!

Depends.

Names like Sam, William and Tom, for example, don’t sound overused as they are fairly consistently popular. However, Leo, Teddy and Theo feel more overused as their popularity has spiked.

Emilie, is a beautiful name but amongst the Amelias, Emilys, Amelies etc, gets lost a bit.

Popularity alone wouldn’t put me off. Spiking popularity or a name that has many similar sounding names, would.

I wouldn’t use a name that was really popular although I do love classic names so I would add a middle name.

I've always minded how popular dd1s. Name became so yes it bothers me. I stayed well clear of top 100 when naming her siblings. Her name was low 100s when we named her now mid 20s. In contrast her siblings are 250s. 600s and 1400s.

Having said that I still think kts a beautiful name.

I always wanted to name DD what I named her. When pregnant, all the magazines said they were calling their dd the same and I watched it rising in the names list. I also have a really common name (spelt differently so not as bad but I longed for it to be spelt the normal way as a kid and fit in) and was one of 3/4 in my class so wanted to avoid that. DD is actually one of 2 in her year group and is also spelt differently but she loves it.

To sum up, go for it. If you love the name, why would you use anything else!

My ds has a name which has been in the top 50 for about 2000 years, lol. Very steady and lovely name, there's a good reason it's popular, but never trendy. No regrets and he's 21 now

Dds names wasn't in the top 50 when she was born but flew into the top 10 when she was about 5, hers is a different spelling but still not unusual. Not regrets, she's 18.

my names not that popular and even in school there were a few of us with the same name and this was 80s/90s
i dont get this obsession of trying to have some kind of unique name - being unique isnt going to happen unless you make something up and even then you wont be unique for long - a friend of mine made a name up, birth announcement went out, imagine her surprise a few years later when she met another child with the same name, a few days younger than her son, the mum say the name in the announcement thought oh i like that and went with it, so my friends son had a unique name for about 5 days, pick a name you like regardless of the popularity

I really don't like it, it feels like the parents have no imagination at all. I have quite an unusual name and have only met a couple of people with my name which is nice. I feel special having a unique name.

You can have a name that's not made up but not many people have. Almost all of my cousins have names that I've only ever known one or no other person to have. I think it's so much better than a boring "common" name

My DD has a top 10 name. She attended 5 primary schools and two nurseries... no one has shared her name. The first two primary had no one else with that name (about 100 pupils each) No one at Swimming or Cubs or other clubs. At Secondary school... still no classes with another one!

To contrast... her sister has a rare name and has shared it with two teachers.

How does your DS feel about his name?

If it is the name you always wanted then use it. Why should your child not have the name you love just because other people do. Why is your child not as deserving

DS1 has an unusual name, but it’s a real name. There are at least 2 famous people with his name. He gets called Josh and John a lot, neither of which are his name. You just have to raise your kids to not be uptight and politely correct people.

A family saw his peg at nursery and used his name for their new baby.

DS2 has a more common name but still gets called Kevin a lot (not much like his name really 😵‍💫). I didn’t foresee that one! There was another with his name in his nursery class, his name is number 158.

DD has a very well known name which is 116th. All the midwives said ‘wow we haven’t had a baby with that name for years!’ But I know of 2 others born the same month as her.

It’s just the way it goes!

Don’t do it unless you yourself would enjoy growing up feeling totally generic. I have an incredibly common name that was given to huge numbers of babies for about five years either side of my birth year, and there were no less than four of us in a class of 30 all through primary school. It took me until I was 25 and living overseas to start to respond automatically if someone called my name, because I was so inured to it always being someone else.

My DD has a traditional but popular name. At primary she was one of 5 in her class with the same name, some spelt with a slight difference. It wasn't an issue to me or DD and as time went on, some shortened their name or used obvious nicknames.

I have no regrets about the name I chose and nor does DD. Within the family she uses her full name, with friends a shortened version. The name is less popular these days.

My DD has a popular name - she is named after my grandmother, but it was rare in my grandmother's generation and has become popular since. We knew it was popular but we went ahead because we loved the name. It hasn't caused any problems and DD (now 15yo) likes her name.

I had the same feeling with my DD as the name is classic but relatively common, I wouldn't say popular as it's not spiked recently so even if there are two doesn't feel as big a deal.
As others say choosing a less common name doesn't guarantee they'll be the only one plus think it's stranger for two really uncommon named children in the class if you know what I mean.
Statistically even the most popular names are used on a lower number of children as so many new names are being used. So the number one name in the UK a few decades ago would be used on 1,000s whereas now that number one name would be used on 100s but would still be ranked number one. Look into the stats of the name if your only concern is the popularity

Well, giving a less used name gives them a shot at being memorable even if their personality is lacking.
I also think giving a very popular name feels like the parents are trying to fit in and behave according to some sort of perceived rules of taste which seems a bit middle class.

If you like the name, use it.
If you have a common surname, give a middle name that isn't a filler one.
I don't think I'd be too happy to be Isla Grace Smith (2)

Loosely, I find I tend to be put off Top 5 names through overexposure. I'd use anything less common than that.

i won’t consider anything inside the top 1000 or anything climbing. I feel like choosing something popular defeats the whole object of the name. I have a popular name and I didn’t enjoy it growing up and don’t like it now. I also don’t like unique or needlessly out-there names. So my kids have perfectly normal, very well accepted, normally spelled, completely underused names.

I have a friend with an unusual name siblings have common names. He hates his name and calls himself a shortened version which both of his parents hate (a middle part of the name slightly changed) he also has a terrible middle name, so that wasn’t an option.

My children have names that are not unheard of but are not popular, and I love that. When people called their kids Charlie, George, harry, Charlotte, Mia, Chloe I just think why? All the beautiful names out there and you've gone for a run of the mill name.

My eldest has a name that is classic but was very popular when he was born. Every trip to the park you would meet on. Now, it's probably not in the top 100 and he rarely meets anyone with his name.

I really don't like it, it feels like the parents have no imagination at all.

It's no fun being known by your surname initial or other adjectives. Names were invented to identify us!

In addition very fashionable names tend to fall out of fashion and start to sound very 'dated'