I’ve always been curious about this, but, personally, popular girls names that are basically everywhere (used to the point of being boring, I’ve lost count of how many [name]Emma[/name]'s, [name]Emily[/name]'s, [name]Olivia[/name]'s etc, that I’ve met), however, for boys, I’m less picky. [name]How[/name] about you?
I’m the same way. Popularity bugs me for girls, but not so much for boys. We even named our son [name]Aidyn[/name] and that’s the #1 boys’ name in the country right now (when you combine spellings). For instance, I think the name [name]Jocelyn[/name] is absolutely beautiful, but I won’t use it because I found out it’s currently #70 on the SSA charts and in the 40’s on the combined spellings list with 50-something different spellings and multiple pronunciations. I’m also still considering using the name [name]Asher[/name] for a boy which is currently between #113-122 (depending on which chart you look at) and still climbing because I love everything about the name except for its popularity. I totally get why people want to use it, though. It’s a great name.
I don’t know why popularity of girls’ names bugs me more than boys’ names. I think it may be because I grew up with a top 10 name of the 80’s and hated wondering if people were talking to me or someone else. It also just seems to be more accepted for boys to conform while girls tend to be ok with being different.
When I was younger I ran all names past the ‘Not Higher Than 750 on the Popularity Charts Committee’.
Now, if I like a name then I like it. It could be number one which may be slotted in the middle because I know children with the name. Or it could be the featured name in a combo. It all depends on arbitrary factors.
It does for me, but not excessively. It’s more important to me that a name be “consistent” than leap 600 spots in one year. I am ok with a name that’s below the top 100 as long as it’s been in roughly the same area for the past few years. A little bit of a climb is ok, but if it’s making leaps and bounds, than I would prefer to avoid it.
Take [name]Phoebe[/name] VS [name]Vivienne[/name] for example. [name]Phoebe[/name] has been on the top 1000 for a while now and in the past 3 or 4 years, it’s been right in the same area, and I feel comfortable that it’s not going to make a running leap for the top 50 any time soon. I [name]LOVE[/name] [name]Vivienne[/name], too, but it came out of no where to jump right to number 531 and has leapt up 100+ spots every year since. THAT bothers me way more than [name]Phoebe[/name], which has been in the top 300 since 2006.
I think it SEEMS different for boys and girls b/c more of the popular names for boys are classics. [name]Aiden[/name] bothers me just as much as [name]Ava[/name], but [name]William[/name] and [name]Catherine[/name] are equally acceptable to me.
First names have to be 500 or lower for me to use. For middle names, it really doesn’t matter. [name]Uber[/name]-Popular or classic names balance out the first.
The name charts don’t necessarily influence my favorites at all. I get inspiration for names from television, books, movies, people I meet, everywhere. For example [name]Sophie[/name]/[name]Sophia[/name] is a name I never liked (not because it was popular - I just didn’t like it) until recently. As some of you may know I love Game of Thrones and one of the actresses is named [name]Sophie[/name] [name]Turner[/name] and she’s just adorable and has helped the name grow on me significantly.
When it comes to my naming favorites I try not to pay too much attention to the charts right now because I’m not planning on having children any time soon, but I am pretty informed on what’s popular from helping others with names.
I’m actually the opposite on boys and girls names. I don’t mind much if my favorite girl names are in the top couple hundred (I love [name]Charlotte[/name], [name]Penelope[/name], [name]Anastasia[/name], etc), but I don’t want my boys names to be anywhere near the top 300. Unfortunately, by the time I actually have children, I doubt I will be able to avoid that as a lot of my favorites seem to be gaining popularity (i.e. [name]Augustus[/name], [name]Henry[/name], [name]Jase[/name], [name]Aiden[/name]) although I have a few that I doubt will ever be really popular ([name]River[/name], Castiel, [name]Alaric[/name], Renly).
[name]Just[/name] a little bit. For the most part, I like the names I like, and I don’t care about popularity, but the SSA list makes it easier to spot those meganame trends where a bunch of popular names sound the same. That kind of “shared” popularity bothers me a lot more than the popularity of an individual name.
For example, the popularity of [name]Noah[/name] (currently #5) is irrelevant to me, but the popularity of [name]Hayden[/name] (#90) drives me nuts. It’s because [name]Hayden[/name] also shares the top 100 with [name]Ayden[/name], [name]Jayden[/name], [name]Brayden[/name], [name]Jaden[/name], and [name]Ayden[/name]. [name]Abigail[/name] (#7) is more distinctive to me than [name]Stella[/name] (#73) because [name]Stella[/name] is marching along with [name]Isabella[/name], [name]Ella[/name], [name]Gabriella[/name], and [name]Ellie[/name]. I’ll take an [name]Olivia[/name] (#4) over the less popular [name]Kaylee[/name] (36), [name]Kylie[/name] (58), and [name]Kayla[/name] (59) every time.
^^This is why I love the combined spellings list from NameNerds.com. They take the information from the SSA (all names/spellings that are given to at least 5 children that year are reported to the SSA, but they only list the top 1000 individual spellings on their official site) and combine all spellings for individual names to give a more comprehensive list of what’s actually popular. That’s how we know that [name]Aiden[/name]/[name]Ayden[/name]/[name]Aidan[/name]/etc. is actually the #1 boys’ name over [name]Jacob[/name], because the SSA lists by individual spellings, not overall popularity of a single name with multiple spellings.
Yes, anything in the top 100 i would steer clear of… and some ‘classic’ names just feel common even if their not used much anymore.
It used to, but I’m trying to get over it. It can be such a fluke, anyway – a name outside of the top 100 could still be popular in your area (or an area you move to after having children), and top 100 names don’t mean ‘10 in every class’ or anything. Besides, so many of my favorites are rising in popularity… I don’t know, I’d rather use a name I really love than try to find something unusual.
I’m the same as you. I used to try and avoid any name in the top 250-300, for girls or boys, but there are just not that many boys names that I like! Eliminating another 300 based on popularity alone was just not an option. For ex., I like [name]Henry[/name], it’s my second choice for a boy. It’s #57 on 2011’s list. [name]August[/name], my top pick, is 398 but it has nothing to do with the popularity, I just like it better.
As far as girls go, two of my favorites ([name]Stella[/name] and [name]Vivian[/name]) are in the top 200, at #73 and #154 respectively, the others are 929 ([name]Leona[/name]), 803 ([name]Mae[/name]), 923 ([name]Lilith[/name]) and [name]Florence[/name], [name]Flora[/name], [name]Avis[/name], [name]Zelda[/name], and [name]Mabel[/name] are not in the top 1000. I also have a soft spot for [name]Sophie[/name], but as it’s #51 for girls - not including every little girl named [name]Sophia[/name] that’s called [name]Sophie[/name] - I probably won’t ever use it as a first name.
Trendiness is an issue for me. Rank is not, or not as much. I steer clear of the Top 150, but I’d be far more confident in using a name that’s ranked higher but has seen steady use instead of a name that’s ranked lower but rocketing up the charts. [name]Simon[/name] instead of [name]Jasper[/name], [name]Iris[/name] instead of [name]Eloise[/name], etc.
No, it doesn’t really. Two of my daughters have names in the top 100. I hear these names on other kids every so often. Their names are fairly common but not so common that they are likely to be one of several in their class.