Interesting Article :The REAL Top Ten in Names

[Starry-eyedMom]

For those of you interested in or struggling with names, there is a great site with many lists and thoughtful blog posts on baby names. One of their articles addresses name popularity, including variations in spelling and similar sounding names (something the SSA lists don't do).

This post is on girl names:
http://nameberry.com/blog/2010/01/14...0-or-12-or-13/

This was an eye-opener for me as I love the name Sophia, but it's even higher on the popularity meter than I thought!

[limette]

I was reading somewhere recently that even if you pick the number one name it is highly unlikely that it will be a common as Sarah and Jennifer were in the 80's (when you'd have 5 in your class).

This is because the amount of names to choose from has become so huge with people inventing new names all the time. There will always be a number 1 name but it's just not going to be number 1 in the same way as it was 20 years ago.

Both my kids have popular names and I've only met 1 other for each of them. Before I found out the sex I was going to name the name baby Sophie and I've only met 1 other Sophie and no Sophias.

[staceychev]

You really never know. My older daughter (b. 2005) is Lucy--popularity was 173 that year according to SSA. Yet we were at the zoo a few weeks back, and DH noticed parents addressing FIVE other Lucys of a similar age!

[MaerynPearl]

DS has three Kayleigh/Kaylee/Kailee in his class... not even in his grade, just his class alone. (this is 3 out of 20 students)

So yeah, I do agree that picking too popular of a name will be just as annoying as being named Jennifer/Ashley/etc. used to be.

That isn't stopping me from naming my son Alexander knowing that he will likely not be the only Alexander in his class at any given time though.... it comes with enough nicknames that he wont have to be Alexander D.

Glad neither of my girl names are in the top 100 of any list I have ever seen (Ive only found 2 girls that share my DDs name in all of my extensive searching... and my girl name for this one is Maeryn which isn't exactly common.)

[DeChRi]

When my mom suggested Rylee (11 yrs ago) for my DD, I had never heard of one and thought...what an original name! Now every second kid her age is named that, lol. Oh well!

[Starry-eyedMom]

I have a son with the ubiquitous name of Aidan. He is almost 5 and I honestly had never met anyone with that name before we chose it. Shortly after, we realized it was quite popular already and on the rise, but at that point, we both had our hearts set on it so decided not to change... Of course, a lot of the best sounding names (to many people's ears) WILL become the most popular, so I'm okay with it, I guess!

[bri276]

If I meet another Maddy I'm going to scream. I'd love to see what happened with Madison/Madeline et. al grouped together. I'd especially love to see it regionally. I am beginning to count when I hear of a baby girl born who is NOT a Maddy!

It's funny because Lily is my name and only once did I have another Lily in my class. I'm still not used to ever hearing my name in public the way Jennifers are- I reflexively turn around or look up every time someone calls "Lily!" and it's about half the time I go to the playground! My daughter has a very 80s name that was in the 70s on the SSA list when she was born. I never run into children her age with this name, with the one huge exception that there is another girl in her preschool class with the name so they do have to use last initial. You never can win.

[MaerynPearl]

My stepmom used to call my son (Matt) Mattie when he was little despite me asking her not to until one day I snapped and yelled HE IS NOT A GIRL STOP CALLING HIM THAT...

up until that point the only other Maddie I knew was a dog. Now its all over the place.

[kittywitty]

Originally Posted by bri276

If I meet another Maddy I'm going to scream. I'd love to see what happened with Madison/Madeline et. al grouped together. I'd especially love to see it regionally. I am beginning to count when I hear of a baby girl born who is NOT a Maddy!

I know it! Other than an Anne Rice character and the French book, I had never ever ever heard the name anywhere. What do you know? My oldest's name is Madeline and in any given class/group, there are at least 3 other Madelines or Madisons and all nicknamed Maddie.

My 5 yo is Abigail and I had NEVER met anyone named Abby or Abigail and I swear half the kids in town here are named Abby. It is SUCH a PITA. My SIL is Ashley and she has two best (!) friends named Ashley and was one of at least 10 in our graduating class (we went to school together).

[dannic]

I discovered this when I read the baby naming book beyond Jennifer and Jason...(fun reads, btw) I agree that there is a real disparity between the ssa top ten and what actually goes on out there.

[CherryBomb]

Originally Posted by DeChRi

When my mom suggested Rylee (11 yrs ago) for my DD, I had never heard of one and thought...what an original name! Now every second kid her age is named that, lol. Oh well!

I have a Riley, too, it shocks me how many kids I come across with that name! When we named her I'd only ever met one other Riley,and that was a kid I had gone to school with. We have a Bailey, too, which was pretty popular for awhile. And a Rory, but that one is pretty uncommon. (All girls, too, most Baileys and Rorys seem to be boys).

I'm surprised to see Lily so high on the list, I've never met a Lily.

[Noah's mommy]

My 5 yo is Abigail and I had NEVER met anyone named Abby or Abigail and I swear half the kids in town here are named Abby. It is SUCH a PITA. My SIL is Ashley and she has two best (!) friends named Ashley and was one of at least 10 in our graduating class (we went to school together).

My name is Abigail (Abby) and growing up (I'm 31) I never knew another Abby or Abigail. I could never, ever find the barrettes or pencils with my name on them. It sort of made me hate my name-I wanted to be Kristen or Julie-something much more common. I teach elementary school and there are so many more Abbys now!

My kids are Noah and Sophie-and this one will be Stella. I love the names despite their popularity. Besides, we're in a foreign country where none of these is exceedingly popular so it negates some of popularity!

[mariaz]

We have a Delilah, born in 2007 at the height of "Hey there Delilah" popularity.

I didn't think it would be too big of a deal, how many people would go with Delilah after years of obscurity.

Well, we live in a mid sized rural town on the east coast and just at our doctor's office there are 4 other Delilahs!

I love her name but I hope she doesn't have to be Delilah S her whole life.

[Coco_Hikes]

We had no idea that Sophia was on the popularity chart when we chose Sophie many years ago and then used it in 2006. We have yet to meet another Sophie, but there's rarely not a Sophia anywhere we go. And folks seem to mishear when one of us says her name is Sophie not Sophia, so people definitely seem more used to that name nowadays. Our daughter has a unique nickname that has stuck for the past year, so she has something to help separate her from all the same-namers at the playground!

Our girl name for this time is also on the list, but at least we know what we're getting in to. Boy name, though, is safely unpopular!

[elmh23]

My daughter is Sarah, a name so popular among my age-mates (I'm 27.) However, we've only met two other Sara's (neither with the h on the end) and in her school, grades Pre-K to 8th grade, 200 students, my Sarah is the only one.

[St. Margaret]

Yeah, our DD is Sophie, and I am a teacher, and it was fairly uncommon for years. We picked it, and about a month after her birth, it shot up the lists. Whatever! It's her name, no other name would do.

[mediumcrunch]

I have a Katie (Katherine), Emma, Grace and Lucy. My Emma is at the top age range for the popularity of that name but it is still crazy how many Emma's are out there. Katie is as popular as Heather and Jennifer was in the 80's except most Katie's we know are not Katherine but some variation on Kaitlin/Caitlin/Katelyn/ etc.................
I only know a couple other Lucy's, it seems to be up and coming but nowhere NEAR the popularity of my other girls names.
Boys: I have a Jackson, Ian, Benedict and Tristan. Ian is a few years older than all the other Ian's. He came in the mid 90's before the Ian/Liam/Ethan craze
My Jack is way older than all the little Jaxon's running around. There are NO Jack's his age thankfully. Benedict, despite Pope Benedict XVI election, still hasn't broken the top 1000 and Tristan I am finding out is almost as popular a girls name as boy :roll: I don't want to offend but Tristan is a boys name and if one more person asks me if I named him after Brad Pitt's character in Legends of the Fall I will *scream*.
This baby will be Max. #1 name for dogs in the US. :sigh: but it was the only name dh and I could agree on. Maximilian Frederick.

[Pixie26]

Yep-


Seems like there are sure a lot of Quinn's nowadays- both male and female. I have a 4 year old male Quinn.