Case for common names - are they truly common or maybe not?

General Name Discussion
1

I love uncommon names for a quite a time. But recently I found that only 1% of girls are named [name]Sophia[/name] in 2012. So, all other names are less common. So, chances to meet [name]Sophia[/name] are pretty slim. Chances for some kid called [name]Sophia[/name] meet another [name]Sophia[/name] are pretty slim, too.

Most common reason to avoid common names are that children will share a name. Um, maybe they won’t, no matter what name you and your partner choose.

Here’s link:
http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/popularnames.cgi

Tell me, if you still want to choose uncommon names, please tell me why.
I am still loving my list of uncommon names, just started to doubt should I add more common ones.

2

I go by what names I run into. For example I’ve met more than 4 or 5 girls under the age of 7 named [name]Sophie[/name]/[name]Sophia[/name] so there’s a very good chance that if I named my daughter that she would run into another little [name]Sophia[/name]. But I’ve also met just as many if not more little girls named [name]Brinley[/name]/[name]Brynlee[/name] which is #323 on the ssa list, so it really depends on your area what’s popular and whats not.

But my personal philosophy has been if you love a name, popularity shouldn’t really matter that much.

3

I think popularity of a name is a lot more concentrated which can make it harder to know if you’re choosing a name that’s too common, since its not always easy to know if you’re in a city littered with Sophias or Jaydens, or if [name]Dorothy[/name] and [name]Huxley[/name] gets 3 kids heads to turn at the playground.

4

In my area, the average elementary school has about 400 kids. That’s, on average, 4 [name]Sophia[/name]'s. [name]Add[/name] that to the [name]Sofia[/name] percentage, and the [name]Sophie[/name] percentage, and you’ve probably got ten little girls running around the school with nearly identical names. Really, that’s a lot. Think about recess; say 100 kids on the playground at once. Two or three of them are [name]Sophia[/name]/[name]Sofia[/name]/[name]Sophie[/name]/[name]Sofie[/name].

[name]How[/name] many are you going to meet in your life? A lot. [name]How[/name] many will your child meet? [name]Even[/name] more. [name]Little[/name] [name]Sophie[/name] goes into the world and ten kids in her school are named [name]Sophie[/name], three of them are in her grade, and that’s per school. In middle school, when things funnel in, there will be ten in her grade alone, six in the grades above and below her. Middle school is heavily circulated with a period class schedule, so she could easily have another [name]Sophie[/name] in three of her classes. Maybe even two. High school only makes this worse; you have fifteen to thirty Sophies running around. Heck, in my high school I knew of at least ten Emilys, fifteen Sarahs, five Jessicas… And I’m not social. I knew a small portion of my school, maybe 500 or so names I could connect with faces in a school of 1800.

Then, consider regional differences. That’s a national statistic, but distribution for names isn’t even. There are going to be more [name]Sophie[/name]'s in a particular area than in another, so it’s entirely possible to have a school with 15 [name]Sophie[/name]'s and a school with only one. The same goes for the other popular names. Names like [name]Sebastian[/name] and [name]Oliver[/name] for boys are fairly popular in the Seattle area, but they might not be in the Mid [name]West[/name] (I haven’t gone to great lengths to find stats, so I’m half-guessing here).

With popular names varying by region like this, then it’s easier to gauge popularity by looking at local lists. It’s like ‘actual’ vs. ‘theoretical.’ Many of the top 5 or 10 are consistent, but especially between 25 and 50 I’ve seen incredible variation.

For the sake of simplicity alone I’d use more uncommon names. Help keep my kid separate from everyone else’s. I’ve always liked my 250-range name, it’s known but not common. That’s what I’d want for my kids.

5

I think it’s often more about a combination of familiarity and popularity.

[name]Even[/name] if you’ve never met someone named [name]Olivia[/name], it’s definitely a familiar name and one that almost no one will comment on for it’s strangeness.

At the same time, even though anyone who’s in contact with children has probably met one with a trendy surname, a misspelling, or a word name; they are not names that people would consider “familiar” even if they are rising in terms of the # of kids who have them.

Basically, even though [name]Bailey[/name] is #79 and [name]Caroline[/name] is #80. [name]Caroline[/name] is still perceived as a FAR more popular and familiar name by the average person. So [name]Bailey[/name] is hailed as interesting and unique and fun and different, and [name]Caroline[/name] might be snubbed as old-fashioned or boring or too common, when in actual fact they both are almost identical in terms of the # of babies named.

Of course, a lot of that has to do with the fact that [name]Caroline[/name] is a classic name that has been used for centuries and [name]Bailey[/name] is a surname that will likely rise and fall very quickly in the “name universe”.

So it’s not really a case of popularity, but rather history and familiarity.
I am very much in favor of using uncommon names.
I am not in favor of using names that have little or no history unless they are exceptionally meaningful and at least name-like with a simple spelling so that they won’t cause problems for your children.

6

I go by what I hear around my area & on facebook and in my home town where my family still lives. I also go by the names I read in current books, magazines, hear in films or on television. This makes a name feel over-exposed and not very fresh. For example, I know of 2 baby girls named [name]Chloe[/name], a TV character that is the main character on a show, A somewhat recent & very sexy movie by the name, a fashion house that is pretty well known to non-fashionistas, [name]Khloe[/name] Kardassian, [name]Chloe[/name] Sevingy, ect. When I was in high school I would’ve told you that [name]Chloe[/name] was a top choice for a future daughter’s name, but by the time I was actually ready to have children the name felt a lot less special & sparkly to me. Would a [name]Chloe[/name] be in my daughter’s kindergarten class? I don’t know. The two I know of wouldn’t be. And of course she could end up seated next to a girl with her name, which isn’t even in the top 1000. It’s unlikely, but possible. For me it’s not a numbers game of percentages & rankings, it’s more about how a name feels, distinct vs common.

7

Yep, it’s a fact that the most common names of today are not as common as the most common names of generations past. This is especially true, I think, if you live in a diverse area like I do.

My son just finished first grade, and his school had six first grade classrooms, each averaging about 20 kids a piece. Out of the 120-odd first graders in his yearbook, there’s not a single [name]Emily[/name], the #1 girl name the years these kids were born. There was only one [name]Jacob[/name], the #1 boy name. Only one classroom out of six had any kids, in this case two Madisons, who had to be identified by that dreaded last initial. This is very different from my own early elementary experiences where, one year, in a classroom of 20-or-so kids, 11 of them were named [name]Jennifer[/name] or [name]Michael[/name]…and every other classroom was almost as bad off. My son’s name was #15 the year he was born. [name]Will[/name] he meet other Noahs his age? I’m sure, particularly in middle school and high school, but I’m confident he’ll get through the experience unscathed.

Popularity was never my top naming criterion, and it’s even less important to me now. My lists run the gamut from top 10 to unranked, and I don’t ever cross off a name just because it’s popular. That said, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with parents who do or who restrict themselves to names that can only be found beyond a certain rank on the SSA list. To each, their own. Like so many other issues involving naming, such as sexuality and image, feelings about common names are personal, and they can be all wrapped up in the parents’ experiences, beliefs, tolerances, peers and families, where they live, etc.

8

I’m in the camp of if you love the name forget about popularity just use it. My favorite girls name is #10 this year, all my other girls names are’t even in the top 1,000. I love them all. That said I once loved the name [name]Abigail[/name] but when I told a girl named [name]Abigail[/name] that she said “please don’t name your daughter [name]Abigail[/name], everyone is named [name]Abigail[/name]” (there are alot of Abigails of all ages that I know). That pretty much ruined [name]Abigail[/name] for me. Before she said that I knew how commen [name]Abigail[/name] was but hearing how much she disliked her name’s popularity scared me off. The ironic thing? Her favorite name was [name]Isabella[/name], the #1 name that year, and she wouldn’t believe me when I said it was popular

9

I have a name that was very popular when I was born and even now- [name]Haley[/name]. Put into account all of it’s variation spellings ([name]Hailey[/name], [name]Haylee[/name], [name]Hayleigh[/name], [name]Hailie[/name], etc.) and I’ve met probably about 15 or so Haleys (and I’m only 13). In my tiny school, with about 10 kids per class, there were two Haleys and I had to be called by my last initial. That being said, I would not name my daughter or son anything really popular because, chances are, they will be one of many (unless , of course, you absolutely [name]LOVE[/name] the name and can’t find one you love more.) On the subject of [name]Sophia[/name], I know personally about 7 Sophias, Sophies, and Sofias. I would avoid it. But if you love it enough, go ahead and use a popular name, unless the popularity would bother you! Personally, I [name]LOVE[/name] [name]Abigail[/name], [name]Charlotte[/name], [name]Isabelle[/name], and [name]Olivia[/name], but would be reluctant to use them due to popularity. I hope that I helped! :slight_smile:

10

I agree with this 100%
I think location and social circles will change what names are popular (to an individual) and which are not.

11

This is my thinking, as well. I work with children, so I hear a ton of different names almost every day. My name is [name]Sarah[/name] and a lot of people still think it’s still too popular. While it was popular when I was a kid it’s not near as popular now where I live. I know more [name]Shana[/name]/[name]Shanna[/name]'s, [name]Sarah[/name]'s, [name]Hannah[/name]'s, [name]Katie[/name]'s, etc than I do [name]Sarah[/name]'s. I’ve met at least 10 [name]Sophia[/name]'s under the age of 3. So it is popular here.

Regardless of popularity, if I have loved a name for years and no other name can make me like others more then that’s the name I’d use.

12

When I was at school my name was very unusual despite it being scottish and living in [name]Scotland[/name]. I was used to having to spell it and pronounce it all the time. I am in my mid thirties and its now #5 in [name]Scotland[/name] and v popular in the rest of the uk. My son has two in his nursery!
I have a tendency to lean towards the classic names but would not use [name]Sophie[/name], [name]Eva[/name] or [name]Olivia[/name] as the are several in our area that I know of. I loved [name]Eve[/name] but I heard it called out in play parks and shops so frequently when pregnant that it put me off. I didn’t want my kids to be known as [name]Olivia[/name] T! We chose an unusual name for our on but went with [name]Elizabeth[/name] for our daughter. [name]Elizabeth[/name] is always in the top 100 but I have never met a child called [name]Elizabeth[/name]. [name]Beth[/name] and [name]Eliza[/name] as full names but not [name]Elizabeth[/name]. It tends to be more if a middle name to honour family. I am pretty confident she’ll be the only one in her lass if not school.

13

I have to wonder, does the OP work with small children? Because I do, and I run into repeat names ALL THE TIME. Namely: [name]Makenzie[/name], [name]Madelynn[/name], and [name]Jayden[/name]. Maybe only 1% of girls in 2012 were named [name]Sophia[/name], but what about 2011, 2010, and in years to come? That adds up! While she may be the only Sohpia in her class, there may be 5 other [name]Sophia[/name]'s or [name]Sophie[/name]'s running around the lunchroom.

Here are my feelings on the math. Last year, there were 469 little [name]Emma[/name]'s born in my state. That’s a lot for a state of its size! The odds of having another [name]Sophia[/name] in her class/immediate age group seem relatively high, especially if you live in a heavily populated area.

Frankly, anyone who thinks they can name their child something in the top 10 and believes they probably won’t run into another one is sorely mistaken, baed on several years experience in public schools. If this doesn’t bother you, then that’s one thing. But if you’re going into it thinking [name]Sophia[/name], [name]Isabella[/name], or [name]Olivia[/name] are “safe, original” choices, you’re going to be in for a surprise.

Rant over! Also keep in mind that my perspective is from someone named [name]Ashley[/name] in the 80s. I have a huge chip on my shoulder about popular names, which might slightly border on irrational hatred… I’m aware of my problem and am actively seeking help! (LOL.)

14

I don’t necessarily mind there being two of a name in the room. You can’t prevent it. I have an extremely rare name (peaked at 950 in 1965), and I still run into other Brigids once every few years. (And more Bridgets, Brigittes, Bridgettes, etc.) That’s okay.

I don’t think we’ll have problems like when every third little girl seemed to be named [name]Jessica[/name] or [name]Jennifer[/name] or [name]Ashley[/name]. I like older Greek-ish names like [name]Althea[/name] and Philothea, as well as simple names like [name]Anne[/name] and [name]Mary[/name], and saints’ names. But since my friends often overlap with me in naming taste, chances are at some point I’ll become friends/acquaintances with a person who’s already named their little [name]Anne[/name] when she meets me and mine.
Some names that are increasing in popularity are family names for me, like [name]Pearl[/name] as a middle. That’s okay, and it’s not something you can control. [name]Even[/name] if you make up a whole new name for your baby, you can’t prevent anyone else from coming up with it independently, or copying it.

I’m less picky about boys’ names. I’m still hesitant about top-10, unless they have strong personal meaning or an unusual nickname ([name]Cole[/name] for [name]Nicholas[/name], [name]Ike[/name] for [name]Isaac[/name], etc), but I wasn’t as sad to see [name]Isaac[/name] and [name]Henry[/name] get popular as I was to see [name]Emma[/name] and [name]Eleanor[/name] rise or [name]Rose[/name] as a middle. I’d really loved [name]Emma[/name] and [name]Eleanor[/name], and I doubt I’ll use either unless I’m honoring someone.

Edit: Actually, upon rereading Eleanor in 2012 was less popular than Alice and just one above Clara, which both still feel perfectly usable. Lillian is apparently #25, and I’d thought it was still rare! Goes to show that what’s locally popular, what’s nationally popular, and what feels popular are all very different things.

15

I think people consider popularity entirely too much. This is what causes naming trends! A previously uncommon name is used somewhere, people hear about it and go “Oh, that’s uncommon. I think I’ll name my kid that.” [name]Little[/name] do they know everyone else is thinking the same thing. Like [name]Isabella[/name] from Twilight.
And then there are the “kre8tyve” spelling people who think what they’re doing is unique, but again everyone else had the same idea. These parents truly don’t realize there are a million little boys named [name]Aidan[/name]/[name]Brayden[/name]/[name]Cayden[/name]/[name]Kaden[/name]/[name]Jaiden[/name]/etc. running around because everyone they knew in school was named [name]Chris[/name] or [name]Matt[/name] or [name]Josh[/name].
You also can’t control whether or not your child will know another kid with their name, even if you pick something uncommon. Two years ago I taught a kindergarten class with a [name]Quinton[/name] and a [name]Quentin[/name] in it. No one’s going to argue that that’s a common name, but they still ended up in the same class.
If a name is popular, but you love it, use it. You shouldn’t let that ruin it for you. If everyone decides [name]Sophia[/name] is too common and names their daughter [name]Persephone[/name] instead, [name]Persephone[/name] will become too common.

16

I think it all depends on your area. Which is probably best to check out names in the birth announcements. For example, I think [name]Annabelle[/name] is somewhere around the top 100 names, and yet I’ve seen that name already pop up a couple times in my area. Although, I would still be pretty wary to use any name in the top 20 (unless it was a name that i really, really loved).

17

I think the best way to go about this may be to look up stats for names that you encountered a lot growing up. I knew a lot of girls named [name]Jessica[/name], [name]Ashley[/name] and [name]Jennifer[/name] growing up ([name]Katie[/name] too, but there are too many roots so I don’t want to use that one), and a lot of boys named [name]Matthew[/name], [name]Christopher[/name] and [name]Michael[/name].

If I use my birth year (1984) as the average, since certainly some I knew were born on either side. I looked up popularity percentages for that birth year and, funnily enough, the first three names I thought of for each gender were the three most popular names for that birth year.

1 [name]Michael[/name] 3.6108% [name]Jennifer[/name] 2.8051%
2 [name]Christopher[/name] 3.1995% [name]Jessica[/name] 2.5439%
3 [name]Matthew[/name] 2.6536% [name]Ashley[/name] 2.1507%
4 [name]Joshua[/name] 2.1463% [name]Amanda[/name] 1.8812%

Compare that with percentage stats for 2012:

1 [name]Jacob[/name] 0.9404% [name]Sophia[/name] 1.1531%
2 [name]Mason[/name] 0.9383% [name]Emma[/name] 1.0820%
3 [name]Ethan[/name] 0.8731% [name]Isabella[/name] 0.9852%
4 [name]Noah[/name] 0.8559% [name]Olivia[/name] 0.8923%

Today’s most popular names are significantly less used than those of 1984 (and that trend continues as you go back in time). With [name]Sophia[/name] in particular, you’re not getting the aggregate average of [name]Sophie[/name]/[name]Sofia[/name]/etc. but just for argument’s sake leaving them out: today’s [name]Sophia[/name] (spelled this way) at 1.15% is just a skosh more popular than 1984’s #10 [name]Elizabeth[/name] at 1.13% ([name]Heather[/name] was next at 1.19%).

So today’s [name]Sophia[/name] would expect to run in to as other Sophias as I ran into Elizabeths. I certainly knew/know a bunch, but not nearly as many as I knew Jessicas and Ashleys. This is largely a regional thing, as well, but I found the list pretty accurately represented the spread of names I ran into growing up.

#2 [name]Emma[/name] at 1.08% is between 1984’s #10 [name]Elizabeth[/name] at 1.13% and #11 [name]Megan[/name] at 0.94%
#1 [name]Jacob[/name] at 0.94% is actually in line with 1984’s #25, [name]Thomas[/name], at 0.94%

http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/popularnames.cgi

18

To me, the downfall of common names is that they lose that head-turning factor. [name]Sophia[/name] is a beautiful name and has so much going for it, but once you meet a few you’re just like ‘meh’ when you meet one. It loses its spark. My name is [name]Jessica[/name] and it was the fourth most common name in my state the year I was born. I have 2 other Jessicas in my grade of about 220 people, so although we make up a small percent of the class the downside is that whenever I tell someone my name it never gets a reaction. Maybe for some people this is a good thing, but I feel like a name is such a great opportunity to wow people and if you pick a common name that they’ve heard a million times before you just squander that chance. I think my name’s really pretty and I love the Shakespearean roots/nickname options, but I’d much rather be named something a little more memorable. No one ever misspells or mispronounces my name but I think people should aim for somewhere in the middle, those ‘sweet-spot’ names that are heard of and familiar but also unique enough to draw attention.

19

I agree with this 100% ! Though I’m coming from the opposite side, with a name that’s ‘heard of’ but you probably haven’t met another. I’ve run into three others in my lifetime, but only one with the same spelling (and she pronounced it differently - though both of us pronounce it technically incorrectly, ha!).

The downside is that people have trouble pronouncing and spelling it, but it’s easily understood when spelled out. My last name, on the other hand, requires a lot of “N as in [name]Nancy[/name], no not like [name]Mary[/name], like [name]Newton[/name].” I’d love to find a name that’s totally unfamiliar to most, but relatively intuitive to pronounce and spell. Quite the Goldilocks journey, but my list is actually full of them now that I’ve done some worthwhile digging.

From the slightly vain parent side of things, I’d like the name to reflect some effort on our part to find something unusual, interesting and still beautiful. Hidden gems are what I’m after. I appreciated having an unusual name (I was almost an '80s [name]Katie[/name]), and I’d like to gift my child with the same fun uniqueness that I enjoyed.

20

I don’t mind common names. My husband and I are [name]Michael[/name] and [name]Jennifer[/name], classic popular 1980s names. The name we chose for our daughter isn’t super popular, we named her [name]Jillian[/name]. We chose that name because we loved it. We are due with our second in [name]November[/name] and if it’s a girl we are thinking of naming her [name]Olivia[/name] (super popular, but we both love it), and if it’s a boy [name]Christopher[/name] (not as popular but still familiar).