How much do you think the rate a name is used actually matters?

[RonSwansong]

Clunky title! Just musing - am on a WhatsApp group at the moment and the names are:

Emma
Emma
Emily
Lily
Ellie
Ellen
Alice

🤣

Just noticed how samey they are although we’ve never had any issue keeping track of who’s who.

Just see so many people stressing about Evie/Ava/Ada, Lyra/Lola/Lilah, Freddie/Teddy/Eddie etc. My own kids I tried to avoid super popular names but they absolutely love it whenever they meet someone with their same name!

Was ever thus though I suppose - I’m sure back in the day you couldn’t move for baby Joans and Alfs.

I’m surprised those names are still so popular. My dc in their 20s and their friends have those names. My dc had two Ellens (and two Eleanors) in her class so I think of it as very popular.

It’s funny isn’t it though- I had exactly the same and it never bothered me at all. I quite liked that I was one of a number of girls with the same name- sort of made me feel like I belonged. I had a best friend with the same name and for a while we enjoyed being referred to as ‘The Francescas*’ 😂

*not out actual names.

Mine has an unusual name that was outside the top 100 but it must have had a moment in my town in that year as we have only ever come across two others and they’re both in her friendship group!
I mean it’s so unusual it gets comments that people have never heard of it and when she wears a name badge people always comment on it.
Basically you can’t plan these things. The first people to say ‘Oh Luna. That’s original’ now have one that’s a year older than the million other Lunas.

I agree with her. Animosity can be a great thing. There are 8 people in the UK (not many more worldwide) with my surname and 3 are too young for social media. I am the only person in the world with my first name and last name combo. I used to think that was really cool until I knew interviewers, or anyone, could look me up and find the website I made for myself in 2000 or the book my mum created with pictures of my whole life for my 21st birthday from some website or the disgusting crime a family member was found guilty of with videos. So embarrassing for the first two and the third one is a real worry.

My name was not common at all when I was born 32 years ago...could never find my name on things in shops. Have always had compliments and people saying oh that's a nice different name...Well now it's in the top 3 girls names for the past few years!!

My first name is really common but spelt the foreign way to match my surname so I still had girls in my class with the same name but if I wrote it people knew it was me. As a kid I just wanted to blend in so didn't like that.

DD has a similar name to me (much like Clara, Tara example above) but people do often say the wrong one of us and then realise because they are similar. She also has a really common name but different spelling. She found it confusing as a kid because she didn't know who people were talking to.

Can’t edit. Obviously mean anonymity 🤦🏼‍♀️

It is still true. If you look at this website (although data only goes up to 2013) you can see how much names like Sarah and Mark were used compared to popular names now. https://demos.flourish.studio/namehistory/?names=

You can add any name, I find it really interesting, (If you combine Theo and Theodore in 2023 it would be about 1% of all baby names, Sophia/Sofia about 0.6%, Mark was up to 2.8%)

When I had first dd I knew no babies, there wasn't internet like there is now. I picked a beautiful understated name, and discovered when we started playgroup it was the number one name in her year. Five of them in her school year.
Second dd we named after a relative a top ten name, two in her year.
Ds I only loved one name , I worked in a child care at that point and there was only one child with that name, again top ten and there's two others in his year.

I don't mind they have beautiful classical names of course other people want them.

I think this is very true. When I had my eldest girls names followed the trend if ending in y/ie sound. Holly, lily, molly, millie, Ellie, tilly, rosie. But I noticed more recently it's shorter names ending in an a sound

Agree. My nephew has one of the top 10 popular names but I've never met another one of any age. My son has a name when, in the year he was born, fewer than 100 were registered yet I've met loads of babies/toddlers with the same name. I think your local area definitely makes a difference.

My name is fairly common - I probably meet a handful of people a year with the same name.

As a kid I really did not like other children having my name and I used to find it confusing.

As an adult I've come to tolerate/ accept it 😅 But I still much prefer to be the only one in my close friend/ family groups!

I never wanted a completely unique name as it's a pain for the child to have to explain where the name comes from / why their parents chose it / how to spell it. For my DC I prefered names outside the top 50 but preferably within the top 500.

Joke's on my as my DS2 has a name that fits this criteria in my home country, but we since then moved to another country where you can't go left or right for all the people bearing the same name.
He is one of four (with slight variations) in his class, which I find a bit annoying. But at the end of the day I picked the name because I liked it and that's what really matters.

Long story short, I wouldn't pick a name so it's literally unheard of, but I'd try to steer clear of the most common names to avoid having ten to a classroom. Colleague of mine picked a name that is the number one most popular name for his year and I can't help but think it'll date badly.

Yes, we’re in our 30s.

My name was extremely common for girls born in the 1980s but it was a bit problematic combined with a common surname. I had mix-ups all the way through school and university, including with things like exam results. One time I got all of another girl's financial information for student loans through the post. I've mentioned to my parents that they could have been a bit more original. I do actually prefer fairly classic names for my own DC (consistently top 20 rather than top 3) but haven't also saddled them with my surname.

My name was extremely common for girls born in the 1980s but it was a bit problematic combined with a common surname. I had mix-ups all the way through school and university, including with things like exam results. One time I got all of another girl's financial information for student loans through the post. I've mentioned to my parents that they could have been a bit more original.

I agree - not only is it a pain to add a surname initial to be identified, but a common name increases the risk of identity fraud!!

My XP had a common name and there was a duplicate at work. He got the other one's emails including details of salary.

It seems we sometimes forget why we name people.... To identify them!

Imo a names popularity is one of the least important things about choosing a name (along with its “meaning”)- because as you mentioned, some kids actually like having a popular name due to getting stuff with their name on it easily and fitting in with their peers.

Tbh I think it’s far more annoying and confusing for the teachers and parents when class names are repeated or when they sound very alike - I find most kids themselves don’t seem bothered.

I think it would be more annoying to constantly have to correct the spelling or pronunciation of your name for example, or perhaps as an adult finding that your name really dates you rather than being more timeless (so everyone can easily guess your age or background) . The minor inconvenience/annoyance of having someone with the same name or very similar in your class or at work is a blip in comparison imo.

ETA: This is assuming you don’t also have a really commonplace surname too though - having the same first name AND surname as someone at work or even at school could definitely cause issues. If I was a Jones etc , I’d be more wary about using a popular first name.

One of my DC has name that became hugely popular around the time he was named, over 20 years ago. I wasn't expecting it to become quite so popular or I would probably not have chosen it. He doesn't seem to be unhappy with it, and I still really like it as a name. Curiously, he's only once been in a class with someone else with the same name (although there were about 8 in the year group as a whole) - and they became very good friends.

Most of this can be avoided by not putting your name online, though. I don't even use my real name for Facebook.

The family member/crime thing is not great, but is also nothing to do with choosing babies' first names.

I chose unusual names for DC1 and DC2 and they've remained rare - I've never met a single person with DC1's name and only one or two with DC2's name. It wasn't too hard to pick an uncommon name, there are stats released every year showing how popular names are.

My first name is a fairly common Western name although my surname is an ethnic name, so the combination is unusual. But there are a handful of my namesakes on the internet. I'm very hard to find though as I don't use my real name on social media and lock down my settings (however I'm on Companies House, which is unavoidable).

I have what was an unusual first name growing up. Very unusual second name and surname. I have a name twin who has taken 'our' name on gmail and everywhere else I have tried to use 'our' name.