Leo - too overused?

[sel2223]

Just as the thread title says.....is Leo too overused?

My husband is Turkish and loves the name 'Aslan' meaning Lion. He calls the bump Lion all the time and is pretty set on having a name with that meaning but I'm not so keen on Aslan.
I've suggested Leo with a Turkish middle name and he's coming round to it but now I'm questioning if it's just too popular and overused.
I do love the name.

Leo is lovely. I don't know any. I love Aslan too though, and you have a good excuse to use it with your baby's Turkish heritage.

Leo is popular but it's a name that looks and sounds nice, and it will work in different cultures and languages.
Aslan is too Chronicles of Narnia for the UK.

I think it's popular but for good reason. Go for it.

I like it. I only know two, both in their thirties.

I don't know any and much prefer it to Aslan which is too Narnia for me. I think Leo is a really good compromise and would definitely go for it.

Funnily enough my DS has two Leo's in his class.

They are the only two I know of though, so I wouldn't say it's an overly used name.

I believe Leon also means Lion, so that could be another option.

Or Ari.

What does "overused" even mean? You ask a very subjective question. People's responses will be based on what they deem "overused" to mean and whether popularity matters to them, personally.

The only answers that matter here are what does "overused" mean to you and would your son having a statistically popular name matter to you?

Statistically, it's very popular (top 10). That doesn't necessarily mean there will be "too many" (whatever that means) where you are. Personally, I don't think popularity matters at all and would always advise someone to just choose something they both love, but others are bothered by popularity. We're all different so only you know the answer to your question.

I think it’s rising in popularity, but my son has a top 5 name and is the only one with the name in his school - popular names aren’t as overused as they used to be. I like the suggestion of Leon if you did want something less commonly used? But I wouldn’t let potential popularity put you off your favourite name 😊

For me, overused is when a name is so popular that any novelty is lost, and at some point it will fall out of favour.

I know Leos of different ages, which helps me not think of it as just a trendy name.

Leon. An excellent boy's name.

I loooove the name Aslan! It was on my list but was never brave enough to use it as we don’t have any Turkish heritage.

But then again I like more unusual names (both dc names are not in the top 100) and Leo is in the top 10 so is quite popular.

if you hate Aslan then don’t use it, could you find another name if your worried about the popularity of Leo.
Anecdotally I do know a handful of Leo’s from newborn to 3, but you have to use the name every day so if it’s the only name you love then you should choose it.

Leo is one of my absolute favourite boy names. If my son had been named it, he would have been one of three in his small nursery class. But in his school now, of over a 100 children, there are no Leos. It's popular yes, but your reasons for choosing it are very lovely, you should go for it.
You could choose a rarer name and then find that it suddenly rises in popularity.

I don't like Leon. Makes me think of Trotsky.

In 2022, Leo was the 5th most popular boys name, with one in 86 boys born being called Leo. That's too popular for me, but only you know your appetite for that kind of thing.

Conversely, I love Aslan. Mumsnet is weirdly conservative about these things - children are much more open-minded. But obviously if you hate it, don't use it.

Thank you everyone, really appreciate all the replies as I find it helpful to get the perspective of others and don't want to discuss with family yet.

We have a daughter who's name is from Turkish mythology but not totally 'out there', it's ranked about 500-600 in the UK so the top 10 thing does bother me a bit however I really do love the name and haven't thought of any others I like as much (that we can both agree on).

With Aslan, it's not the Narnia connection that bothers me, it's the 'Ass' bit at the beginning. I think other kids will always look to shorten a name and I worry I'd be leaving him wide open to issues later on

I love the name Leo - I suppose it’s popular for a reason!

How about Leon instead?

Aslan? Do you think you are in Narnia? I love that series, so I respect the dedication. However, Aslan is not good, personally I would go for Tumnus, after Mr Tumnus (the fawn from Narnia) I think personally this cute as you can shorten it to Tummy! xx

Aslan is a relatively popular Turkish boys name meaning 'lion' which I imagine is why it was chosen by C.S. Lewis.
The name predates the story.

As I've said in my previous posts, I'm not keen on it but my Turkish husband loves it so trying to find a compromise.

Aslan is a beautiful name; I wouldn’t have thought of the potential nickname issue. Is it pronounced Azlan or Asslan?

Leo is a very nice name but it is very popular.

The correct Turkish pronunciation is Ass-lan

VERY popular. Very nice though.

If you love it, go for it. Leon is good too, if you wanted a longer name that you could shorten to Leo, Leonard might work, or Leander (albeit comes from the Greek for lion so maybe not right you might want more of a nod to your/partner's heritage). I don't know any Leo's personally (mostly Charlie's and a few Arlo's in my neck of the woods where there are multiple children in the school year with the same name). If you love it, use it. It'll be fine and you may end up not knowing any other Leo's. We've had "duplicate" names in a class but its not been a problem they just become Sam A and Sam B or whatever.

I think so - not so much just the Leos but plus the even more popular Theos it gets very boring.

Although I agree that Aslan might get a few narnia references, I actually really love how it sounds and I wouldn’t let that put me off personally. I think it sounds lovely and is also a nodd to the Turkish heritage. However, don’t go for it if you aren’t keen!
personally for me, Leo is too overused. I’m a teacher and last year had 4 Leo’s in my class.