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Should popularity back you away from a name?


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#1 Remy Hadley

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Posted 14 November 2010 - 11:47 AM

I always thought I knew the answer to this, as: yes, it should make you steer clear.

But, I was looking through my list, and it happened that plenty of them are pretty popular indeed. A plethora of my names were pretty darn popular!

Should I remove these names from my list?


For example, let's pretend Jacob is my favorite name. Minus the Twilight association, which I guess does have to account for why it's in the top five, would it be best to throw the name out? Or to put it as a middle name instead?

Cause of course you should follow instincts about a name you truly love, and if it's absolutely perfect you may regret ridding of it. And even if you use it as a middle name instead, you may end up preferring it way more as a first name.

Is popularity a huge issue in naming? Cause maybe there will be seven other Jacobs in his class, he may mind, he may not. Does being "unique" overthrow? Cause if you name your little boy Mordecai, he may not have any other kids with the name Mordecai in his class, but the parent may be unhappy with that too.

I mean, I have years to wait out until I have a baby, and name popularity and trends may change a whole lot. Who knows, maybe the top five will consist of a tons of Mordecai's, Unique's, Poet's, Trynyty's and Rusiphers, and Jacob's and Isabella's will be left in the dust. My name taste may change as well.

But yeah. I was pondering that today and last night. Cause if I want to name my baby a name in the top five, should I be bothered at how many people will share a name with my kid?

~Hadds

#2 Mariel

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Posted 14 November 2010 - 01:26 PM

In some ways, I think yes. There are something like 17 Emily's in my grade, and while my four or so Emily friends like their name, it can be a hassle. Being one of a dozen doesn't feel as good as having a beautiful name that isn't shared with everyone else. But if it's a name you LOVE, then keep it. And name trends change, who knows, by the time youre ready to have kids, maybe the names you like will have sunk farther down the list. Keep them for now, but if they reach top five when you are choosing names for a baby on the way, reconsider

#3 Guest_Kallie4Nia_*

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Posted 14 November 2010 - 01:57 PM

I think, if its trendy, then make it a nn. That way, if they hate it, they can use there full name.
My name is Kallie, and there we're 2 other Kallie's in my grade. (Cali and Kalli). But I had a full name to fall back on, (Not that I'd ever us it because its ridiculous. :)) and that was cool. Plus, Cali, hated her name and eventually just told everyone to call her by her middle name (Zienna). And it stuck (Surprisingly).

So.. I hope that made sense.. :wub:


#4 jessipentecost

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Posted 14 November 2010 - 02:45 PM

Always having been one of about 10 Jessica's every year in school, I would say shy away from popular names, but at the same time if you absolutely love it then don't. I always loved my name even though someone else had it. I never had trouble finding things with my name on them (pencils, stickers, etc.). I think it made me want to push myself and be different to prove that I wasn't just another "Jessica." I hope that helped.

#5 ~Nadezhda

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Posted 15 November 2010 - 09:17 AM

I think for the most part, it depends on how the parents feel about popularity.
It may not be an issue at all for many people, if you think about it-- maybe not everyone cares about their kid's name being unheard or uncommon!

If a name is popular, then obviously a lot of people love it -- why shouldn't someone use a name they like?
It's kind of a tough issue.

Personally, I steer clear of names that are incredibly popular. The reason is not the popularity issue, per se. Rather, it's the fact that for the most part, I don't love those names that are up the charts.
The coincidence does me a favor, in a sense.
Because I have an uncommon name, and I love being one of the few people that bear it; so yes, I'd rather give my daughter or son a name that they don't share with many people.
But if I really loved a name, and it was very popular, I'd use it nonetheless.
I'm just thankful there aren't very many popular names I love :)

So all I'm trying to say with this endless rant is...
popularity should not back you away.
It's not a rule, but generally, if you love a name so much to bestow it upon your own child, then you won't care about how many people have it.


#6 Katie-Nana

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Posted 15 November 2010 - 09:43 AM

I read an article recently that (in the US) the top baby names are less popular than they used to be... meaning there are less babies with the top 10 baby names then there were ten-twenty years ago. Say the top girl name ten years ago was Ashley...there would be maybe 100,000 Ashleys born that year...now the number one girl name (say Emma) would only have 75,000 Emma's born that year.

The trend these days is to be unique...so more and more people are coming up with so-called "different" names with different spellings.

I think the emphasis on being unique and different is a bit overrated...where as finding a name that you LOVE and can live with (and your child can live with) for the rest of its life is being put on the back-burner.

So to answer your question...go with a name that YOU LOVE!!! And don't worry so much about its popularity. Katie was a pretty popular name when I was born (3 out of the 5 women at my job are named Katie...age 21, 23 & 25), and I wasn't tramatized because there would maybe another Katie in my class growing up, and it really isnt that confusing.

And that would be my advice to most people...but when people say they want a unique and different name and then choose Isabella or Nevaeh...which are quite popular...I'm gonna warn them that they are popular because its important to them. But Isabella and Jacob are great names, and if you truely love them then there is nothing wrong with naming your kid that.

For me...I just sort of get tired of hearing the same names over and over...I'm a name LOVER so I love most names and the variety of names at our disposal is what makes them so great.

#7 Mishada

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Posted 15 November 2010 - 03:43 PM

It seems most of the PPs have fairly popular names. My name used to be popular (way before I way born), but it no longer is. I've never met another Heather, though I have heard of several. My parents weren't looking for anything popular or unpopular - they just thought it was pretty. Personally, I think the important thing is to make a distinction between "popular" names and "trendy" or "overused" names. Jacob is popular, and probably trendy *cough* Twilight *cough*. Dawn, Ashley, Megan, Jessica, Madison... all those feel more dated/overused than anything. Boring, boring, boring. However, some names just don't go out of style and are considered "classics". I think those are perfectly wonderful to use (Nathaniel, Thomas, Peter, William, Elizabeth, Caroline, Diana). They are always going to be popular, but they don't feel quite so boring. I think Jacob leans more towards classic than overused, though the probability of him meeting many, many other Jacobs is high. I have both esoteric and popular names on my list (like Cassia, Rhiannon, Gwendolen, Nathaniel, William, Zachary etc etc) so I guess I feel like I can see both sides. Oh, and one last thing. I think that boy names are easier to have a popular name. I'm not sure why, but it probably has something to do with me also thinking that girls handle unusual names better. I wouldn't get rid of Jacob if you really love it.

By the way, did you decide between Liam and Leo?

#8 Remy Hadley

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Posted 15 November 2010 - 05:34 PM

That all makes sense :)

Cause if I absolutely adore a name, dropping it because of popularity wouldn't be smart....

Though, I do have enough names to replace any name I drop! :wub:

Sadly enough, my name list has been rising in popularity! I mean, I do have plenty of names like Juniper that I like a lot. It's just that Emma and Katherine and Alexander all definitely are my absolutel favorites- I adore them! ;)

I'm having a hard time with that! ;) I was talking with my best friend, and she was saying how she liked Liam better, though we did name a Build-A-Bear and named it Leo :P

My inward argument is I can use William nn Liam, to have a fall back from such a trendy name. Though, I havent decided if William Alexander is as perfect as Liam Alexander XP For Leo, I think I'd end up using Lionel as a full name. Maybe just Leo. I'm searching for a perfect middle name for Leo so I can decide if a middle name with Leo sounds just as perfect or more than Liam Alexander. Plus, I'm comparing how I think it sounds with my other names :P

Thanks so much! <3

~Haddie




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