Names: do you choose popular or unusal?

[GillW]

Just wondered - how did you all choose your children's names? And did you take account of how popular that name was at the time when you made your choice?

I was reading yesterday that the list of popular names for 2002 has just been published, and that Jack has now been the most popular boys' name for the past eight years, and Chloe the top girls' name for the past six years.

Personally, knowing that, I'd avoid those names like the plague, because I'd hate my child to share a name with several classmates, but obviously that doesn't apply to a lot of people, hence their continuing popularity.

Now I can see some advantages in having a popular name, in that you'll always be able to buy personalised products, and most people will know how to spell it, but beyond that....?

Equally, would you choose a very unusual name?

Incidentally, if anyone's interested the lists for the last 5 years for England and Wales are here for boys , and for girls

For babies born in Scotland, they're here , and here for Northern Ireland .

[Chiccadum]

My dd1 has a very popular name but with an unusual speilling and my dd2 has quite an unusual name but it is rapidly rising in the popularity stakes. I have a friend who called her son Reuben which i think is nice, although i would not have called mine it, (if i had had a boy it would definately have been Thomas), and a friend of mine has a nephew called Eban and a neice called Zea, I personally love unusual names but some can be a bit too weird or obscure (one girl i know called her daughter Shakira Britney, although the first is a nice name it's too much

[Eulalia]

I probably would have asked for the thread eventually anyway if I'd not found it ... seems I too don't have better things to do than look for my own name which I posted 2 years ago on a website!

I doubt if many are reading this thread anyway as there is always so many juicy discussions going on ...

[SoupDragon]

Sorry! I didn't hink I was blowing anyone's cover seeing as everyone else seemed to have guessed or found it anyway.

And I have plenty of better things to do, it's just that none f them are as interesting and I can't resist a "challenge"

(and in my defense, I waited to post the link until after everyone else seemed to be able to find it apart from Eulalia.)

[elliott]

surprised that you don't have better things to do....but I guess this IS mumsnet

[CAM]

surprised?!!....what at how nosy we are?!!...

[elliott]

oh, and don't worry about blowing the cover, eulalia - I suppose I was just slightly surprised that several people were interested enough to work it out!!

[elliott]

short, brown and rapidly greying !

[Eulalia]

elliot - sorry I feel responsible for pushing this sorry to 'spill the beans' even if only indirectly ...

The thing is I looked at that thread earlier and missed that post ... I think that was the only time I have ever used my real name and was probably not long after I joined mumsnet...

Bobbins - not red hair but long, blond and certainty tousled due to usually not having time to brush it! I can't speak for elliott but perhaps we'd better stop here before we start comparing vital statistics !

[elliott]

cheers, soupdragon - so much for anonymity.....I suppose I did start it though
Never mind, all my RL friends are completely computer illiterate so I think I'm still safe

[SoupDragon]

here it is, Eulalia. It's the third post up from the bottom (or 3rd one down if you flop it!)

[CAM]

Thanks for that,I'm so nosy!

[Tissy]

I found it, too, and it's a lovely name. It was on the shortlist for dd, but I decided that our family already had too many Old Testament names beginning with R!

[ScummyMummy]

Haven't found it but think I can guess it if putting a t in front makes it an honest word!

[Bobbins]

Me too. Makes me imagine you both to have long tousled/curly red hair.

[Tinker]

Found it as well!

[Hilary]

I confess I found it too, without too much difficulty. And yes, it is a nice name...

[Eulalia]

SoupDragon - how did you manage to find it and I didn't???

Confused ????

[SoupDragon]

I found it! It's a nice name. I once had a Calligraphy teacher with that name.

[CAM]

Eulalia and Elliott give us a clue as to your shared name!

[Eulalia]

Elliott - call me obsessive but I really just couldn't think when I had ever used my name so I did a search on it. It came up with a heap of results till I realised that it hadn't found my/your name at all - it was looking at the word with a t in front of it which of course makes a real word...

This must be confusing for anyone else reading it Anyway I never found the post but if it had Eulalia at the top if it (there is only one of them) then it must be me

[elliott]

I was doing a search for info on cloth nappies - can't remember which thread it was on but it was a post from at least six months ago, maybe longer. I like my name too

[Eulalia]

elliot - are you sure... I've not to my knowledge ever signed myself with my real name on any post?

I don't think my (our) name is old fashioned either and in fact I quite like it but it seems rare to find us these days and it is a very old name so some may think it is old fashioned.

[elliott]

eulalia - just found out we DO have the same real life name!! (was looking up something on an old thread and found a message where you'd signed off with your real name). But I've still never thought of it as old fashioned....

[laganlover]

Grommit - the names go down pretty much as you'd expect over there (but live in Kent now, so OK) - either with out and out hilarity , 'sorry what did you say?', or staunch politeness - not as bad as when the midwife told me that I couldn't possible call her Darcy 'with thighs like that!"
Susanmt. Have never fallen into the Lagan hence able to call myself a lover!

[star]

I come from a family of unusual names.My Dad wanted to call my brother Youngblood when he was born,my mother put her foot down there thankfully for him.Dh wanted to call ds Mingus-no way was I letting him do that.He has a very common name but beautiful and old fashioned and he is named after someone famous who was clever and a bit of a cad and who I liked the sound of.Dd has an unusual French name because we adore France and things French.And because dh didn't like my suggestion of Roxanna and I didn't want his Elizabeth.We love it but we had a bit of opposition from the outlaws who called it strange when she was born.Most people say how pretty it is and if they didn't like it I suppose they wouldn't comment.Ds's middle name is after my dad.Dd has two as dh wanted it to be his granmothers name and I loved the name Laura as well.