Active discussions

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

The name I like is top 3?

105 replies

Walkietalkie7 · 16/12/2025 08:36

The name we have chosen is the 3rd most popular name in our country for girls.

244 babies with this name were born in our country last year.

People with popular names, is it really so bad and should we choose something else? What about popularity now vs when I was growing up in the 90s? I read that the year I was born Emma was given to 3% of babies and Olivia which is no1 now was given to 1.4% last year.

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Set a reminder
Emanwenym · 16/12/2025 22:26

@Christmaseree , your names are from about 1970. Many on here won't have those names.
Names tend to be regional, the top name for girls were I live isn't in the top 200.
If I look at the data for a neighbouring area the top name for girls is the number 1 name.
The boys' names for the two areas are the other way round.

Lamentingalways · 16/12/2025 22:27

Lemonlimonade · 16/12/2025 21:55

They may be fashionable now but sound very dated once they’ve fallen out of fashion. Sharon, Susan, Tracey were all ‘nice’ once!

Edited
Show quote history

They sound fine to me and of the time. That’s normal isn’t it?

Christmaseree · 16/12/2025 22:28

Emanwenym · 16/12/2025 22:26

@Christmaseree , your names are from about 1970. Many on here won't have those names.
Names tend to be regional, the top name for girls were I live isn't in the top 200.
If I look at the data for a neighbouring area the top name for girls is the number 1 name.
The boys' names for the two areas are the other way round.

Edited

Yes exactly, I was making the point to the OP that having a popular name isn’t like having one in the past.

Thunderdcc · 16/12/2025 22:30

DD1 does not have a popular name, and she always complains it is impossible to get personalised key rings etc in gift shops. She also isn't a massive fan of everyone knowing who she is, she's like Madonna she only needs one name.

DD2 is Sophie and yeah there is always another one in whatever group setting she is in, or there is a Sophia. She prefers it, to be more anonymous, she does not like DD1's unique-ness.

Lamentingalways · 16/12/2025 22:31

ElfieOnTheShelfie · 16/12/2025 20:33

Wrong. My name was popular and I played in an orchestra in school where four people in my section alone shared my name. My best friend shared my name - let’s say it was Betty - and so many teachers would say “the Bettys, what do you think?” Like we shared a hive mind

i hated my name and my parents lack of originality and the sheer annoyance of always being known by my surname or “Betty S”, being muddled up administratively at school or on lists .. all the time, as everywhere I went my name was popular, it followed me round for decades.

Show quote history

Jesus Christ get over it ffs. Your parents lack of originality?!? They were perfectly entitled to call you any name they liked. No doubt if they had called you something very unique you would be complaining no-one could spell or pronounce it.

superking · 16/12/2025 22:40

I have one DD with a very popular name - top 5 for several years on the trot around the time she was born - and one with an unusual name given to less than 20 babies every year in the UK. Honestly it has made pretty much no difference to either of their lives and I have no regrets. Go with the name you love.

TheBirdintheCave · 16/12/2025 22:42

I think when looking at popularity people forget that it’s cumulative. There may only be 200 Freya’s this year but if you include last year and the year before that and next year… suddenly there are loads of them. So maybe it’s not her classmate with the same name but her classmate’s older sister or her swimming teacher’s daughter etc etc.

I guess you just have to consider how much it would annoy you to run into other Freya’s of varying ages as you go about your daily life.

Emanwenym · 16/12/2025 22:48

@Christmaseree , You can't tell. The names you gave as very popular when you were at school weren't where I grew up.

What @TheBirdintheCave is true. it’s cumulative. There may only be 200 Freyas this year but if you include last year and the year before that and next year… suddenly there are loads of them.

The names that were very popular at my school get mentioned on here often, and I think they are dated.

Theannoyingspinninggiraffee · 16/12/2025 22:49

I think that’s fine. There isn’t a Freya in my kids entire school! In fact we don’t know any Freya’s at any of my kids clubs or anything. You can’t predict it as in my daughter class two girls have the same extremely unusual name but there isn’t any with names in the top 10. People name their kids a huge variety these days so even the most popular names won’t have that many kids called it. Plus popular names and popular for a reason- they are beautiful names.

Theannoyingspinninggiraffee · 16/12/2025 22:52

I also think in this day and age with social media and searching for people online, a slightly less unusual name gives you a little more privacy than if you have a unique name which is easily searched for.

Birdsongsinging · 16/12/2025 22:57

I think it depends what you want from a name. I wanted my children to have names I liked but also names that were not common but weren't odd. Now of the 3 of them 1 name is pretty popular and the other 2 are less so. I kind of think now it doesn't really matter that much and that having nice names is most important. I must ask them one day what they think of their names!

Emanwenym · 16/12/2025 23:14

People name their kids a huge variety these days Generally, yes, but the main pool parents choose from is limited, and you'll get several similar but not identical names in a class.

I don't think popularity matters that much, as long as the name doesn't sound very fixed to an age range or you want an unusual name.

Christmaseree · 16/12/2025 23:21

Emanwenym · 16/12/2025 22:48

@Christmaseree , You can't tell. The names you gave as very popular when you were at school weren't where I grew up.

What @TheBirdintheCave is true. it’s cumulative. There may only be 200 Freyas this year but if you include last year and the year before that and next year… suddenly there are loads of them.

The names that were very popular at my school get mentioned on here often, and I think they are dated.

Probably because I am younger than you.

Emanwenym · 16/12/2025 23:35

You might be, but if you look at the threads, the shortlists are usually names that are current. Also the age of the mother tends to affect the choice of name.

There are plenty of Nicolas and Richards my age, they just weren't that popular where I grew up.

WinterWooliesBaa · 17/12/2025 00:07

Christmaseree · 16/12/2025 22:28

Yes exactly, I was making the point to the OP that having a popular name isn’t like having one in the past.

Show quote history

Which is what many of us have said, but she insists she knows better.

SabrinaThwaite · 17/12/2025 00:10

My eldest had a top 5 name for their year and we’ve rarely come across anyone else with that name in their cohort.

Youngest also had a top 5 name, there were 4 in their primary school class with the same name. All distinguished by variants / adding first letter of surname, never a problem.

If you really like the name, go for it. Your DC can alway choose to be known by a middle name if they want (like my DF and my FIL).

MissedItByThisMuch · 17/12/2025 00:17

You can’t guarantee your child will be the only one in the class by choosing an uncommon name though. My son has a classic but uncommon name, nowhere near the top 100. There are several legitimate spellings, his is the least common. There was another boy with the same name and spelling in his class all through school. My son with a top 10 name was always the only one in his class. Just choose your favourite name.

Emanwenym · 17/12/2025 00:26

@WinterWooliesBaa , It depends on more than how popular the name is in the country.

I gave the example of where I live. The most popular name for girls here isn't even in the top 200 nationally. There may well be several in the same class when they go to school. Go to a different area and it would be unusual.

How many babies get registered with a top name varies. Sometimes the top name is given to 10,000 babies, some years it might be about 2,800.

@SabrinaThwaite , if everyone did that, there would be thousands of Roses, Mays, Graces and Jameses.

Yellowcakestand · 17/12/2025 00:26

Its Just pot luck...
When the health visitor came after my son was born it was the 5th child she had seen that week with the same name!
He is 10 now and we've only ever met one other person with the same name and he is the only child in his school with it.

OffTheHookNow · 17/12/2025 00:38

One of my DC was the only one with his name in a school of 1500 we then moved and there were three others with the same name plus a girl with the female version in his year.

SabrinaThwaite · 17/12/2025 00:41

Emanwenym · 17/12/2025 00:26

@WinterWooliesBaa , It depends on more than how popular the name is in the country.

I gave the example of where I live. The most popular name for girls here isn't even in the top 200 nationally. There may well be several in the same class when they go to school. Go to a different area and it would be unusual.

How many babies get registered with a top name varies. Sometimes the top name is given to 10,000 babies, some years it might be about 2,800.

@SabrinaThwaite , if everyone did that, there would be thousands of Roses, Mays, Graces and Jameses.

Not sure what your point is about using a middle name if that’s the name the child wants to use? It would be their choice after all.

Ozmumofboys3 · 17/12/2025 00:47

My boys have names that have consistently been in the top 20 names, 2 of the boys their names have been in the top 10. As others say it’s because they are generally lovely, classic names. Hasn’t ever been an issue for us, they’ve always been the only one in their class with the name.

Emanwenym · 17/12/2025 00:49

Nothing wrong with it @SabrinaThwaite , they are nice names. It's just that if everyone did it, ...

brightbevs · 17/12/2025 00:57

I have a 2 year old Freya (England). I’ve never met another Freya and we’ve been to a lot of baby groups, play groups etc. My son has a less common name (still around 35th in the list) and we met another one at the first baby group we went to. Just choose the name you like!

Nomnomnew · 17/12/2025 01:09

If you like the name then just go with it. If you pick a name not currently high in the charts there is no knowing how popular it’ll actually be the year you name your baby it. I went to a baby group recently with 3 Primroses! Never met any before that.

And my parents chose a name for me that was very unusual when they gave it to me, probably outside the top 100 altogether. But not long after I was born a celebrity named their child the same, and my name absolutely rocketed in popularity, with the result that I was in a class with another girl with my name and most of the others I’ve met were exactly the same age as me. So you can end up with a popular name by accident even if you’re trying to avoid it!