Dominance of "Top 10" names...not so much anymore?

General Name Discussion
1

We all keep talking about increased popularity and worrying about our children being “one of 7” during grade school, presumably because many of us grew up being “one of 7.” In reality, most of us have probably met very few children who truly share the same name, because according to the charts, the “popular” names don’t carry half the weight that they did when we were growing up.

I remember when I was in high school there had to have been half a dozen kids named [name_u]Ashley[/name_u], [name_f]Jessica[/name_f], [name_m]Michael[/name_m] or [name_m]Matthew[/name_m]. I remember having to refer to people as “[name_u]Ashley[/name_u] M” or “[name_m]Matt[/name_m] C.” It was definitely frustrating. But I don’t see that anymore. Not at all. So I looked at the numbers…see for yourself:

In 1990 [name_f]Jessica[/name_f] was the #1 name for a girl…and that name was given to 46,451 little girls! 2.26%
That same year 65,270 boys were named [name_m]Michael[/name_m]. That one is just over 3%.

Now look at this years data. [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] is the #1 name, given to 22,158 baby girls. 1.15%
[name_m]Jacob[/name_m], the No1 boys name, was given to 18,899 baby boys for a total of 0.94%

In 1990 the Top 10 Girl names accounted for 14.85%, the Top 10 Boy names accounted for 18.6%
In 2012 those numbers were 7.9% for girls and 8.35% for boys.

In 20 years the dominance of Top 10 names has been cut in half (or more, in the case of the boys!).

I know everyone talks about “oh another [name_f]Sophia[/name_f]” or “how many more Jacobs do we need,” but truth be told…the most common name I’ve come across on children over the last few years has been [name_f]Neveah[/name_f]. And I’ve only met three…one is 5, one is 4 and one is 5 months. Two Isabellas. Only one [name_f]Sophia[/name_f]. I know one [name_m]Jacob[/name_m], one [name_u]Jayden[/name_u] and one [name_u]Mason[/name_u]. I also know a [name_u]Jayden[/name_u] who is 13. I don’t know a single [name_f]Emma[/name_f], [name_f]Ava[/name_f], [name_u]Noah[/name_u], [name_m]Liam[/name_m], [name_f]Mia[/name_f], [name_f]Olivia[/name_f], etc. under the age of 10.

Honestly, how many have you met? Does your little [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] have three others in her class, the way we always had 3 Jessicas? Does your son baby [name_m]Jacob[/name_m] share his name with 4 other boys on the soccer team? I’m not judging or accusing, I’m merely curious. Because I find it odd that these names are so “grossly overused” and yet the numbers are down quite significantly compared to the past.

So I guess what I’m saying is…for everyone who insists on the necessity to avoid the “one of 7” issue…do we honestly, really and truly need to keep making up names for our kids to ensure that they “stand out from the crowd?” Because the numbers say it…the “one of 7” argument is losing steam. You don’t have to name your child Nymphadora Eucalyptus for her to be unique. She’s probably just fine as a [name_f]Claire[/name_f] or [name_u]Addison[/name_u]. And yes, probably even a [name_f]Sophia[/name_f].

(this doesn’t mean i’m AGAINST unique or uncommon names. i mean look at mine. i’m simply questioning the validity of the argument that a name has to be uncommon --or cannot be in the top 10-- even if you like it because you don’t want your child to share their name with 7 other people)

2

It’s actually pretty crazy to me that I know as many children as I do with the top names, because statistically it doesn’t seem like I should. But I actually know of at least 3 sibsets including a [name_f]Sophia[/name_f]/[name_f]Sofia[/name_f]/[name_f]Sophie[/name_f] AND an [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f]/[name_f]Isabella[/name_f] in the same family. And if It’s not [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f]/a, it’s [name_f]Olivia[/name_f]. I know at least 3 Avas, 2 Masons, a [name_f]Mia[/name_f]. At least 5 college friends have named their sons [name_m]Liam[/name_m], and it seems like every other little boy I meet is named [name_m]Jacob[/name_m], [name_u]Noah[/name_u], or [name_m]Jack[/name_m]/son. Let’s just say that it was refreshing to meet a little [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] and [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] at the playground recently :wink:

3

I’m an [name_f]Ebony[/name_f] a top 100 name since the 80’s but I’ve never met another. I also know three [name_f]Ciara[/name_f]'s it doesn’t rank yet two of them were in the same classes last year. It is mostly chance that you have another person with your name just because [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] is number one doesn’t mean your daughter will be lost in a crowd of billions of [name_f]Sophia[/name_f]'s but she would only really be one of two or three.

4

Although the percentages are small, there can be double ups/flukes of the most common names. Its possible. But yes, I agree. There is no need for this fear. However I do see the appeal in choosing a name that is more uncommon, only if you love it of course. Same goes for a common name.

5

It’s more accurate to look at your own state and not at the national data. The top names in my state are [name_u]Jayden[/name_u] & [name_f]Isabella[/name_f] and yes, I’ve come across several. The year I was born, they were [name_m]Christopher[/name_m] & [name_f]Jennifer[/name_f]. Again, I’ve known several.

Some people may choose an uncommon name because they don’t want their child to be one of many but I doubt that it’s most people. It’s more acceptable to have uncommon names so parents feel more free to use them. In the 80s, all my parents had were a few baby name books with mostly classic European names. Now the internet has expanded our options and parents can choose from a wide variety of names from around the globe

6

I’ve met at least a dozen children each named [name_f]Isabella[/name_f]/[name_f]Isabelle[/name_f], [name_u]Aidan[/name_u]/[name_u]Jayden[/name_u]/[name_u]Brayden[/name_u]/[name_m]Caden[/name_m], [name_f]Olivia[/name_f], [name_u]Avery[/name_u]/[name_f]Ava[/name_f], [name_u]Riley[/name_u], and [name_f]Emma[/name_f]. Then again, I worked in a preschool and in childrens’ retail stores for the last several years. I’ve also met quite a few kids named [name_u]Addison[/name_u], [name_u]Emerson[/name_u], [name_f]Sofia[/name_f]/[name_f]Sophia[/name_f], and just plain [name_f]Bella[/name_f].

I agree with you in principle. Heck, the year I was born my name was #101 and I was one of five Katelyns in my graduating class (all with alternate spellings), so I don’t think choosing a name outside the top 10, 25, or 100 guarantees they will be the only one in their class. I personally just don’t like names I hear a lot… if I hear the name quite a few times on other people’s children I’m less inclined to use it, I don’t know why. I wouldn’t choose something totally off the wall just to make sure he never met another kid with the same name (most of my names are in the top 1000) but I also wouldn’t go with something in the top ten just because I’m tired of hearing those names. If that makes sense.

7

I meet a lot of people with Top 10 names from the year they were born, but I’ve never met anyone with my name because it was in the 900s the year I was born.

8

People, especially on this board, place way too much emphasis on finding that perfectly unique name for their child (especially if said child is a daughter).

9

I agree with you in theory. But you have to add in alternate spellings ([name_f]Sophia[/name_f], [name_f]Sofia[/name_f], Sophya, and Sofeeia are all going to be called the same name after all), and it’s better to go by state. I think [name_f]Emma[/name_f] is a special case, too, because i feel like every other person has named their kid [name_f]Emma[/name_f] since that Friends episode and I’ve been running into moms everywhere who announce that they’ve chosen [name_f]Emma[/name_f] “because it’s so unique”.

In national popularity, the name [name_u]Brinley[/name_u], for example, ranks in the 400s. If you add it’s alternate spellings all together it might enter the top 100-200. In my state, with all the spellings added together, [name_u]Brinley[/name_u] is in the top 5.

Its best to go by what you actually hear used in your area, as well. I’ve heard the name [name_u]Jayden[/name_u] on at least 2 kids, [name_u]Hayden[/name_u] on at least one, [name_u]Aidan[/name_u] on at last one, [name_m]Kaden[/name_m]/[name_u]Kade[/name_u] on 6 or 7, [name_m]Bayden[/name_m] on at least 3 and at least one kid named Drayden. So that tells me that any and all -ayden names are out, because I’ve only met a small percentage of the kids in my city.

But i also go off of style. The majority of kids I’ve met here are either named something really “tryndee” and misspelled ([name_m]Bentlee[/name_m], Macksyn, Pressleigh, etc) or a top-100 name. Which i personally find boring.

I don’t think that means that i have to find a one-of-a-kind name so that my kids will be “unique”, but i like to find names that feel normal and real despite the fact i haven’t heard them before. Once you’ve heard a name so many times, it just feels boring and old (at least for me) and it loses it’s shine, and when i look at the top 100 in my state i just have a “blah” reaction to all of those names, because they’re either overdone, like [name_f]Emma[/name_f] and [name_f]Ava[/name_f], or tired like [name_u]Madison[/name_u] ([name_u]Madison[/name_u]/[name_f]Maddie[/name_f] was popular here like 15 years ago, why has it not died down?!), or trendy-vintage like [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] and [name_f]Ella[/name_f] that are just going to get more popular in the next few years.

I like to have names that feel like they will stay where they are on the list.

10

I don’t think its all that important to me that my kids have unusual names. I WOULD avoid a top 10 name unless I was really, truly crazy about it… But that’s just because I have a very common name that piqued in the 80’s & early 90’s, and I grew up always having at LEAST one other [name_f]Kate[/name_f]/[name_f]Kaitlyn[/name_f]/[name_f]Katie[/name_f] in my class at school & on the playground all the time. It was like the Ashleys on the TV show ‘Recess’. I really hate a lot of the popular names I hear people choosing for their children these days. For one thing, they get boring when you start to hear them over and over, and for another thing, lots of them are just not my style at all. [name_m]Jack[/name_m]/son is super boring. I used to really like [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f], [name_f]Olivia[/name_f] & [name_f]Ava[/name_f] but they are too trendy for me now that I have seen those names on a zillion kids. Caedence and [name_u]Jayden[/name_u] have no appeal whatsoever… I like names that are novel for me, and that I like the sound and feel of, that are spelled reasonably. Usually that happens to bring me to unusual names bordering even on bizarre.

11

In my daughter’s 1st grade class, there are two girls named [name_f]Emma[/name_f], two girls named [name_f]Hailey[/name_f], and two boys named [name_u]Jaden[/name_u]/[name_m]Kaden[/name_m] (not the same, but very close) and there’s about 20-25 kids in her class total. Maybe her classroom is an anomaly but it still happens.

12

I think the name dominance varies depending on where you live and the places you socialise.

For example last year [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] was the top girls name here. It’s my nieces name and I have met atleast 20 other little girls named that in the last 12 months, 4 of them named [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] [name_f]Rose[/name_f]. Some of them born in 2012 and some in 2013 but that’s still a heck of a lot of babies named [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] and I’m sure most, if not all, of them will end up with atleast 1 other [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] in their class.

13

I was one of 3 [name_f]Tara[/name_f]'s in my year at High School and we were all friends, and this was in the 90’s when it wasn’t a top 100 name. I only know of one [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] personally and none names [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f], in the suburbs here the mother’s have made the news because they go to such lengths to name their children something unique and accuse others of name thieving. I think it is nice not to have the 6 [name_f]Jessica[/name_f]'s and [name_m]Christopher[/name_m]'s in a class but also to have a name that has been at least heard of before.

14

I really mean this very nicely, but I am so sick of the popularity discussion. Is [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] any less a beautiful name because so many little girls have it? Until you know why a parent chose [name_f]Sophia[/name_f], you can’t judge it as unoriginal. I feel like on NB we are so critical of the popular names and people who like them. If [name_f]Emma[/name_f], [name_f]Olivia[/name_f], and [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] don’t work for you, then by all means, pick something else. But maybe [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] works for someone who needs an easy bilingual name, (cough, cough, me) and is one of the few names her husband agrees on (cough, cough) but she can never admit it on NB because she’ll get jumped on for being unoriginal.

Ok, I took this a little personally, sorry. My feelings aside, popularity is overrated in my opinion. Many of the top names are beautiful classic names that a lot of people happen to like.

15

My third son is [name_u]Noah[/name_u] even though I knew it was a very popular name I had only heard of one other [name_u]Noah[/name_u] before he was born so I went with it. Since he has born it seems to me that [name_u]Noah[/name_u]'s are everywhere! There is almost always another [name_u]Noah[/name_u] in his class so he has become [name_u]Noah[/name_u] W. If I had realized this ahead of time I would have gone with my second choice name, [name_m]Beau[/name_m]. Oh and I am a [name_f]Jennifer[/name_f] born in the 70’s and my mother claimed she didn’t know another [name_f]Jennifer[/name_f] until after I was born, we all know how that turned out:)

16

[name_f]Sophie[/name_f] & [name_m]William[/name_m] J
[name_f]Sophie[/name_f] & [name_m]William[/name_m] O
[name_f]Sophia[/name_f] P

[name_f]Amelia[/name_f] B
[name_f]Emilia[/name_f] N
[name_f]Amelia[/name_f] F

[name_f]Mia[/name_f] W
[name_f]Mia[/name_f] c
[name_f]Maya[/name_f] G

[name_u]Luca[/name_u] x 3 but I don’t know their surnames.

I think the big national trends may not be relevant to individuals but school and neighbourhood clusters of similar types of parents certainly lead to clumps of Atticuses vs gangs of Archies.

17

@[name_u]Jazz[/name_u] makes a great point about how the “dominance” of names can vary by region.

There are names which are far more popular in certain areas, then they are in other areas, sometimes even neighboring areas can be quite different.

And on a national level, I think every state probably has a few names which are more popular then they are on a national level, and thus that potentially increases the chance of repetition.

For my home state of [name_m]New[/name_m] [name_m]York[/name_m], the name [name_f]Leah[/name_f] is in the top 10, with 621 born in 2012. That’s actually just under 11% of all the girls named [name_f]Leah[/name_f] in the whole of the United States in 2012 (the number was 5,724). So I would say that would increase the possibility of finding more than one girl named [name_f]Leah[/name_f] in a class/grade/school in [name_m]New[/name_m] [name_m]York[/name_m]. It’s still more likely NOT to happen, but like I said, higher odds.

I do find it a bit tiresome to hear the same names over and over again, but not because of the whole school thing, it’s simply what I said, it’s tiresome to me.

I do not think sharing your name with other in your class/grade/school is the end of the world. My twin sister, [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] got through it just fine.

On a point relating to this issue, I think parents have to be careful when purposely trying to pick a name to ensure there won’t be another one in the class/grade/school, because there are no guarantees.

There were two girls in my grade at school, who were named [name_f]Celine[/name_f], which wasn’t a hugely popular name the year they were born (looked it up, it was ranked early 800s). I bet their parents weren’t expecting that.

Yet I was the only [name_f]Margaret[/name_f], a name that was just outside the Top 100 when I was born, so not hugely popular then but still in steady use.

You just never know how these things can pan out!

18

I agree with the sentiments that popularity is overrated and that you should pay attention to state stats if you’re in the U. S. since we’re such a large country that names can vary greatly by region. I’ve said before that the most common boys’ names I see at work are not [name_m]Jacob[/name_m] and [name_u]Jayden[/name_u]; they’re [name_u]Hunter[/name_u], [name_m]Tanner[/name_m], [name_m]Jackson[/name_m], [name_u]Brayden[/name_u], [name_m]Cayden[/name_m], and [name_m]Gavin[/name_m]. The girls’ names are a little more expected: [name_f]Olivia[/name_f], [name_u]Madison[/name_u], [name_f]Ava[/name_f], [name_f]Isabella[/name_f]. I have met two Liams in two years—one for each year. Where are all these Liams that are overusing the name? It ranks #3 in my state for 2012, yet I just haven’t crossed paths with many yet because name distribution is not even—another factor to consider.

Think of a name that’s very popular with Berries, like [name_f]Imogen[/name_f]—a certain region of the U. S., like [name_m]New[/name_m] [name_f]England[/name_f], could end up with a high percentage of Imogens, but would still rank low nationally because that use would not have spread all across the country, like the use of [name_m]Jacob[/name_m] and [name_f]Isabella[/name_f] has. Also, I’m looking at the stats for [name_f]Missouri[/name_f] right now, and [name_m]Silas[/name_m] is #92 in that state, while [name_m]Brantley[/name_m] is #97, yet neither have made the national Top 100. But [name_f]Sofia[/name_f] ranks as #80 in [name_f]Missouri[/name_f], while it has a much higher national ranking. My advice when considering popularity in the U. S. is to divide the number of national births of a certain name and divide by 50. Then check your state stats against the national average. [name_f]Missouri[/name_f] had 83 [name_m]Brantley[/name_m] births, while the national average rounds to 51, so [name_m]Brantley[/name_m] has a higher than average use in [name_f]Missouri[/name_f]. [name_f]Missouri[/name_f] had 86 uses of [name_m]Silas[/name_m], while the national average was 49, so again, that’s a higher than average usage in one state (and not even a densely populated one).

Also, with the Top 10 girls’ names, does anyone feel like they’re overall prettier and more classic names than they were in the 1980s and 1990s? While a lot of people here complain about meeting another [name_f]Emma[/name_f], [name_f]Ava[/name_f], [name_f]Olivia[/name_f], [name_f]Sophia[/name_f], or [name_f]Isabella[/name_f], they seem like they would transfer much more easily throughout the stages of life than many of the more unisex, trendy names that dominated the '80s and ‘90s lists. The only one in the national Top 10 that fits that bill is [name_u]Madison[/name_u]. So it’s possible that as names cycle through the generations, Top 10 tastes change and one generation prefers cuter names that could be less re-usable in the long run, while the next generation prefers names that had fallen out of use enough that these new parents had no clear impression of them, so suddenly they’re everywhere, forming new identities with their new usage. That seems to be happening with the current Top 10 girls’ names.

19

THANK YOU tarynamber!! I have been having similar thoughts recently but hadn’t been able to put them into words. It also made me feel much better about some of my choices. You are totally right. Also, I think the idea that “Oh my god I MUST pick a unique name!!!” isn’t that common at all. Nameberry people are a VERY select portion of the population who are obsessed with finding original names - otherwise, we wouldn’t be on here, we’d think of a name list and move on like the rest of the sane population!! :slight_smile:

I know everybody has these examples of repeat names - and especially if you meet a lot of babies, this is bound to happen - but my daughter’s daycare of about 100 kids probably has only one or two repeats. Some names are more original ([name_f]Sienna[/name_f], [name_f]Stella[/name_f], [name_m]Silas[/name_m]), others are downright classic ([name_f]Emily[/name_f], [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m], [name_m]Samuel[/name_m]). It’s actually amazing how non-repeating they are!

I also think [name_u]Jazz[/name_u]'s comment about regional differences rings true. I [name_f]LOVE[/name_f] [name_m]William[/name_m] for my second kid, and was all stressed out about it being #5. This confused me, since I really don’t hear a lot of babies named [name_m]William[/name_m] (nowhere near as many as [name_m]Jacob[/name_m], [name_u]Mason[/name_u] or [name_u]Aiden[/name_u]), so I looked up my state ([name_m]New[/name_m] [name_m]York[/name_m]), and [name_m]William[/name_m] is #22!!!

@dindlee, [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] is a [name_f]LOVELY[/name_f] name. Also, I have a friend who had to name her baby girl something that sounded good with her family’s accent, and she went with [name_f]Nola[/name_f]. [name_m]Just[/name_m] throwing that out there. :slight_smile:

20

[name_m]Just[/name_m] thought I’d share… I follow local photographers to help keep up with the names that are popular locally.