[name]Don[/name]'t you hate it when a name that you have loved for a lifetime is suddenly made popular. [name]How[/name] do you feel? Should you use it anyway, even though everybody will think you have named it after the character or person?
Have you loved the name [name]Anastasia[/name] since you were six? Now what will your friends say about naming your baby girl [name]Anastasia[/name]?
Did you and your DH decide on [name]Penelope[/name] for your daughter? [name]Will[/name] everyone will think that you have copied [name]Kourtney[/name]?
For me, it really depends upon the name and the level of popularity. For instance, I’ve loved the names [name]Emma[/name] and [name]Isabella[/name] for quite a while. [name]Emma[/name] is a family name and [name]Isabella[/name] is the name I would have been given had my mom had the chance to name me. Unfortunately, they are both so popular that it is highly unlikely that I will use them. I knew a ton of Brittanys, Ashleys etc growing up and I would want my children to have more distinctive names.
I have now fallen head over heels in love with the name Amélie, and although it is 695 on the SSA list, I still think it’s gorgeous and underused enough for me to keep at the top of my list. The same goes for other names I love like Béatrice, [name]Marguerite[/name], [name]Mathilde[/name] and [name]Josephine[/name].
As for what others will think, I already know my family will more than likely gawk at the names I give my children. They tend to go towards classic names like [name]John[/name] or [name]Joseph[/name] or trendy names like [name]Ethan[/name], [name]Sydney[/name] and [name]Eve[/name]. I live in south [name]Texas[/name] (fairly conservative when it comes to names) so I would imagine that some people may not like or know how to pronounce the names I pick. Those things really do not matter much to me though, for me the important thing is the name’s significance to me and that if fits my child well.
I love the name [name]Aiden[/name] for a boy. There were probably 20 (including all the variations) at the daycare I worked at. I’m just hoping by the time I have a boy it becomes less popular. I’m getting married in a few months and we’re going to wait a couple years before having kids. I also love the name [name]Willow[/name] for a girl and that is also becoming way to popular. Thankfully, I’ve never met a [name]Willow[/name] so my future daughter will be the only one I know.
[name]Holly[/name] It didn’t really suddenly get popular, it sort of just crept up the list so much that eventually I had to accept how common it was and let go.
[name]Emma[/name] is incredibly popular, but it’s still in my mind to use. Kids like it when they find people with the same names as them, so I don’t mind it too much. Provided I really do love the name itself, and it’s the right fit despite popularity.
[name]Amelia[/name] was a name I really fell for when I was about 15 (to be honest, I met a boy who’s first guess was that my name was [name]Amelia[/name], and I later developed a pretty big crush on him). But now it is really growing in popularity, I don’t think she would stand out like I thought she would seven years ago.
I was in love with [name]Elijah[/name] for a very long time, and it really shot up there on the list, so maybe it will cool down enough for me to use by the time I have kids. I also adore [name]Samuel[/name] (which I realize has always, and will always be popular) but there is just something so delightful about a [name]Sam[/name] to me. [name]Samson[/name] is an alternate I thought would be good.
I’d rather, if a name is going to get popular, that it do it before I use it so I know what I’m getting myself into. It would be a lot more frustrating to use a name that feels so unique and special and a year or two later a movie comes out and it shoots into the top 100.
It didn’t really suddenly get popular, it sort of just crept up the list so much that eventually I had to accept how common it was and let go.