Baby Name Popularity

[eleven]

There seems to be a common belief that more popular = less desirable when it comes to baby names. I admit to checking names on the Social Security website (http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/) myself and find a certain satisfaction in the fact that my DD's name (Audrey) is fairly rare. However...

Our boy name is Ethan (and has been since I was pregnant with DD). I had no idea that it was so popular until I saw it was #5 in 2004! Does that mean I have to pick something else? I don't think so.

As a Sarah, my name was never unique. I was ALWAYS Sarah M in school. The thing is - it never really bothered me. I LOVE my name and can't imagine being called anything else. I even have a friend named Sarah and everytime we see each other or call on the phone, we always giggle like little girls saying "Hi Sarah!" "Hi Sarah!"

Now I'm leaning towards keeping Ethan if the meatball turns out to have... well... meatballs. :blush Of course if it's a girl, we'll just have to come up with something completely different!

So what do you think about popular names? Do they bother you? Are you trying to avoid them?

[KarmaChameleon]

I admit....I would prefer it if no other child shared my kids' names. I have yet to meet another Ruby, but we know several kids named Sage and it bugs me a little.

I figure with this baby, whose name will be Patience, we are pretty safe :)

BTW, I am Amanda and I hate having other Amandas in school. Of course, that probably had to do with the fact that I was such a loser and all the other Amandas were cool and pretty and popular. But I digress.....

[veganf]

I used to want my children to have very unique names...until the name I liked the most wsn't unique at all! And now I don't think it bothers me in the least.
An older girl at the playground the other day asked Ryan what his name was. He told her, and she said, "oh, that's a cool name!" I have to say, if I'd chosen Egbert (no offense if someone out there likes that name!) I doubt it would have ellicited the same response!!

Also, as an adult, I think it's much easier to have a name that people at least don't have to ask again what it was. Same for bizarre spellings. (However, another girl name I like is Anikka, if we somehow end up with a second girl some day, so there goes my theory!)

- krista

[sarahkjack]

I don't mind having a popular name, as long as it's one I really like. When my boys were born, their names were NOT popular (Nathaniel & Ethan), but they have moved up on the list. DD's name is VERY popular, lol....Emily. I am also a Sarah, but I have to say I think there was only one other Sarah in my entire class!

[eleven]

Also, as an adult, I think it's much easier to have a name that people at least don't have to ask again what it was. Same for bizarre spellings. (However, another girl name I like is Anikka, if we somehow end up with a second girl some day, so there goes my theory!)



Good point! My husband is from Germany, as is our last name. Even though I spell it every time I say it, we still get a lot of misspellings and it is rare that people pronounce it correctly. His first name is Stefan and the only way people understand it is if he pronounces it with the French pronounciation (Stephane). It's a pain!

[minimunklemama]

I didn't really pay attention when I chose my DD's name(Isabella)then after she was born we just met SO many.my MIL has three in her class next fall plus an Isabel! so when it came to choosing for DS I defiantly wanted something a little different.his name is Griffin,I have seen a couple on these boards but never met any IRL yet and for this babe I do want something a little different.I am called Natasha and was the only one at school with that name and still rarely meet any and I do like that.
Sopia and Ava are two names that I LOVE for this babe but I don't know If I will use them as I know a few of both already.my best friend sent me a book of names form England and Imogen was in there,i had completely forgotten about that and I like that alot.
for a boy I like Oliver and Cosmo but one,DH doesn't like Cosmo and two,our last name ends in o so it won't work,that goes for milo too,which i absolutely love!!!:(

[eleven]

I am also a Sarah, but I have to say I think there was only one other Sarah in my entire class!

You're not the only Sarah in your Due Date Club, though! :lol

[cam&kat's_mom]

Well we're back and forth on teh name issue.
For girl names I liek more classic or traditonal names, rather than trendy popular names. BUT if youlook at what is popular now it is mostly those older traditional names (emma, elizabeth, grace, sophia, etc) There are still trendy names up there like mackenzie, madison, etc. I really try to avoid these names as i want a more traditonal but not overly popular name. But my kids are going ot be homeschooled so we won't have to worry about having more thatn one Whatever in a class :) LOL
But boys names I just go with what sounds good to me. And they arent' really classic or overly popular. We have a Cameron and if this bean is a boy it will be Jackson. For middle names we use family names (my dad or FIL)
Fo rgirls we have a kathleen (family name and semi traditional but not overly popular) and still undecided for this one but it'll be something Grace so maybe Alison or Meredith or Caroline. With Grace as a middle name. Who knows ? :)

[mrs rockstar]

I think I tend to gravitate towards the less traditional and therefore less popular names...however dd's name seems to be making a big comeback recently!!

For this one, I like Elliott for a girl (still working on dh about that) so I think we'd be safe popularity wise with that one :lol

[Mybabymommy]

We wanted actual unique names, and not just unique spellings.

So we went with Elisia (E'lee'see'yah) and Elora for the girls. Great up until by brothers had an Alanah and a Leona.....try and call those 4 all at once LOL

[ColoradoMama]

Honestly, I don't like trendy names for my kids. My oldest daughter's name is consistently in the top ten, but it doesn't bug me. It's not a trendy name, just a continually popular name - Elizabeth. It is a family name that is very important and means a lot to me. My son's name is Raymond which isn't unusual, but it's not incredibly popular either. However, our old neighbor was Ray our new neighbor is Ray the guy at the post office is Ray and there is another boy in my son's preschool (of 30 kids) named Ray! Doesn't bother me in the least. I love the name and he is named after my dad. My youngest daughter's name is Olivia. Honestly, I think the history of her name bothers me more than the fact that it is so popular. We had originally planned to name her Theresa after my grandmother, but decided that we'd just pick a name that we liked (we like Theresa - I mean we wanted to pick a name that we liked just for the heck of it!). Her middle name is Marie which is my MILs middle name. The part that really bites is that when we told MIL about it her resonse was, "Why don't you name her Ruth after my mother?" I think I seriously could have strangled her. The fact that she isn't in the slightest honored that her granddaughter is named after her REALLY bugs me. I really wish we'd have named her Theresa because I KNOW my grandmother would have loved it. With the names we have picked out this time, we picked names with meanings that were important to us and names that were honoring someone important to us. We just picked a name we liked with Olivia. I feel like she was cheated and it REALLY, REALLY bugs me (if you can't tell!) The fact that Olivia is so popular is just makes it worse. If it was at least a name I though was beautiful and that WASN'T #7 for 2003, I think I'd like it better.

BUT - if you have a name you love and there will be three other kids in your child's class with the same name - who cares? You're the mommy and one of the cool things about being a parent is that we get to pick our kids names!

[majick1]

My 13 y.o. DD is Chelsea which I thought was a little different way back in 1993. When she started school there were MANY others!!! My 6 y.o. DD is Kirsten and I still don't hear it that often. DS, 14 months, is Brayden. Now I notice that it's becoming very popular. I'm just glad we didn't g owith the other chice, Aiden. It's one of the top boys names. I try to pick something slightly unusual but not too funky. That's what I get I suppose!!!

:o

[tatgurl]

:innocent

[tatgurl]

Well, when we chose our DS's name (before we were married and long before we started trying for kids) it was not popular at all . We just thought it was a cool name and REALLY liked it.... His name is Aidan!! the year he was born (2001) it wasn't even on the top 100 list (I don't even think that it was on SATC yet), but now it's been #1 for the last two years. So, you never really know what will be popular. At least there won't be many in HIS class, but whenever anyone hears what his name is they ALWAYS say "oh my sister/friend/cousin's son's name is Aidan". Getting kind of old, but we still LOVE his name.

My other son's name is unusual, but not unheard of. His name is Seamus (shay-mus), and most people have at least heard of the name before and like it. He really fits his name too!!

minimunklemama- my son would LOVE you. He really wants us to name this new baby Milo, but we are refusing.

[peilover010202]

I personally shy away from popular names. I don't want my kids to have a name that one or more kids in their class has. I grew up not ever having any other Stephanie's in any class. I liked it.

But, more than that, I just think a name is such an important thing to bestow on a child. I want it to be different because I want my child to be different. Not as in different is bad, but as in "oh yeah, his name is Owen and he is the greatest chef, pianist, artist, electrician, engineer, teacher, whatever." I want him to stand out.

And, there are so many names in the world. I want to use those names that have been long forgotten or aren't even used widely in the US.

[KC in KS]

I'll only consider unique names, but I have two additional requirements:

1) it must be easy to guess at the spelling (when heard)
2) it must be easy to guess at the pronunciation (when read)

Not that I'm picky or anything :lol

[3_angels]

My sweetie and I are both artists at heart, and he has a really popular last name, so I naturally want a really unique name for our child. I would hate for my kid to feel like "a Jessica" or "another Thomas". Not that that is a bad thing, but knowing our personalities and what our babies might be like, I think he/she would want thier name to be as unique as they are.

[rebeccalizzie]

I tend to dislike trendy names, and I really am not into super unique names for my kids. I like classic names, my DD is an Elizabeth also. But we try to use family names--Elizabeth has a lot of meaning in my family, there are several Eliza's and Elizabeth's in my great grandma's generation. So if we pick out a name that is classic but popular for this one, it won't bother me terribly. I'd rather not something as popular as Jennifer was when I was growing up though--we always had at least three in every class. I liked being the only Rebecca I knew for a long time. Now I know a few more, but it's neat having a slightly different but not weird name.

Coloradomama, that would bother me too. A lot :) My two siblings and I all have neat "stories" behind who we are named after, and that means a lot to me. That's why I stick with family or meaningful names. But Olivia is a lovely name...I wouldn't care too much that it is in the top 10.

[the_lissa]

I don't like really trendy names. Hannah was one of our top names last time until I saw it was in the top ten. I don't like names that are "too unique" either.

[ColoradoMama]

Thanks Rebecca. Dh and I actually had a big fight about it after I wrote that post! Eventually we had a pretty good discussion about it. He is going to talk to his mom and tell her that her response bothered us. (Not right now - her father died two weeks ago!) So, it'll be interesting to see how it goes.

[eightyferrettoes]

We named our kid after his grandfather, Leo, and aside from "Uncle Leo" on Seinfeld, I'd never heard of anyond with the name.

Now, they are popping up EVERYWHERE! AAAAAAGGGHHHRR! There is even a Leosmama here on MDC. :lol And a Leo on my other mama board. Maddening, I tellya.

Just check the SS website (that thing is pretty cool!) and "Leo" has crept up from 477th in 1990 to 265th in 2004.

[eleven]

Turns out we won't have to worry about Ethan - we had an ultrasound today and we're having another girl! :love

I'm pushing for Zoe - it was only #54 in 2004. :wink

[Sailmom]

Well as the mother of a Sofia... Not even my first choice of names, but dh was so set on it and i liked it - She is such a Sofia though. Just bites to hear other moms at the playground calling out her name. Although we pronounce it with the accent on the "So" instead of the "Fi". So I guess that is different. But you will tell someone her name and they automatically mispronounce it like we got it wrong.

This one is going to be Booker. It has been our boy name since dd was born. I haven't met or heard of any other Bookers either.