Opinion on popular baby names

[VirgoPeanutPending]

Did anyone give their child a "common"/popular name and regret it due to the number of other kids with the same name? Or do you have one yourself and wish you'd been called something more unique growing up?

I've had a name in mind for baby girl for a long time. It's personal to me for a couple of reasons but also happens to be and have been a rather popular name for a while now... when I've searched the name in this thread where others have suggested it, there have been many responses commenting on how many of this name there are in their son/daughters classes.

I still really like the name. Is this a major issue?

Personally I didn't know many people with my name until secondary school where there were 4 of us with the same name in our year, I didn't really mind it. There were far more common names that I didn't think much of it, and never really heard anyone with one of the more common names complain....but times change, don't they..

I'm probably just hormonal and overthinking it all now... but just wanted some opinions on popular names in general and if they're actually a big deal to anyone?!

Mine both have names which have been popular for centuries. No regrets at all. Oldest goes by a diminutive and has never had anyone else with that form of the name in his class or any group or club. Youngest there was a spike in popularity so often hear it when out and about but again never had another in his class.

My name was ranked number 3 when I was born and it was the most popular name in my school year. I like the name but didn’t like it being popular however things are a bit different now. I’ve looked at the number of babies born in my year of birth with my name and if you compare it to today there are so many fewer by quite a lot.

What I dislike like most about my popular name was that I was named it just before it sunk in popularity so most people with my name are older.

Husband and I have the top two names for our birth year in our home countries; I really disliked it growing up, husband didn’t mind. My name doesn’t have any common nickname options so it was always name + surname initial or just my surname until I got a completely separate nickname in my teens. Husband knew multiple with his name and they all went by different versions of it. We’re actively avoiding names in the top 20 now (which is a shame when our favourite is Theodore).

I have a quite unusual and old-fashioned name. I'm happy with it.

But I have a friend who has a really common, popular, name. Her last name is very common, and both her first name and her middle name are common. The whole combination is common! Many women have her exact name.
She told me that she didn't mind this at all, mainly because she really likes her name.
But also, she said that her very common name makes her hard to find on the Internet, which can be a good or a bad thing, she thinks it's a good thing! She said that you have to know "something else" about her to be able to find her online, you can't just search her name and find her immediately. I had never thought about it that way before.

I have a popular 90s name, and I’ve always been happy enough with it - although I have noticed now that I don’t meet any babies today called that, so it probably dates me a bit! I think the most important thing is that you like it, so if there’s a name you love and it’s popular, I don’t think you should feel a pressure to rule it out on that basis.

I’ve always loved the name Oscar but discounted it for DS because it's become so popular in the last few years. The name we chose for him is pretty uncommon (around 350ish in the charts) but increasingly being suggested on here; we actually met another one in the park the other day!

I don't regret not choosing Oscar, but I do regret that it's become so popular that I didn't, if that makes sense.

My DD has what many would say is a popular name, usually in the top 20 for the last decade. But we only ever meet the odd other person with the same name despite living in London where she goes to a 3 form entry primary. Regardless, i absolutely love her name, I think it's beautiful and would not bother me at all if we meet more girls with the same name.

My DS has an unusual name, have only ever met one other with his name. I think it's a lovely name, but sometimes think we should have maybe called him something more common as his name is so often mis pronounced.

My son has a very popular/common name (Charlie) and while I love the name, I really regret it. It doesn't feel like his name, and I wish we'd chosen something a bit more imaginative.

He's only a baby still, but hopefully he likes it when he's older!

There were 4 of us in the 80s with my name in my primary school class and my best friend through my 20s and 30s had the same name too. Never bothered me one bit. Love my name.

DD1 has a very popular name (always in the top 5). I just remember when we were choosing names, we'd tossed several names around all pregnancy but not settled on any really and then a week before my due date my husband mentioned the name and even though it's of course a name I've heard many, many times in my life and had never previously considered using, it was like I was suddenly hearing it for the very first time and hearing what an incredibly beautiful name it was. And that was what I wanted to call our baby there and then, we both just knew it was the perfect name for her. We agreed to keep an open mind and just toss it into the hat with the other 2 or 3 names we liked and see what she looked like when she came out. When she was born, the midwife asked us if we had a name picked out, DH and I looked at each other and absolutely no discussion necessary, we both said the name. She was always that name.
We meet other children with it from time to time, though there aren't actually any others in her nursery with it. It doesn't bother me. It's a popular name for a very good reason. It is just beautiful.

And my name is a longer, less common version of a popular name (think Lilian for Lily) and as a child I was always known as the longer name and hated it. I wanted a nice normal name that was always available on the tacky souvenirs you get but alas, my name was never there. As an adult I'm almost exclusively known by the much more common shortened version and it feels much more like me.

DD2 actually has a slightly less common name and in some ways I worry that she will, like I was, be dismayed at never finding her name on a keyring haha.

My name is really common (at least two of us in very school class/friendship group) etc but I never really minded it I think because there are more common names in my age group (three or four in each class) and it doesn't date me age- wise. Don't love it though. My kids have more unusual names but there are more names used in their age groups so fewer repeated names.

Grew up with a ridiculously popular name (in my area) and hated it.

Think "Emma" or "Sophie"

I never had the issue of there being more than one or two in my classes but there were loads around in activities and groups I went to.

Not a fan at all.

My kids have reasonably unique names, or they were at the time of birth but are rising in popularity now (6 years later). Still, rare to hear someone of their ages with the names which I like.

I think it’s annoying being Evie B or Noah J, so I avoid the top 10 if possible

I think all the Top 10 names are just so boring, it smacks of “have no individual thought, need to follow the herd” every time.