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Baby names

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

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Original poster

Are really popular names really that bad?

95 replies

GYoIsReallyHavingABaby · 25/02/2009 12:07

Hello
Due in 3 wks and the only boys name we both like is super popular where I live. Think we are ok with a girls names.

Since we have have common surname (not smith or brown but similar) so were originally looking at something a bit different but we cant agree on anything a bit different. I've always been adamant to not choose something popular but cant really work out why I've thought this, IYSWIM.

Who has DCs with really popular names and does it really matter? Suppose the worst issue is lots of kids with same name in class at school.

Thank you!

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CharleeInChains · 27/02/2009 13:36

My DS's have the 2 most popular names form over the last several years, My eldest is jack and there are 3 others in his nursery and my youngest is Harry and he was born at the height of the Harry Potter media attention but we chose them becuase we really liked them regardless if there are hundreds of others, i really don't like unusual names, but it really is your personal preference.

duchesse · 27/02/2009 13:40

He will be "HarryP" or "JackS" for ever at school. If that's not a problem for you, then no problem at all.

CharleeInChains · 27/02/2009 13:42

It doesn't bother me really as all 4 Jacks at nursery are such different little boys, a name is nothing its the personaltiy. I wasn't going to call him Gwillum or something different just so he would be 'unique' he is unique anyway.

duchesse · 27/02/2009 13:43

Sorry Charlee- I aboslutely had not read your message, only the OP, so had no idea I'd just picked your sons' names! Honest guvnor

CharleeInChains · 27/02/2009 13:46

Lol don't worry.

We actually went with Jack becuase our traditional male family name is John, and my beloved Grandad was terminal at the time and he was called John but we didn't particuarly adore the name John so we went with Jack as apparently its like basiccly the same when it comes to traditional names. My Grandad said alot of John's were called Jack and Vice Versa in the Navy.

Harry was litterally decided on the spot outsied the registary office, i said to dp i really love 'Harry' and it was my late uncles name and he was a truley great man (he invented the first doppler/Sonic aid) so we agrred on Harry.

Beesmummy · 27/02/2009 17:39

My brother is 30 and when my parents decided to call him Jack nearly everyone was completely horrified - Mum says everyone rang her to say "you CAN'T call him Jack, that's an old man's/dog's/sailor's name etc etc... And when he was in his early teens he was quite self-conscious about it and tried to change it to John. Now he finds it really irritating that every other baby is called Jack - how times have changed eh?
They can't all have had bad taste 30 years ago, so I am sure there are some names that are really unpopular now that will be hugely popular and vice-versa! Kevin will be the equivalent of Harry or something!
I always thought I would call my children Jago and Ottlie which I thought were the most unusual names I could think of (I have a really boring name), but they are starting to be mentioned more and more and both were recently described to me as Notting Hill names - bleurgh.
I ended up calling my daughter Beatrice (Bee) - no point in disguising it given my webname! Now looking through this forum for names for DD2...

Beesmummy · 27/02/2009 17:41

PS is the babyplanners.co.uk info based on just UK names? The babywizard one is American, so it is fun (really brilliant design) but doesn't really help when finding how popular English names are.

Fillyjonk · 27/02/2009 18:47

lol at Gwillum, round here they are ten a penny (Cardiff)

mrswoolf · 27/02/2009 19:48

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

rozzyraspberry · 27/02/2009 20:58

We chose a name for ds1 which although not unusual was not that common (was not in top 50 names). So when he started school last year we were quite surprised that there were 2 other boys with the same name in his class of 20!

Yes he does get his full name but it doesn't bother him and we still love his name. He'll only be at school for a relatively small portion of his life but will always have a nice name

hackneybird · 27/02/2009 21:19

It can be agonising. I have a highly unusual name (and slightly comical to some) and have always hated it. In the past people have openly laughed in my face when I've told them my name. A couple of people have even said 'wow, I bet you can't wait to get married'. Wierdly, when I did get married, I totally refused to change my surname! I guess I'm just used to who I am now.

I'm a big fan of classical names for babies personally, perhaps for that reason. I'd rather a classical name that is in vogue, than a 'new' trendy name.

nooka · 28/02/2009 02:25

My name dates back to the 14th century but has never been common (there is another variation which was very popular in the 40s-80s - a huge spike on the babyplanner thing). There are plenty of unusual names to pick without making them up. If you love something, or have a particular reason to choose it then by all means go with something popular, but why not choose from the hundreds (if not thousands) of names which have dropped off the popularity stakes not because they are odd but because they don't hit the current fashion trends.

Also bear in mind that it doesn't really matter whether you mind or don't mind if there are lots of other children with the same name, it is whether your child will mind.

thirtypence · 28/02/2009 06:16

I teach 2 classes of 20 and 6 of them are called Ben.

Now it doesn't help that I live in NZ and everytime a boy is fiddling with something and I pointedly say "Bin!" 3 boys ask what I wanted.

One of the boys has a surname that starts with D, so I call him (with his agreement) Bendy. He was thrilled to have a name that only means him, so thrilled I didn't have the heart to tell him I also teach a Bendy in the previous class.

Children adapt quickly. There were 2 boys in ds's year last year called the same and so they were xxxxM ad xxxxR. The first boy left and the second boy now is just called by his first name.

Ds has a reasonably common name, but uses a less common shortened version.

racmac · 28/02/2009 07:21

I have a really popular name for ds1 - Thomas dont think its ever gone out of the charts !

DS2 is Aidan and thats not so popular and then we have Ciaran thats not even on the chart!

We have a complete mix then! I didnt really think about it when named DS1 but did decide we wanted something less popular for DS2 and DS3 but it does get a bit annoying having to spell them constantly

lolianja · 28/02/2009 08:54

Ciaran's very common racmac - just not that spelling (which I rather like). Kieran is very popular - I know dozens and it's definitely in the top 50 names.

3girlies · 28/02/2009 15:21

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3girlies · 28/02/2009 16:59

Sorry = please disregard the above as it was my 3 yr old practicing her typing skills!

lunamoon2 · 01/03/2009 11:22

Tbh it didn't cross my mind when I had dd1.
We chose a name that we liked and thought would suit her throughout her life. We also made sure that it went well with our surname and that we could cope with the many shortened versions of the name (although she has always been called by "proper name").

Intersetingly enough, a close relative said at the time "Oh I prefer more unusual names, I don't like common names!!!!!"
This being said our dd has always been the only one in her entire school with that name, whilst said relative's dd, who chose an "uncommon name", is one of 3 in her class.

In short don't waste time trying to pick an unusual name as quite possibly in a few years it will become popular and then you will feel cheated!
Go for.

Belgianchocolates · 01/03/2009 11:31

My brother chose a name (6y ago) which was v unusual in Belgium and even more so here in the UK. Last year it was the no1 boy's name in Belgium. Like luna said. You never know when an unusual name will become popular.

Polony · 01/03/2009 14:06

Ooh, hello belgian - not stalking you, honest...

I have an unusual name, other people have always liked it but I wasn't keen when I was little, always hated being different then. Of course its fine now and when I found out its meaning as a teenager i liked it more. Its just a name, as lots of people have said. I recently discovered that the thing I don't like about my name or the names that my mother likes for girls is that they are very feminine and faerie like - very pretty, but honestly - Guinevere?? (Thats not my name btw just one Mum suggested recently) Thats almost as bad as D'atagnan. I like girls names that I know lots of people don't like, so its going to be tricky - if we choose something I like I'm sure no one else will like it.

The problem with this post is that you're asking what people think of popular names - they wouldn't be popular if most people didn't mind giving their kids names that everyone else has. So you were only ever going to get one majority response.

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