So, we’re two months away from our baby girl arriving and I’m having a bit of a dilemma. I’ve always loved the name [name]Charlotte[/name] since I was a little girl and now that I’m having one, I’m reading about how it’s so popular! I’ve never met another one (we live in [name]California[/name]) and I’ve asked my midwife and she said she only has one patient who named her daughter [name]Charlotte[/name].
My question is, even though it’s on many people’s lists as one of their top names, are they actually using it? We really don’t want a popular name and this seems to be the only name we agree on and it’s been a battle. Our son is [name]Colin[/name] and we don’t know any others and the name still isn’t in the top 100 which we love. I could live with a top 50 name on the SSA but not a super popular one. Thanks for your input!
[name]Charlotte[/name] was No# 46 most popular girls name in [name]California[/name] in 2010 (2011 stats don’t come out until around Mother’s [name]Day[/name] this year). What that means is that only 664 girls were given this name in your state. If you’ve loved this name since you were little and your love is still strong, then I would advise you to go for it! [name]Charlotte[/name] is classic and timeless and you really can’t go wrong with it. Chances are if you haven’t heard a [name]Charlotte[/name] in your neck of the woods, then I think you’ll be ok.
I think [name]Charlotte[/name] would probably be fine. It is one of those names that can have multiple nns, so if she is in a class with another [name]Charlotte[/name], they can still go by different nns.
I absolutely love [name]Charlotte[/name]! It’s on my short list, and has been for years now. I can understand your hesitation (I winced when I saw it jump from #68 to #45 nationally last year!), but [name]Charlotte[/name] is such a timeless, classic, stunning, charming, wonderful name… I would go with it anyway!
I grew up with a rabidly popular name and it definitely wasn’t the end of the world. I did a bit of research for you… [name]Charlotte[/name] ranked number 46 in [name]California[/name] for 2010 (2011’s statistics come out Mother’s [name]Day[/name] weekend), with 664 little Charlottes born in your state. There are 58 counties in [name]California[/name], so I did a bit of math, and that averages out to about 11 Charlottes born in each county (obviously, this would differ depending on your county… some counties, I saw, had less than 2000 citizens in it while others had over 200,000–obviously it’ll be skewed in those heavily-populated counties). I don’t know what county you live in, but most of the counties I’ve looked up have around 19 public school districts in it, so, going off that math, there wouldn’t even be a guarantee that there would be a [name]Charlotte[/name] in every school district, much less more than one. Of course, you can’t really predict which names will be popular in your area (I knew someone who named her son [name]Dominic[/name], figured she was safe in that regard, and when he got to school there was 1 or 2 others there, too! Things like that just happen.).
It sounds like [name]Charlotte[/name] is the only name you both really love, so I would go with it. It’s barely inside the top 50 and a little girl would be lucky to have such a wonderful name. If there is another [name]Charlotte[/name] in her class, she could always opt to go by [name]Charlotte[/name]'s many other nicknames ([name]Lola[/name], [name]Lottie[/name], [name]Charlie[/name], [name]Char[/name], [name]Ari[/name], [name]Arlo[/name], [name]Harlow[/name], [name]Lotte[/name] [LOT-uh], etc., to name a few… I’m sure there’s a lot I’m not even thinking of!).
I definitely agree with [name]Ash[/name] - [name]Charlotte[/name] is a beautiful name, and I don’t believe it is as popular outside of NB as people think. I have only met one little [name]Charlotte[/name] lately, and I have worked in local schools for 7 years.
It’s not as popular as you think. Nameberry is sort of like a cave when it comes to certain names; they bounce around and just appear to be really popular, but in the context of the population of an entire state - especially one the size of [name]California[/name] - the name is actually less than 1% (usually) of the total population of births in a given year. [name]Charlotte[/name] was the #77th name in my state in 2010. It works out to be approximately .0012% of the total names given to all females born that year. Less than one one-hundreth of a percent. The #1 in my state was [name]Isabella[/name]. 441 girls got that name in 2010. Total population percentage? About .0107%. Still less than a full 1 percent.
[name]Bear[/name] this in mind when you start wondering if your daughter will one of ten Charlottes in her 1st grade class. Chances are, probably not.
Interesting. I was at a baby shower the other day and one of the other pregnant ladies really wanted to name her daughter [name]Charlotte[/name]. I was thinking that this is the next [name]Sophia[/name]. I think it is a gorgeous name, but wouldn’t be surprised if it made it to the top 10 within the next few years. So, my advise is that if you are concerned about popularity, then [name]Charlotte[/name] is definitely on the hot rise, but if you love it you love it and should definitely use it.
Thank you guys so much for your thoughts! I think I’m being too paranoid about it and I love the name so I think she’ll be [name]Charlotte[/name]. [name]Even[/name] I think there are so many names out there these days that nothing is too overwhelmingly popular. I know a lot of little girls and only one of them is an [name]Isabella[/name] and two are [name]Sophia[/name] and those are the two most popular names. Ashthedreamer-thanks for putting it into perspective. We have a lot of people around here and if only 664 were name [name]Charlotte[/name] in one year, then I’m not too worried. Thanks everyone!!
I would use it too. [name]Charlotte[/name] seems like more of a classic name than a trendy one, although it appears to be at an all-time high right now. It’s always been within or near the top 100 though (except for few decades beginning in the 70’s), which makes it a classic in my mind.