[melissel]

Is it small and petty of me to even care, if we love the names? The names we've been playing with for a girl are Emma, Charlotte, Grace, and Catherine (all middle name Anne). I knew Emma is popular now, but DH and I have loved that name (and/or Emily, which my best friend then used for her first baby) for the past 6-7 years, before it was this commonly used. Darn it! I only just found out how popular the other ones are. I also like Juliette and Juliana, but DH isn't so keen on those.

And we're going to have problems if this baby is a boy. We both love the name Jack, but don't want to use a "nickname" as a first name, which leaves us with John or Jacob, neither of which we love. And that's all we've been able to agree on!

Is anyone else having this much trouble with names? We had Bella's name picked out years in advance, and it fit her from birth, so we never had to do this. We're running out of time

Melissa

 

[marieangela]

I think it really is up to you when it comes to popularity of names. I tend to shy away from more popular ones, but if you really like one I think you should consider it. I don't think it's small or petty of you to care. I tend to think of all the Jills and Jens in my high school and not wish that kind of popular name on my child. (For some reason I didn't feel bad for all the Mikes and Johns so much). The true popularity of a name really does depend on where you live, though.
As far as Jack goes, I tend to think of it as a name rather than just a nickname. I like it, but won't use it because I have a relative (by marriage, not blood) of that name that I'm not too fond of and wouldn't want that association.

And YES! We're having trouble with names too! It figures that since I fell in love with Elsa and was all set on it, I'm having a boy.

 

[Autumn Breeze]

We still don't have a name chosen either, and what we have done is to stay away from the 'popular names' list. I figure, we could very well pass up a great name just because it's on the popular list, that sucks! If we happen to love said name then why not?! Our son is Jonathan Christopher (Jack). We picked his name 1. Christopher is dh's name, and I wanted it as a boys middle. 2. We loved Jack, but did not like Jackson, and dh's best friend, and the baby's Godfather is Jonathan, so it fit nicely. And we've never introduced him as "Jonathan" or anything other than Jack. (And I've only called him Jonathan Christopher on 3 occasions)

If you like Jack, find a way to use it. If you like Emma, USE IT!! We have a list of like 13 names, our problem is that we went through a names book, and picked out everything we liked. Then crossed stuff off, then made a coloum of First only, First or Middle, Middle Only, First but called by middle. It was a mess, then we put the names together, and began crossing stuff off we didn't like. At one point I think we had nearly 200 choices (before we started crossing off 'First Middle' combo's. It's crazy.

 

[LacieD]

I used to be really obsessed with finding a non-popular name, but we ended up falling in love with the name Ethan. Yeah, it's a top fiver. But I can't honestly think of any other name that would work.

If you love a name, use it. Just because one list says it's popular doesn't necessarily mean it's that way everywhere--for example, I don't know a single little girl named Emma IRL, and I only know one Emily. Statistically I should know tons more.

 

[~Megan~]

I totally understand. All those pretty old fashioned names are coming back in style.

Just keep looking and you'll find something great.

For the boy what about Jackson. And you do know that Jack is pretty popular right?

 

[Goldiemom]

Name popularity is relative. I love how the name John is #2 in all time popularity, but I only ever went to school (like had one in my class) like 4 times. Statistically I should have probably had one or more in every class. Hehe! We like the name Jack too. So that will be what we call this baby if she should come out a he.

Though the actual name would be John. Go figure! So if you like it go for it! Best of luck in finding the name you love.

 

[melissel]

Thanks for the input, everyone. It's true, both my DH's and my tastes run toward the classic style names. Good points--I keep hearing about how Emma is so popular, but I don't actually know any Emmas, now that I think about it. My problem is that I have this tendency to get annoyed when anything is TOO popular. Like when everyone I know is reading a particular book, it really reduces my desire to even look at it, I don't know why! I knew Emma was popular but didn't know about the others until I got a Babycenter e-mail with the top 10 most popular names from a bunch of different countries. Reading that was a mistake, LOL! I do feel better about it now, though.

And yes, I do know that Jack is popular too, argh!!! I like the name Jackson, but it was the name of one my uncle's more vicious pit bull adoptees, the one he recently had put to sleep for aggression issues. I might be able to get over that though, if I work on it. And I never considered Jonathan! I will have to give that more thought, I think I like it. The other problem is coming up with something that fits with my DH's last name--Cedeño (pronounced Sedaynyo)--which is Latino. Jack Cedeño? Does that sound like a cowboy? I just don't know, LOL! It might be back to the baby name books for us, I'd like to have at least a few options for either sex when we hit the delivery room!

Thanks for the help,

Melissa

 

[allbrightmama]

I had a top 5 name and vowed I would never do that to my children. So ds comes along and dh LOVES the name Ethan. I like it too. We look at the list and sure enough, there it is. My dh's love of the name finally won me over and we have an amazing little Ethan. It is absolutely the right name for him and I am glad we used it.

Go with your gut. If you love the name then use it.

 

[philomom]

I disagree with the pp.
Nothing is worse than getting to preschool and having nine other kids with your same name. It happened here to friends of mine. All the pretty little Isabelle's had to go by their last names. Use the popular name for a middle name and pick something more original for the first name. You will be so glad you did.

 

[~Megan~]

I didn't like being Megan W throughout school either.

Hopefully you can find something that fits just right and isn't too popular.

 

[Birth Junky]

Just wanted to add my $0.02 re: having to go by your first name AND last initial . . .

My name is fairly uncommon (Bryn). My parents thought that they were choosing the most unique name they could come up with, and assumed that I would be the only Bryn they would ever know. Figures that, on the first day of kindergarten, I met ANOTHER Bryn IN MY CLASS! I was "Bryn P." for the rest of the year, and then again in 4th grade when we were assigned to the same homeroom.

Not only that, but when I went into college there was another Bryn who had attended the year before in the program I was in . . . and then one of my cousins went and MARRIED a Bryn (although she spells it "Brynne"). And just last week I came across a post here at MDC about baby names, and another Mothering reader is going with "Brynn" for her baby!

When it comes down to it, there are hardly ANY names that are truly "unique" to one person (unless you make the name up from random syllables, lol). It's luck of the draw whether you will meet two people with your same name or twenty. You can certainly tip the scales in your favor by choosing an unusual name, but it is no guarantee that your child will never run into a name-twin.

 

[melissel]

Bryn, ROFL! I know a mama from another AP board who named her newest babe Brynn...

Great point, thanks

Melissa

 

[ZeldasMom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by melissel The names we've been playing with for a girl are Emma, Charlotte, Grace, and Catherine (all middle name Anne).

My name is Charlotte and I have only met 2 other Charlottes in my entire life! I will be shocked if this name gets common. One was my gym teacher in high school, and one is a baby I see in the nursery at the YMCA. I see for 2004 the SSA web site says it was 172 for girls.

My mom named me after Laura's rag doll in Little House in the Big Woods.

We know we are having a girl, and I would love to choose Grace, but we have some good friends with a child with that name, plus the SSA list says it's popular. So we probably won't choose Grace.

I think you can totally get away with Jack without it sounding too informal. Though it seems like there are a lot of boys with names that begin with J these days. That said, I do think you should go with what you like, even if a lot of kids have that name (my son is Benjamin). And Jack is a classic name, not a trendy one that will be associated with the mid 2000s.