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.

Someone I knew named their son Oakley twenty five years ago. First time I’d heard that name.

I named my boys pre-internet days. I think we had less idea of what names were popular then , especially for first borns. You’d wait until the annual ‘Top 100’ name lists that came out at the end of the year to find out what makes were popular.

@MrsOracle Tyduss? Maybe she once heard the name Titus, a Roman/Latin name but also the name of the great painter Rembrandt's son 😊

Like Milan Kundera.

I think Elmer could be due a comeback!

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

Did they think they were men, but were only boys?

I’d walk under buses to avoid someone who called their child Oakley. Wasn’t there a cartoon with a talking tree called Oakley?

My mum had twin boys in her class once - Spike and Linus. Parents were Scooby Do fans. No joke.

I had a friend called Chloe growing up and I remember the mums judging her mum for it.

I definitely think it used to be the done thing to choose from a certain number of names but luckily it’s less like that now.

So strange how names become popular. I loved the names Oscar and Eve which were very unusual when I was growing up.

Oscar was from the Peter Carey book which didn't seem a common reference point and Eve just seemed cool (I did watch House of Eliot, so perhaps that was an influence) - of course they both got massively popular when I was having children so I used neither of them. Still baffled why Oscar did!

Actually I just told DS I wanted him to be called Oscar and he said he prefers his actual name... I did point out he'd probably like it more if he was called that! Oh and of course there is another child with his more unusual (classic not yooneek) name at school...

I agree. Not being pedantic but none of those names are unique

I think that’s OP’s point - they’ve become commonplace but some people still think they’ve picked a rare or even unique name.

reamteasandbumblebees · Today 16:43

Friend of ours have been so excited about the 'unique names' they have chosen for their twin boys born 4 weeks ago. They announced them with a 'naming day' when they were 2 weeks old...........
Ash and Elm!!!!

That would have been alright if they'd had t(h)ree babies!

Yes! I know at least 4 Arlo's and 6 Lyras (I guess it's the Philip Pullman generation?) One woman was really disappointed when we were in a swim class and there were two Lyras.

Brilliant response all round.

I think that’s OP’s point - they’ve become commonplace but some people still think they’ve picked a rare or even unique name.

Of course. You see it in the baby name area here too. Though the more puzzling there are the extremely rare names (like a handful per decade) where people claim to know a few.

Though I took issue with the unique, hence the pedantry remark, as that tends to be one of a kind rather than unusual or rare.

Yes. My DCs names are so normal, that they have become the rarity. I knew that was happening when I named them though. I love hearing a normal name now. I met a 4 year old Sarah yesterday, it was a delightful change.

https://www.theoldhamtimes.co.uk/news/20299132.100-rarest-baby-names-uk-revealed/

Some suggestions from the 2022 list include Beverley, which is lovely and Rehab (why?) for girls

Tidus - character in final fantasy 10 a Japanese RPG.

the game was released approx around 20 years ago

You don't often meet a baby Keith, Sharon, Claire or Wayne anymore. Now, those would be unusual names.

I met a girl working in our local sainsburys the other day and her name was Exploit.

Now THAT was pretty unusual I thought.

Not this Sofia Freddie Theo bullshit

Rehab (why?) for girls
It's an Arabic name I think. I'm pretty sure that one of my old college friends called his daughter that.

Tyduss is obviously final fantasy (I'm only up to page 2).

There are 2 Sarah's in my sons reception class! Thankfully ds is the only of his name in his year (I was 1 of 5, lates 1980s born), but it's not particularly uncommon, in the 40s in 2021 apparently. We just liked the name. His little sister is in the 2,000s though, although it's a real name, spelled how it sounds 😅

@willWillSmithsmith @BloodyHellKen
Divine can be a name linked to religion and/or linked to certain countries so won't have the cultural context you are referring to.

For example I can think of a well known Divine, Professor Divine Charura who is in the UK.

Wow, this website shows that there have been no babies with my daughter's name since 2000!

But it's also saying zero boys with my son's name for 2019, the year he was born, so I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong 😂

My DS would have been a Celeste had he been a girl. Glorious name.

I've been thinking a lot about what makes people want unique names as we've had about 4 threads on it today. It's not just to be different, for me I wanted something new to me, that I had no prior associations with. That's why we reach for names 100 years old. You don't want to name your kid the same name as teachers, friends, parents' friends, as the association is already formed.

I named my DS something I'd never heard before, but which was top 15 at the time (and had actually come down in popularity from a few years prior, had I bothered to check). But that's why all the other little Arlo's don't bother me. They are new too, and my association with the name is still my own DS. It's still the case that I named him something new and fresh to us, even if there are 2 in his class !

*I met a baby Zuzu the other day. I think they win.

Love that name - reminds me of Its a Wonderful Life and Zuzus petals.