Do you think children want to have a common or an unusual name?

[emkana]

My name was quite unusual in Germany when I grew up and I hated it, I always wanted to have a more common one. Dd1 has quite a popular name and doesn't mind at all meeting others who are called the same as her, whereas dd2's name is more rare and she often says she would like to change it.

So what do you think?

Asked mine tonight. They like their unusual names and find that people react positively to them. But then they're fairly confident people anyway.

I always loved my unusual name as a child. Even now I'd hate to meet someone with the same name. It's my name!

my name is becoming popular now, but as a child it was quite unusual and i agree i hated it, my dd has a fairly middle of the road name, i would never call a child something really weird.

As a child, I liked having a name that no-one else had. Felt quite sorry for all the Sarahs and Kates - there were always three or four of each in every class.

Ds seems to like his name. He doesn't have to be 'Jack T' or 'Jack C' or any other first name + inital combo unlike many of his friends. It's not that unusual - most people know how to say and write it but as it's Welsh it's not that common in England.

My brother's step-son became a school refuser because of his.

Only cured by an elaborate re-naming ceremony which allowed him to start Secondary school called Thomas.

His deep unhappiness - and the ease with which he was made happy again once he finally told us what the problem is is the power behind my "please don't call your child anything that makes you wonder "am I brave enough to use this name"" campaign].

I loved having an unusual name but I don't love the name iyswim.

I've gone for a well known, previously popular but not currently trendy name for dd in the hope that she'll be the only one in her class but will meet others with the same name (even if they are all 20 years older than her lol).

Laura btw.

gosh, I hadn't thought of Laura as being out of fashion, but I suppose you don't meet many small children with that name these days.

I was moderately irritated at having an uncommon name as a child. It was more the spelling that was the issue - you can spell it correctly or pronounce it correctly but never both iyswim.

I like it now, but when I was growing up I wanted to be called Susan.

No, it's not very popular, out of the top 100 now I think.

Would like to give a similar name to any sibs but will struggle to I think, esp for boys.

I hated my non-British name when I was growing up, but now I'm proud of it. Childhood lasts such a short time, I don't think parents should worry too much about scarring their children for life (unless their name of choice is basically a piss-take sort of name).

Mine is unusual (not outlandish, just not very common), and I hated it as a child, not least because I could never get pencils and things with my name on them. I like it now, though!

(I have of course landed my own DD with a similarly unusual name )

Edam, I accept your pity.

I've never been the only Sarah ANYWHERE. All through school, first roommate at uni, every workplace....

I do like my name, my grandfather wanted to name my mom Sarah, but my grandmother insisted on Thelma. So my mom gave it to me instead.

I think something a little less common is nice, but there is a line between unusual and traumatising your kid.

I expect as children they definitely don't want an unusual name. As adults they don't want a common one. So the safe bet is somewhere in between.

I have an unusual name from the country where I was born which I've had to explain the whole of my life.
my ds has a name that dh chose and although it isn't unheard of in uk (or at least where I live) like mine is, it is quite uncommon, and I must admit I'm quite pleased.

I have a very unusual name, and I love it, always have. I've never met another "me" (and would hate it if I did) and I've only ever heard of two or three other people with it. I do frequently get asked about it, but always in a positive way, and it's not made up but goes back to the 13th century, although never common. So I think unusual names, if nice, are great. My sister has a very difficult middle name, which she has dropped (not quite sure what my parents were thinking about there!). It didn't cause any difficulties, she just doesn't use it.

My dh has the name of choice for the year he was born, and at university there really were loads of them, and they all got typical lads nicknames, which he didn't like much. We chose names which we first and foremost really liked and had significance for us, and which were relatively unusual at the time. The nicknames for both are now in the top 10 (grr) I do slightly wish we had chosen more unusual names, but they seem happy with them, and have never had another child with the same name in their class (or year).

I think we have bought things with their names on once or twice in the last 10 years (not hard to do with the nns) I don't see this as being in any way important!

My sister has an unsual name (but a pretty one, and nothing to do with wild animals!) I love it, she loves it, she has never had any trouble.
If it is pretty then I think it's great to have an unusual name.

I just gave my kids 'normal' mames that are out of fashion.
Growing up I had a long double-barelled first name without a hyphen (thanks mum) and it was a bit of a pain to be honest. I am still officially that name but since moving to England I have been introducing myself as just the first part and it is so much easier.

I think the somewhere in the middle is the way to go.

My name is not unusual - but going through school I only knew one other - however as an adult I know lots more (oddly).

One DS has a very common name - there are 3 in his small class (22) alone - but oddly no others in the whole school and no others I can think of in the local area.

My other two Dcs have easy to spell and recognisable names and are the only ones in their school.

I guess when picking names you have to pick something that fits a baby, child, teenager, adult and old person - and something that doesn't traumatise them as a child. And equally might fit their profession in adult - can you imagine a racing driver called Cyril, or a chief executive called Fairy ?!

DS1 loves it when his name is mentioned on TV as there are lots of TV characters with his name but is not popular at school.

DS2 gets jealous as his name is very popular but not really mentioned on TV. His is a Biblical name and there are lots of them at school.

So, they both love having names that others have heard of and they love meeting children with the same name as theirs but is not so popular as to be the 4th Ben/Sam/Thomas iyswim.

i have a dull version of the most boring name on earth. i would love to have something a bit more interesting.

and i was bullied at school anyway so being called ephigenia wouldn't have made any difference.

I don't meet many people with my name, and was the only girl at school with it, I always liked that, partly because it made me seem different. I also liked the fact that I could say why my mum and dad called me the name they did.

When I was in junior school in the 70s there was a 'Kara' 'Katrina' and 'Corrina' in the same class.

I was one of those names above.

I hated my name, but I quite like it now.

Interestingly I went with quite run of the mill names for my DCs.

I loathed my one sylable, very over used, name. To make matters worse, my surname was only one sylable, and also had a very dull middle name. My Mother regretted not calling me the unusual family name she loved, when she realised how many others with my name were in my class - especially at senior school which was all girls school. I was so envious of my 3 best friends, Susannah, Jessica and Elisabeth, with the different options for nn's they all had.
Now, DH's best friends wife has my name, one of my best friends has my name, my other best friend has my middle name, and I am always running into others. It gets confusing at toddler groups etc... When we used to this area, I seriously considered changing my name to the name my parents had wanted to call me, but not been brave enough. DH and parents were supportive (it was actually my mums idea). I decided in the end that I actually like my name, just not how many others have it, and as my married surname is long, at least my whole name together isn't really dull anymore. I thought it would be a bit pretentious to change it completely now, when my name is just dull, not ugly.

Needless to say, my daughters have unusual names! And they are long, with multiple options for nn's. They have a much more normal middle name each, so that they can switch to that in the future if they so choose. My son has a more normal name, as important family name for my DH, but its a long one with lots of options for nn's.

I'm sure this is partly down to the kind of personality you have. So far my 6 year old loves her unusual name, and was most put-out when she discovered another one , even though it was only in her French textbook at school!

Liked my common name as a child...thought it was quite pretty in fact. Liked the fact that there was another girl with the same name in my class.
Now it's common in the worse sense of the word. It is up there with Tracey and Debbie