If your child is one of many with the same name in their class, does it bother them?

[TalkingBack]

I was one of many with the same name and it never bothered me.

But parents go to so much effort to unsure their child doesn't have a popular name these days, I wondered does it really matter? Has it ever bothered the child? Or is just the parents who are concerned?

I ask as I'm thinking of naming dc2 George which I know is popular

I don't agree that it's only a problem while they're at school. My name is common everywhere you go, and I hate that (though it is a pretty name in itself, I think).

I have given my child a nice unusual name so that he will nearly always be the only one in any group of people.

And no, I'm not one of those 'Oh, I chose Jack 5 years ago when it was really rare, then to my surprise it suddenly became all the rage!' people who appear to have been brainwashed without noticing.

I was one of 5 girls in my class all with the same name. Now in my 40's and there are 3 of us at work, there were 4 but one moved to another site.

Its very frustrating when someone says your name and you stop working only to find out its one of the other 2 they want to talk to.

I don't even like my name very much. My sister is Clare and was born just around the time that Gilbert O'Sullivan had the hit with "Clare".

Having got that little rant over, our DS is George. There is only 1 other in the school and none in his class. Its a family name and it really suits him. We love the name but may be slightly biased.

There is a big difference between giving your child a popular name and the most popular name in your town for the 5th year in a row.

My DS1 has a fairy unusualish (ie not Jack or harry) name, but he arrived at school to find another in his class.

And guess who his best frind is?? They love having the same name, but they are the only 2 in the school.

DS2 has a classic but not top 20 name, he arrived at school and became best frinds with the child in his class with the same name. they use different nickname versions of the name, and they are the only two in the school with this name. They too love having the same name. They think it demonstrates thier frindship.

My point is, you have to go really unusual if you want to ensure there won't be another at school. Also ime the kids don't seem to mind.

Oh, and George is a gorgeous name.

My DD is one of 3 in her class and it's a fairly unusual name. She gets very pissed off with me and wishes she was called our second choice.

Nothing you can do to predict this - my son is called Ari and there is only one other Ari in whole school - in his class. He doesn't seem to mind. They use his surname too. There are 3 Jonathan's in DD's class but none in DSs.

In her class my dd2 is Rachel T and her friend is Rachel D. There are several other girls with matching names (Iona, Eilidh) and none of them are bothered (I don't know about the boys, dd2 doesn't "do" boys - primary 2).

None of them seem to mind. I was one of four of my name at school, and it didn't bother me either.

I had a couple of friends with "unusual" names and they weren't as happy with it as some have made out here.

I was one of many with the same name in my class at school and it didn't bother me at all. I was quite odd in many respects and it was nice to be normal and one of the crowd in one thing at least.