How important in popularity when choosing names?

[ReaganLockWood]

About 50% of the names I love are in the top 100, and about 50% aren’t.
How much did popularity aid you when choosing your DCs name?

For example, the three most popular girl names that I love are: Isabella (10th), Sophia (12th), and Ella (27th).
The three most ‘unique’ names that I love are Priya (921st), Cassia (1030th), and Nara (2201st).
With manyyyyy in between them.

Would you rule out names for being too popular? Or do we think in this day and age it would be unusual to come across too many children with the same name anyways because the naming pool being used is much larger?

My 17yo DD has a popular (top 10) name. DH and I really liked it (she's named after my grandmother- it's one of those names that has come back into fashion) and she likes it too. It doesn't bother her that it's a popular name. Just choose the name you like!

Out of the names in your OP, I like Sophia best, then Cassia.

I didn’t try to avoid popularity as such, but I avoided names with big peaks in popularity. For example, James is always fairly high up the list, but has been for 100 years, so I didn’t mind. A name that had suddenly shot up the list is one I’d avoid just because I think it would date.
If you’re told you’re meeting someone and he’s called James, he could be 25 or 65. That’s what I wanted from a name.

I have the most insanely overused name for my age group. There were six of us in my class all through primary, one with the same surname, too, and I felt very generic growing up. There’s something depressing about learning to never respond when your name is called because it’s likely to be one of the others being called. It will tell you something that I remember, over 25 years later, the day someone called my name on the street (I was 25 and had moved overseas) and I automatically turned, because in this place my name wasn’t common.

Plus, given that names are identifiers, it seems more logical to name a child something that has a reasonable chance of identifying them among their peers.

We gave DS a name so unused (it’s a Biblical name, but an underused one) the lost of names for his birth year didn’t include numbers. He may have been the only one.

Popularity didn't really matter but like a PP timelessness did. So again if it was name that had a sudden spike that would put me off, but one that was consistently high wouldn't be a problem for me.

Both DDs names are consistently in the top 100 but have been for the last 100 years 🤣

Pick a name you'll like, and that you will still like in the years to come.
You could pick an unusual name only to find that there always seems to be 2 or 3 in every group your child is in, or you could pick the most popular and find the opposite.

Isabella, Sophia, and Ella IMO have become a dull by overuse, and there are lots with similar names (Ellie/El-/Helena, Isabelle/Isabel/Isobel/Bella, Sofia/Sophie).
Priya seems heritage-specific but is quite pretty. I don't like Cassia but like Cassie. I'm not familiar with Nara.

Your list of names seems tied to current trends, so the names might fall out of popularity.

I just chose names that I liked.

My children's names are all quite classic names - royal names, Greek names etc (alexander etc) have no idea if they're in top ten or whatever, but I'd imagine they're definitely in the top 100 and probably have been since records began.

I aimed to choose names in the top 100 but not the top 5 or 10. However, my son ended up with a top 5 name and he’s never come across another in his year group, so it’s not an issue. The only names that seem overused to the extent that I’d avoid them around us are Olivia, Isabella (&variants) and Oliver - there are multiple children in each of my kids year groups and they are known by name+surname. However, they don’t seem to mind at all!

I chose a top 5 name for one of my children.

I don’t give a hoot about it. I liked the name.

Oldest DD very long hyphenated surname,ex H and I had a job agreeing ,so she had just one short name,no middle name ..boys classic,think Edward,or James
. youngest DD, old English,I don't shorten them, they don't have nicknames, they have a name
Wasn't interested in fashionable names
.I think mostly you can gauge peoples age by their names if they were in fashion at the time..my eldest DD had 3 Samanthas in her class at school..
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There are two types of popular names ; fashionable ones (Willow, Harper, Luna etc) & timeless ones (Charlotte, Alice, Emily etc). The former will date, the latter will not.

I absolutely hate having a popular 1970s name. I wish my parents had put more effort into finding a more memorable name!

Therefore we avoided top 100 names and our children’s’ names were used about 20 times in their birth year. They seem to like having memorable names.

Your child may well ‘give a hoot’!

I didn't want to go super popular like Oliver or Emily but at the same time, didn't want too out there either so DC's have names in the top 100 but not the top 10.

@Reddelilah , Children usually like their own name.

I honestly think there’s ‘popular’ but then, underneath that, it’s very regional.

For example, there’s a thread on here about the name Harris; someone replied saying it’s a very common Scottish name and she’s knows three. I’m Scottish and have literally never met or heard of a Harris.

As I said, I hate having a popular name.

I have one of the most popular names of my era, and I hate it. I was always ‘Emma F’ (not the name, but similar) at school, and now it’s just boring. And it really dates me.

I agree with PP’s observation about classic vs trendy names. I wouldn’t pick Mia/ Lyla / Harper ect - for boys Arlo seems to be the equivalent near me. But Edward or Charlotte, fine. Especially if they’ve got lots of possible shortenings.

You also never know what will happen with a names popularity.

My sons name wasn't in the top 50 when he was born and now it is top 10!
My daughters name has never been in the top 100 but it is still a recognisable "normal" name.

I absolutely love the name Ava, obviously a very popular top 10 name.
If my 3yo had been a girl he’d have been Ava. In the 3 years since I’ve been taking him to baby/toddler classes, nursery, even overheard in the playground, I haven’t heard the name used once! (I have been looking out for it to see if it’s usable in future !) I realise this will be very very different for everyone, but here in Cornwall I haven’t come across it at all. So now that I am pregnant again, it’s still a consideration if this baby is a girl.

Edited to add, I love Nara out of your suggestions.

Change it then.

She's 12 now and well able to share her opinion and she loves her name and doesn't give a 'hoot' that its popular.

Sorry you don't like yours.

I avoided popular names because my own name was so popular. I know my Mum loved the name and pre-internet it was much harder to find out if names were becoming popular. It's at the 'timeless classic' end of popular names but TBH that makes it even more blah, it feels like a nothing name.

We just chose names we liked.

I'd caution against using popularity as a guideline, because the national statistics don't show what's popular around you anyway.

My DS1 has a name which can be spelled one of two ways. One spelling is outside the top 400 most popular names, and the other is outside the top 500. DS2 has a name in the top 40 most popular.

We honestly meet more children with DS1's name than DS2's. There is another boy with the same name in DS1's year at school (55 children). There is no-one in his year with DS2's name, nor any of its nicknames.

I would/did avoid the names of relatives and really close friends, unless actively aiming to name a child after them, but apart from that I'd definitely just go for the name you like.

My three girls all have names that are very unusual, two moreso than the third, but even she has only met one other with her name. The two boys have very conventional, timeless boys names. None of them have ever complained, despite the fact that my eldest son has met many many others with his exact name (first and surname). We gave them all two middle names in case they preferred to go by one of those instead, but they have all 'become' their names and don't want to change.