Classic baby names?

[WasabiMommi]

Why are all the names I chose super popular now? For mystery baby #2 I had mentally set aside: Ava Ann (Ann is my middle name and I share it with my mom and grandma so, wanted to pass it on), Ella and Wesley, Oliver, and Luke but, now DH is deciding he doesn't like those anymore. He wants to change the Ava to Eva but, I am not sure that sounds good with Ann. Anyway, I am looking for classic style names. Whenever I search I get a ton of international, new age, and religious names. I tend to like short classic names, DD is Lilly Marie...Anyone know a website where I might find some? TIA!

[philomom]

Ava is super popular. Maybe go with Ann as the first name.That is a very classic name for girls.

Rose Ann

Daisy Ann

[NorthernPixie]

www.nameberry.com seems to have lots of lists.

[MaerynPearl]

have you tried telling nymbler.com what you like and letting it choose similar names for you?

[ledzepplon]

I think "popular" is relative. First of all, I was recently reading that even the most popular of childrens' names right now are not used nearly as often as the top names of, say, 1960--so naming your child Ava isn't even close to what it was to name your little one Mary back in the day.

Also, some names are popular just because they are so beautiful. So personally, I say use the name you love.

[Galatea]

Originally Posted by ledzepplon

I think "popular" is relative. First of all, I was recently reading that even the most popular of childrens' names right now are not used nearly as often as the top names of, say, 1960--so naming your child Ava isn't even close to what it was to name your little one Mary back in the day.

Also, some names are popular just because they are so beautiful. So personally, I say use the name you love.

Yes, but I have older kids and can tell you that there are about 3 Avas per grade in school/preschool.

[fancyoats]

you can look on the social security website to see a name's popularity ranking for any given year, way back to 1879. it's a gold mine of awesome names, if you go back far enough. it's also good for seeing whether your chosen name is popular NOW, gaining popularity, etc.

[fancyoats]

and just a quick peruse told me that Ava is #5 in popularity for 2009.

[Peony]

There are certainly Avas around but like others have said, popular names todays are not the same 50 years ago.

[MaerynPearl]

Originally Posted by Peony

There are certainly Avas around but like others have said, popular names todays are not the same 50 years ago.

Except Aiden and/or other variants of that... and a few other names.

Including Ava.

[FarrenSquare]

For classic names, I absolutely love both Grace, Pearl, and Flora. Another one I really love that nobody seems to agree is Amity. So pretty.

[jenifera2]

Everyone has their own comfort level with how popular a name is, but even names like Ava and Isabella (2009's most popular name) do not come close to the frequency of use of names in the past. For example:

At its peak popularity, Mary was used for about 34,000 of every 1,000,000 babies born.
At its peak popularity, Jennifer was used for about 17,000 of every 1,000,000 babies born.
In 2009 (its peak) Isabella was used for about 5,000 of every 1,000,000 babies.
In 2009 Ava was used for just under 4,000 of every 1,000,000 babies.

These stats come from the Baby Name Wizard and might reassure some people that if they pick a name they love it's unlikely that there will be 3 or 4 kids of the same name in their child's classroom. That said, names also do show regionality, so it's entirely possible that where you live a name will be a lot more common than it is nationally and you'll still have a problem. I have no idea how you'd go about figuring that out, though.

[nd_deadhead]

I had 2 other Ann's in my 7th grade math class, in 1974. When DH and I lived in a coed dorm in college, there were 2 other Toms out of 34 men on his floor. We all figured out how to identify ourselves, and others figured out how to differentiate us. Sharing a name with someone isn't that big a deal.

ETA I think Ava Ann is a beautiful name!

[MacKinnon]

I think you often see higher numbers of certain names depending on your community/area but that it's really hard to predict! My daughter Avery had two other Avery's in the 15 student preschool class she was in, plus an Ava in the other room, but in all 3 sections of Kindergarten she is the only Avery. I'm not aware of an Ava in the three rooms either. So, it's a toss up! I'm not going to loose too much sleep over the popularity of a certain name!

[JessieBird]

What about Ada Ann instead of Ava? It's really old and hasn't come back yet. It's similar to Ava but also very different somehow. It has a far more classic feel than Ava does to me, and it's both pretty and strong. It's feisty and independent but still feminine sounding.
Good luck!

[pollyanna123]

The Social Security website also lets you search popularity by state, so even though it's not quite as good as getting specific regional information, it's better than nothing.

When we were naming our DD Claire, it was in the top 100 nationally, but it was right around 100th for our state. I do think popularity can be random, though, because even though Emma is WAY WAY more popular than Claire on the lists, we know more kids named Claire than Emma.

[trekkingirl]

Clara
Pearl
Ruth
Olive
Beth
Ellanor
Josephine
Arlene

[meli-mello]

When choosing a name for both of my girls I always consulted the Alberta Baby Name Registry which is produced every year in my province. That way I can kind of figure out what is popular right now for where we live. Of course, the names we choose aren't very popular. DD#1 is Moira and DH was really REALLY pusing to name DD#2 Finnuala which is very Irish and sounds lovely when the Irish say it but I just don't think it is going to translate as well into Alberta-red neck speech. We have narrowed our list down to Ivy and Audrey and I'm 95% certain we are going to go with Audrey Irene. I like the old lady names. If it were up to me Moira would have been Maude although I really do love the name Moira.

[coffeegirl]

Originally Posted by philomom

Ava is super popular. Maybe go with Ann as the first name.That is a very classic name for girls.

Rose Ann

Daisy Ann

I like this idea. Also I love the idea of a double-barrelled first name, which Ann is perfect for. My baby due in 3 weeks for instance is named Annemarie.

I heard Ann Jane the other day which sounds awkward at first but the more I think of it, the prettier it is. You could also do Ann Claire...or Ann Ava! lol
Or Mariann...Or just Ann by itself like the pp mentioned. I think it's really pretty although personally I'd add the "e" at the end.

[WasabiMommi]

So, I have been going over hundreds of names and here are my current ideas:

Girl: Evelyn ( or Eveline) Ann - Eva or Evie as a nn?

Boy: Lucas Donald or Wesley Donald

Trying to keep Ann as a middle name for a girl and Donald for a boy. I much prefer passing family names as a middle rather than a first name. But, I am having a lot of trouble thinking of names that go with Donald. We have a 4 letter last name and everything I think of sounds awkward, lol.

My father in law and my husbands best friend are both names Donald. Do you think if we kept Donald as the first name, it would be too many Don's running around?