Does popularity affect your babynaming?

[MamaScout]

When I was pg with DS, we loved the girl's name we had picked out. At the the time, it wasn't that popular of a name, now it's in the top 10. Since we're pg again, we thought of dusting off the name, only to find out it's very popular now. We really love the name, but don't want our child to have the same name as many others in her class, and frankly, we want it to be a little different.

Now it seems that every name I pick is pretty high in the ranking, say in the top 50 or so, and rising to the top. How the heck is this possible? I keep thinking I'm all original but apparently I'm not.

I have a very popular name and sometimes I've wished it was a little different. It works fine for me, but I don't want my kid to ever think, "jeez, mom, couldn't you have been a little more original?"

I'm having such a hard time finding the line between a little bit different, and completely out in left field. While I don't want to give my child a super-popular name, I also don't want to give her a name that she's constantly going to have to tell people how to spell or pronounce.

How do some of you find the balance? Do you let trends influence you one way or the other? Should I just give my baby a name I like and forget what the rankings say? I'm making myself crazy here. :

[PiePie]

yes. dh wanted a name as unpopular as possible -- at least not in the top 200. i wanted a name that was not in the top 20. my favorite boy's name met my criterion but not his. we found it a lot harder to find unusual male names that we liked. there are so many unusual but not weird in a bad way girl's names out there. my own name was #50 the year i was born and i found it just the right level of popularity -- recognizable but never one in my class.... in fact i was surprised to see it was as high as 50!

[nolonger]

Yes. Most of they boy's names I like are too popular, so I won't use them. I still feel like my top choice of boy's names is kind of a compromise: Pax Sequoia. I would prefer to call him Sequoia, but there are just too many of them so I will only use it as a middle name and will call him Pax.

My first full-term dd's name was considered too weird and "out there" for a boy (but grudgingly barely acceptable for a girl) when I was pregnant with her, which I didn't understand since it felt perfectly gender neutral to me. I get a certain "Tolja so!" satisfaction from the fact that it was in the top 100 for BOY'S names in 2000, but I would never use it for a girl today and probably not for a boy either, although my son loves it and wanted me to dust it off for his little brother.

When I first chose bean's girl's name, I absolutely loved it and thought that it was so original, but I am devastated to find that she is one of four in my ddc. My dd thinks that I should definitely consider changing it to something less trendy. It fits Bean so well that I'm not sure if I can, though.

[LittleLlama]

Ya know, it's never sure fire. When my mom named me, she didn't know any other Sarah's (same with my brother Jason) and with each of us, it wasn't until we were in middle school that the extreme popularity of the names became apparent.

[mothragirl]

dd's name is around 300, the same as mine was. unless i had a compelling reason (like the baby told me or something) , i would not choose a name in the top 100, and would try to avoid the top 200.

[konamama]

i wasnted to stay away from the names that were increasing in popularity when dd was born in 2003, Lily was one of those names, we were leaning towards Stella. dd was born on easter, she totally wasn't a Stella and was 100% my Easter Lily - we have met a handful and she thinks it's cool and it doesn't bug me as much as i thought, i guess because i feel like she kind of picked it... i have a very unusual name, wasn't so cool with it as a child, would love to have been named Sarah :-)) but am cool with it now. pick a name that feels right, that fits your child once you meet them and forget about the rest... go with your gut...

[Mackenzie]

Yeah, I speak as someone whose name was not even in the top 500 when I was born, and was around 250 in 1990 and is now around number 50, it SUCKS! When my children were in school, there was ALWAYS a Mackenzie in their class : I named my children even thinking ahead, I really don't see a surge in popularity there.

[crh'smama]

I chose a unique name for my ds. I have no idea the ranking, but I pray it doesn't become popular. I have a name that wasn't popular either. I guess I take after my Dad! I am so new to this, I thought I had picked out a signiture with all the icons, but it doesn't show up when i do a post!

[GooeyRN]

I am like you. I don't want anything too popular, but don't want anything out in left field, either. Its so hard to pick a good name! I did come up with what I thought was a perfect name for my dd, but am now having problems coming up with a name for a boy. sigh.

[Daisie125]

I won't even think about a name that is in the top 500, and I prefer it not to be on the list at all. There are lots of names that are very easy to spell and say that don't appear on the list, you just have to hunt for them.

[mf_colon]

Having a very common name myself, I would have to say popularity is an issue. Like you, I would not want my child later on down the line to say to me "why weren't you more original?"

It basically took alot of research and baby name books before we came up with a name we liked. Wasn't easy but we kept at it until something clicked for us. Heck, we did not pick the name until the baby was almost born!

And just a piece of advice, dont tell too many people the name you choose or are thinking about- family and friends can be the biggest wet blanket when it comes to baby names.

Good Luck!

[Justmee]

Rena is a fairly popular name in our community, she might have one other kid in her class with the name, but not 10. Nechama & Rivka are more traditional names, more popular in some areas, but still considered classic and well known. I honestly didn't think about it much before naming them, the name suited the child and the situation.

I haven't done too much thinking about this one yet. Ideally s/he won't have 10 other kids in the class with the same name, and it won't be a never heard of how do you pronounce it name either.

[Avocado]

I avoid at least the top 200. Some of the top names are so beautiful, but I don't want my kids to be one of the 10 Sophia's or Isabella's in their class. They are gorgeous classic names, but not at all original.

[philomom]

Originally Posted by Avocado

I avoid at least the top 200. Some of the top names are so beautiful, but I don't want my kids to be one of the 10 Sophia's or Isabella's in their class. They are gorgeous classic names, but not at all original.

Yep, neither one of my kid's names made the top 200 list for that year they were born.

[janellesmommy]

Originally Posted by noordinaryspider

I would prefer to call him Sequoia, but there are just too many of them so I will only use it as a middle name and will call him Pax.

I checked the social security database, and Sequoia isn't in the top one thousand for any years.

[pixiesmommy]

Well, my name is Amanda, and although I am called Manda which is a little less common, there are still enough of us around that I'm never the only one in the dr's office or a class. I wasn't named after anyone- not my first name anyway- and I have a rather common last name too... so common that I've run into 2 other women with my first AND last name (we shared a dentist- it was a real pain to keep our records straight.)

So, I do tend to lean a little more toward original names or ones that aren't quite so popular. BUT, having said that, you can't ever tell what the text trendy name will be. I tend to look to really old names, but it seems like everyone is going that route these days too!

Here is a cool little tool: http://babynamewizard.com/namevoyager/lnv0105.html

Manda

[nolonger]

Originally Posted by janellesmommy

I checked the social security database, and Sequoia isn't in the top one thousand for any years.

I live in Humboldt County, CA.



He wouldn't even be the only "Sequoia B." in his class; they'd call him something like "Sequoia B. with the black hair who likes cats and talks too much".

[ollineeba]

Originally Posted by mf_colon

just a piece of advice, dont tell too many people the name you choose or are thinking about- family and friends can be the biggest wet blanket when it comes to baby names.

Good Luck!

Great advice here. I learned that lesson. With dd we decided to keep our name choice to ourselves. When people would ask we would just say "Oh, we haven't decided yet," then look to the other one and say "Honey, we probably should think about that soon, huh?" and it worked fine. Made me look a little ditzy, but oh well DH and I learned that sometimes you have to do what you have to do to get your privacy and to avoid those annoying comments.

[ollineeba]

I would prefer to stay out of the top 50, but if you really love a name, I think you should go with what feels right to you.
DH and I picked out dd's name years before she was born. By the time she was born, it was on the top 20 list. I just couldn't find anything else that felt as right, though, so we went with it. We've done tons of baby gym and dancing classes and we've only ever met one other person with the same first name. She has a very unusual middle name, though, and we often combine both just because it sounds nice and only 3 syllables total.
Just about everyone I know (thinking nieces, nephews, cousins, etc) has chosen a name that would fall in the top 50. It's not tragic I think you should just go with what feels right to you- whatever name you just love.

[mommajb]

I think it depends on gender. So mamy girls names are popular. If it is in the top 200 you will hear it on others. Boy names however are a bit different. The top 50 are used with great frequency and I think the others are seen a bit less. This has been my experience. I try to avoid the super popular but also like classic names - and am batting 2/3 on the girls, can't decide if my son's name is popular or not. His is in the top 100, I have heard of others but never personally met any and he is almost 11.