Are popular names really all that bad?

[QueSyrahSyrah]

I see often on MN name choices being warned against as they're 'so popular' and 'everywhere' (but at the same time, don't go too far against the grain because nobody will be able to spell or pronounce it!).

I've just been reading a couple of articles about the 2022 ONS baby names report that was published the other day and from +/- 300,000 boys born in 2002 in England and Wales, about 4500 of them were the most popular Noah, so 1.5%.

Of +/- 300,000 girls, about 3000 were Olivia, so 1%.

Obviously there's variance from area to area and by demographic so the percentage will probably be a bit higher in some places than others, but 1-1.5% doesn't seem all that overwhelming common to me.

I've spent a lot of time stressing myself out that some of our favourite names are in the top 10, but based on the above information I've decided to let it go and use the name we love regardless of how close to the top of the list it is.

Yes, I was one of six girls of my name in a class of 30 throughout primary, and it was a name where there were always two or three others in all settings. It made me feel completely generic, not like an individual. To the point where I still remember the first time I automatically turned in the street when someone shouted my name, and by then I was in my 20s and living abroad where my name was unheard of.

I gave my son a name that fewer than three children born in his birth year had.

What I find odd about the 2022 ONS list is that Muhammed is the #2 boy name but there is no equivalent girl name(s) at the top of the girl list.

I'm not sure why that's odd? Culturally, a lot of Muslims use Muhammad as a boy's first name in honour of the prophet. A lot of these will actually call him something else - and some may even have multiple sons called Muhammad. There isn't really an equivalent for girls, so girls names are much more diverse - obviously Maryam and Fatima are particularly popular as the table shows.

Religion wasn't really founded on equality. I'm a Christian and Mary was only around to have the baby boy and become the man.

We had four Gillians in our class of twenty six at secondary school. Three of them had surnames that began with the final letters of the alphabet so as we were seated alphabetically at single desks, they were all in one row front to back. We thought it was quite cool as I remember and it didn’t seem to bother them.

My DCs names have been top 10/20 for more than the last decade. Neither had another with the same name in their class at primary. There was never more than one other child with the same name in the whole school. My eldest is at secondary and there is one other with the same name in their year group. There seems to be so much variety if name choices now that duplicates are less likely. I'm a primary school teacher and rarely have duplicate names in the same class.

My DC love their names. I was the only one in either my primary or secondary school with my name and I hated it because I was very shy and felt like it made me stand out.

Isabella/isabelle are extremely common. just in my office, 3 ladies who had babies within 6 months of each other all called their baby’s Isabella all with the nn Bella.

as someone who grew up with a popular name and being one of 5 in a class with the same name I was never giving my kids a popular name. Personally I think the top 30 names are mostly dreadful names anyway

There are 3 Amelia’s and an Emilia in my daughters school year of 40. It happens.

I'm 50 and my name is Megan which wasn't a very popular name when I was a child. I never met another one.

Now there are tons of Megans. There are another three in my office. I really like being Megan S. It feels a bit like being in a club. I don't see the issue in it.

DD has a name that has been top 20 for the last 25 years or so, but we had no idea - I had only been living in the UK for a couple of years, didn’t know any children, it didn’t occur to me to look at the ons list because I didn’t even know it existed, plus we picked a name that was not on our shortlist after she was born and we looked at her, so probably wouldn’t have known anyway. We love her name still. But, most importantly, she’s 15 and I asked her what it’s like having a very popular name. First she looked at me like she’s never given it any thought whatsoever, then said it’s absolutely fine and she doesn’t mind.

I agree with this, nothing wrong with being popular but then people say they are going with e.g. Willow to be 'different' (fwiw I think it's lovely but no longer out of left field!)

Anyway, thanks ONS for keeping us right 😁

@Duckies Funny you picked Willow, that was number 1 girls name a couple of years ago in our area (which publishes its own top 10 stats, we're British territory but not in the UK)

Our trends follow the UK ones largely but with a few notable differences. There's a girl name we like that's been around the top of the UK list for years but hasn't been in our local top 10 at all, as far back as I've looked.

The top boys name here in 2022 didn't even make our top ten in 2023, so who can really predict what the most popular this year will be!

My oldest son is the only child in his year with his name (100 kids) and I have never met another child with his name. However, his name is a normal one that doesn’t make people roll their eyes.

My other son has one other boy in his year with the sabe name (60 kids) and I know a few others with the name too. It’s a normal name but not one that is overly popular I think.

It’s hard trying to find a name that isn’t so popular that they’re everywhere, and a name that doesn’t make people inwardly cringe or think, WTF?! 😂

My cousin is almost 16 and she’s a Megan. I think it’s such a beautiful name ❤️

It sure does. But on the other hand there are none of either in my child’s school year.
My point was, this isn’t like the 80’s, 90’s etc where you would almost always get 1 of several in the class. Olivia wouldn’t even be in the top ten with these figures if it was in the 90’s.

As a 1980s Olivia I'd suggest it's not worth worrying about name popularity at a given time. When my mum named me Olivia she liked it because it wasn't widely used. Obviously that backfired almost immediately 😆 (nb this is US data) https://nametrends.info/names/Olivia

I used to have to spell my name out all the time for people. Quite like that I don't have to any more!

My DC have very top ten names. Yet when I named them 10+ years ago they weren’t! But saying that one of them is the only one in his year.

In our school there are lots of Georges, Samuels and Oscars.

We named our second born a top 10 name, I was worried about this but it was a name with significance to both me and dh and we both loved the name so we went for it. We have him some slightly more unusual names for his middle names so he could use one if he ever felt bothered about being one of a load of his name.
He is 17 now and has never been in a class or even year group with someone with the same name but funnily enough several other boys had his more unusual middle names.
Just choose the name you like as it will be their name no matter what and they will be that person.

Generic and confusing. So odd that the majority pick the same 10 names. There are literally hundreds of “normal” perfectly nice underused names. It’s not between Olivia or Moon Unit.

Off top of my head Miranda Antonia Susannah Tess Hester Mary so refreshing after Eve / Amelia / Isabel which sorry are just so dull now

I was so fixated on popularity, I'd spend ages trawling the ONS sites and would even go on the popularity by specific area! We went for a name that was around 70-80th on the list and there's 3 of them in my son's nursery class! It doesn't bother me now but it's just funny how it all works out! I will definitely be more laid back if we have another one.

In many ways I think this is the best kind of name. It’s as if you’re slightly ahead of your time and your name is likely to be perceived as youthful.

So much better with a name associated with an older generation/on its way out.

Haha. My DS went to a tiny school and in his class of 25 there were 3 Olivia's, 3 Oliver's and 3 Jack's. 😮

In my DD's primary class of 33 kids there were 3 girls with the same name and also 3 boys with the same name.

Just choose your favourite name OP!

Agree with you there. The usage of Olivia is incomparable to the usage of say, Claire in the 70’s.

I can’t move at work for middle aged Claire’s! Also an unbelievable amount of Mark’s.