Common name for a sibling that has an uncommon name?

[Chipstickcats]

Hello, hoping for some opinions on this as I can’t decide!

my DD1 has a fairly unusual name - April, which was ranked 360 last year in the UK. We love the name and have only ever come across one other.

we are expecting a baby in May, and currently love the name Ivy, however this name was ranked fifth last year.

Is it weird to have names so different in popularity? My main worry is that Ivy would always be able to find her name on personalised things and April wouldn’t, is that silly?

We don’t actually know if we’re having a girl or a boy yet, and the 2 boys names we’re choosing between are also outside the top 100.

if you do think it’s an issue, does anyone have any other suggestions?

names we loved but can’t use:
Matilda
Florence
Poppy
Edie
Mabel
Martha

thank you!

April and Ivy sound beautiful together! Weirdly I’ve met an April, but never an Ivy - didn’t realise it’s so popular. Definitely agree with a PP that you shouldn’t overthink it.

April and Ivy are a lovely combo. You just never know when a name is going to shoot up in popularity and sod's law this would happen if you picked something else. I don't feel we are awash with Ivys anyway, even though it is #5.

In the times we live in (Temu,photo gifts)
getting your name on something is not a problem.

ivy is beautiful, she will be fine x

I knew sisters who were April, May and June! In that order. Their sister was Wendy.. I still remember them all fondly.

April is quite common where I live, I know more April’s than Ivy! But I do think both work great x

I actually think they are very similar names. Both quite old names. Only very recently has Ivy become popular again. Until very recently most Ivys were born about 100 years ago.
I would use Ivy.

I understand your concern about personalised things because I was in that position myself once - I had a very common name of my age group while my DB had a very rare one (although it's much more fashionable now). I swore I would not let the same thing happen to my kids, but quite accidentally gave DC1 a "timeless" name that was just about to fall completely out of fashion (think something like Peter or Stephen) - as a kid he could have had personalised adult sized socks, shot glasses or signs for the door of a shed, but never anything a kid would actually want. DC2's name was equally "normal" at the time but has remained more popular.

My point there is that you can never really predict which names are going to be fashionable next. There might be an explosion of little Aprils next year and yours finally gets to have all the personalised stuff she could ever wish for. But even if that doesn't happen, a lot of personalised things nowadays have a do-it-yourself version where it comes with letters so you can customise your own. Although I got hung up on this issue myself, I don't think it's the end of the world now, and I do think April and Ivy sound good together and have a rather similar "feel."

I love April so much!
Ivy is lovely too, I wouldn’t worry so much about it being popular.
April & Ivy sound lovely together

April and Ivy work really well together

It doesn't matter that one is uncommon and the other is common. My children are getting older now and simpler names are appealing more and more to me. Just go with your gut and what you like. Popular names change all the time

I thought the combination was going to be something like Andromeda and Grace. The average person knows little about name rankings. April and Ivy go together regardless of rankings. One of my children has a well known name but it’s ranked 300+ and so people don’t find the name unusual just like April is an established name. Also you can easily have personalised items if you order them online.

It’s such an interesting dilemma! I actually think a common name can really ground a more unusual sibling name and make the pairing feel intentional rather than mismatched. Sometimes it helps to visualise how the names look and feel side by side too. I’ve played around with combinations on https://thestylishname.com/ just to see different styles together, and it surprisingly makes the balance clearer. Ultimately, confidence in your choice matters more than trends.

Name trends change all of the time. My DD’s name wasn’t in the top 100 when she was born 14 years ago, now it’s top 10. Absolutely gutting for me, thinking I was being original. No others in her year at school at least!

April isn’t that rare, I had one in my year at school. I’d just go for what you like and remember how fickle trends are, unless it’s Olivia which is basically the Donald Trump of names.

My DS1's name was ranked something like 275 the year he was born, and my DS2's was just outside the top 50 the year he was born. I also worried about the discrepancy. We have never met another kid with DS1's name (although my mum reports into me when she hears it - so far I know of one horse and one baby who share the name) but my DS2 is already one of a couple in his baby room at nursery with that name. And the other one has a much cooler surname than us so his sounds better (this is tongue in cheek before anyone comes for me).

DS1 will never find his name on gift shop tat, but DS2 probably will. As per PP, we've bought loads of personalised stuff off Etsy anyway, so it's not been an issue.

I wouldn’t class April as an unusual name. I think although Ivy is more popular, April and Ivy are very similar in style. I wouldn’t even give it any further thought. If that’s the name you like, it’s a great choice.

Both very pretty names! Ive just had my third and named her Romy and my other two have quite traditional names so I wanted to be a little more out there this time. It’s pronounced Rome (like the city) eeee , if you like it I think it goes quite well with April.

I wouldn’t pair Raddix with Olivia, but April and Ivy sound lovely together and I don’t think of April of being especially unusual.

I don’t think it matters. My DD has a popular name, usually top 20, my DS has a much less common name. Not unusual but certainly not common.
yes my DD finds things with her name but she dislikes her beautiful name! My son can never get those personalised things but loves his rarer name.
It really doesn’t matter.

I think Ivy is a lovely name and don't think April is an unusual name to go with it.

I know a February.

I have a similar situation but both are known names. My child with the more uncommon name bizarrely we have come across more children at school with this name. None for my child who had the common name. Go with what you like.

Hello OP. My daughter is called April and, although everyone knows the name, it is unusual. She went through her entire schooling as the only April and loves her name. We had a second daughter whose name has a totally different vibe. PM me if you want to know what it is (don't want to say on here as too outing).

It's fine! :)

Just for fun, third baby could fit in as follows:
April, May and Julie/ Julias/Julian
April, May and Augusta/ August/ Augustus
April, May and Septimus
April, May and Octopus 🤣

I have also met girls called January and March! January was born in January. March was born in September!

December gives you lots of Christmas options! Holly, Natalie, Noel, Mary, Joseph, oh and Ivy!!

I actually think sibling names don’t need to match perfectly in style to feel right together. Sometimes a more unusual first child name makes a classic second name stand out even more. We played around with combinations for fun using a stylish name tool at https://stylishnamees.com/ and it surprisingly helped us see which names “felt” balanced as a pair. A strong flow matters more than having two equally rare names, in my opinion.

I did this. I loved both names. I don't see the issue.

I think April and Ivy sound really nice as a pair.