Does anyone else agree that “unique” names are becoming so common?

[Mamatolittleboy]

We called our boy a common name so this isn’t me having a bash. Just wondering if anyone else is finding this too?

I go to a lot of baby groups where woman tell me how much they wanted a unique name so called their baby Oakley, River or Forest. Names I’ve heard so much this year. All beautiful names, lovely names.

Went round a friends house the other day to meet her new baby. Gorgeous boy, they wanted an uncommon/rare name for him - Arlo.

I spoke to a mum of a 2 year old who said she knows so many people who have the more unusual names that they are becoming popular, so she went for something older that you never hear anymore… her son was called Jack. I don’t think she realised it’s been massively popular for decades. I just smiled and nodded.

I met 2 Divines in one week. That was unexpected.

Thinking back to my childhood boys were all Simon, Peter, David, Michael Andrew, Paul or James. There were often several of the same name in a class. I love the range of names now.

I think it stems from two things.

1. Some people have no idea what the word unique actually means. I always roll my eyes when someone suggests they're looking for something unique and then proceeds to list a bunch of names they're considering which are just below the top 100 (or often even higher).

2. People often have no idea of current name trends when deciding on names for their own children. Which is absolutely fine if popularity doesn't bother you. But I always laugh when people claim "my child's name wasn't popular when they were born but it's everywhere now", like they're some sort of trend setter. Then you hear how old their kid is and you're like actually it was the 7th most popular name that year and had been in the top 20 for at least 5 years previous to that 🙈😂

It is now!

As that's how names get made.

Arlo is a very common name where we are (Northern Ireland) although personally not a fan!

I do agree though, lots of unique names. Some are lovely but some are cringeworthy and will age badly

I've noticed exactly this- but only really for boys. All the girls in our baby groups seem to have quite traditional names, where as the boys are almost all Hunter, Harley, Rory, Ted (so many Teds!)

People keep getting 'unusual' and 'unique' mixed up.

Just pick a name you like, if it is unusual great but don't pick it for the sake of being different as everyone else could have the same idea!

I wouldn’t say Arlo was uncommon or unique. I know of 3.

Divine!!?? Who would name their child Divine? It just makes me think of Divine, eating dog poo😳

Names become popular when lots of people hear them and think they’re nice names. Hence names like Ruby and Ava zoomed from relative obscurity to top ten in a couple of years. No reason why the sand pattern wouldn’t apply to other uncommon but nice names.

My son (in his twenties) was given an uncommon name but over the years it has weirdly been popping up on various tv shows. He’s gone from not particularly liking it to being very happy with it as it’s considered a pretty cool name by his peers. He even met another one recently which was so unusual he rang me up to tell me!

Oakley, River or Forest. Names I’ve heard so much this year. All beautiful names, lovely names

They're not. They're awful names.

Give me a Henry or a Clarissa any day.

Eurgh yes, they can’t have heard of the original Divine or they would never have touched the name (one would hope). It’s considered an urban myth really but it’s still a very off putting name.

These days your child has more chance of having a rare name of you call her Sarah or Joanna than any of the so called ‘unusual’ names that are around these days because they’ve become so popular. Very few babies are given the names that were popular on the 1970s and 80s.

I agree.

Can you imagine being called Forest and having to spend the rest of your life being asked why life is like a box of chocolates 😂

And as for Oakley. I've never heard it used as a persons name, just as a place name so IMO it's like calling your child Skipton.

Lot's of Arlo and Ezras at our nursery, and old testament names seem very popular at the moment too.

I sympathise with the people not knowing what names are in vogue when they have their first. I called my DS1 'Jack,' thinking it was a nice old fashioned name, 26 years ago. Hint, most popular boys' name for the following 13 years. 🙄 And, no, I didn't start the trend. 😂

In the pub the other day I called my son's name and the older couple next to me fell about laughing because it was their dog's name, and they just could not believe that a child had the same rare name as their dog. What a truly hilarious coincidence. Well this name was actually top 15 in England for the year my son was born, and already on the decline from its heights a few years previously. They kept making jokes across to me all evening and I just grinned, thinking, wow you're gonna be having this conversation a lot in the next few years.

Zuzu is a very common nickname for any female Arabic name beginning with z.

Commonly Zaineb or Zahra.

I loved Ava as a name in the 90’s when I was a teenager.

was unusual then, but now it’s the equivalent of being called Julie or Susan in the 70’s

Gary is due for a come back, no Gary's have been registered since 1992.

I suspect baby ‘Tyduss’ is a badly spelled version of ‘Titus’, rather than a yooneek name invented by mama.

I agree that the nature names and more unusual names are becoming more popular. I suppose it’s a generational thing.

Wasn't the cutesy, mildly annoying little girl in It's a Wonderful Life called Zuzu?

It instantly makes me think of Zoe Zebra (in Peppa Pig) and her little twin sisters - Zuzu and Zaza.

I know a “Tyduss” as mum created it and liked the sound of it. Not sure if it’s an actual name though.

That just sounds like Titus in an American accent.

Not really that surprising - trends and preferences change. Some of the most uncommon baby names now are ones like 'Nigel' which were common in other generations.

Having suffered with a very common name myself (3 other StaringAtTheWaters in my year group alone!), I wanted something less common for my kids, especially as they have a very common surname. I think I succeeded - for each of them there were less than 200 born a year in the UK.

Oakley = sunglasses