Naming: when every name you choose seems to be super popular!

[Qwerty2000]

This is not a major problem but it is bugging me. This is my first pregnancy and every name I think I like, when I google it it appears in the top 5,10,20 of popular names in 2019.20,21 and even 22! For mums that have children already, is this an issue? Are there ten kids with your child's name in their class now, making you regret the choice? I remember there being a massive bunch of Helen, Jennifer and Louise in my school years. I made the mistake of running some names by my mum and the phrase 'too common' keeps coming up. (Although this is apparently not a problem for classic names like Thomas, Charles etc). Help!

Both my DSs (5&2) have names in the top 10-20 over the last few years. Really not an issue - occasional mild confusion at e.g. soft play when you hear someone else calling your kid's name, but never any problems at nursery/school.

I have one of the very common 80s girls' names you mentioned and there were three of us in my primary class. Two of us were best friends. Again, really no issues.

I would have really liked to give my kids unusual names but they are in the top 40 and top 10.
They’re too young for it to be a problem at school but I had a popular name and it never bothered me having other kids with the same name.

One of my children has a top 10 name and we don’t know another one of a similar age

My other child has a name outside of the top 100 and we know another 2

You can’t predict it. It doesn’t really matter, go for a name you love (and don’t ask MN their opinion on it )

In 1997 I named my dd Sophie-I read years later that it was the no1 girls name in that year
In the last 25 years I’ve met 3 others and work with someone with the same name
In 2000 I named my son Joshua as I’d never met another Joshua-10 where born just after him in the same year
I’d just go with a name you love and don’t give it another thought

There's much more variety nowadays, so a #1 name now is given to fewer children than a #1 name was in previous generations. It doesn't mean as much.

Worse, perhaps, is to go out of your way to choose a less common name, and then find that the parents of their future best friend chose the same one. (Which is not impossible, as you'll tend to have a lot in common with your child's friends parents, especially when they are younger - for a start, you live in the same area, chose the same nursery/school...). The names I hear repeated are not top 10 names. They are names that are fashionable in our circles.

If it helps, I have a Helen/Jennifer/Louise type name and have always had to add an initial at school and at work. As a result, I gave DD1 a fairly obscure name which is now rocketing up the name lists. There’s another girl with the same name in her ballet class. DD2 has an even more obscure name, shared by our new neighbours’ DD. DD3 has a REALLY obscure name and no bugger can pronounce it

I just picked a name I liked, I did look it up the year after and it was 95th most popular or something.

The only names in my sons class which are doubled up are the classics like Thomas, Jack and Benjamin. Most names are a bit more obscure and the most popular name of that year there is only one child with it.

As pp have said, names are so broad and diverse now the most popular names aren't as common as they appear.

This is personal taste and probably controversial but I'd avoid names which are very of the time.

People choose from a much wider pool of names these days so even if you opt for one of the more popular names (say, Olivia), it’s not going to be as common as Sarah, Alison, Claire were in the 1980s. In my kids’ year of 45 pupils (born 2011/12), there are no Olivias and no Jacks. There are three Isaacs, two Arthurs and two Jakes though. None of the girls’ names are repeated. Also…in recent years I see that Isla is a top ten name. I have never met an Isla!!

Both of mine have very popular names. It's been fine and I have no regrets about choosing them. So far there have been no others in their class / nursery with the same name (must have got lucky!?) but whenever we go somewhere where there are lots of kids (soft play etc...) I always clock other kids with the same names. It's no big thing and it doesn't seem to bother my eldest dc (youngest is too young to notice), in fact he feels quite excited when he meets another kid with the same name!

In the long run it won't matter in terms of how they get on in life :) The only thing that does matter is how YOU feel about having your child have a name that (maybe) they'll share with someone else in the class.

My brother Michael (born in '89) was one of about six in his year and it really irritated him that he was always referred to as Mike W.

The reason popularity doesn't affect classic names is because they can't be dated to a certain era :)