[name]How[/name] do some names get so popular so quick? As an avid name fan, I am always coming up with new names I like, whether I’m pregnant or not. I’ll come up with a name that I think is sooo original, and in three days it is super trendy…of course, the conclusion is that it was never “my name” but, I must have picked up the idea from somewhere, along with everyone else. Perfect example to make my point…about 4-5 months ago, I had an epiphany that my next son would be named hudson…i just finished reading a biography on hudson taylor, the missionary, and admired his life of faith and it made a good match with my first son, noah, also named after a man of faith, plus…the first letter, last letter opposite thing…well, next thing i know i see it everywhere on posts, and notice two kids in the nursury named hudson. not so original in the end. *side note…i know that noah is also very popular now…i did name him that despite it b/c i love the name…however…my question is…
[name]How[/name] do you think some names get so trendy?
Have you had the same experience with any of “YOUR” names?
First of all, I’ve noticed that these names are always out there. It’s just when you have a name that appeals to you, you notice it more than you normally would. That would explain why you “all of a sudden” see it everywhere.
I loved [name]Leighton[/name], and wanted it for my baby’s name. I’m not a Gossip Girl fan, and didn’t really know it was the name of a famous actress until after I Googled it. It was not on the popularity chart until this year… coming in at 600 something - 662 or so, I think. Apparently, it’s a super-trendy name.
I have a feeling that a great deal of people are influenced by the same things. Pop culture is a great example. [name]Charlotte[/name] was probably doing okay, but then Sex and the City came along, and it broke the top 100 which it hadn’t done since the 1950s.
And name talk is one thing, but actually naming your child is another - which is why I try not take too much on the boards seriously. It’s an indicator, but not as accurate as SSA.
I had the same experience with [name]Hudson[/name]! Six months ago or so my grandma told me the story about when she was a teenager and her family packed up and moved from New [name]York[/name] City to [name]California[/name]. They drove all the way in an old beat up [name]Hudson[/name] that a friend let them have. It broke down many times along the way, but it got them there. If it weren’t for that car taking them to [name]California[/name], the course of history would be changed and I wouldn’t even exist! So I’m thankful to that old [name]Hudson[/name]! I thought using the name would be such an awesome way to honor my grandma’s family, and it would also represent perseverance, following through to the finish! As an added bonus, [name]Doc[/name] [name]Hudson[/name] is a Pixar character just like my son [name]Dashiell[/name]! And I had never seen it considered online or met a single person with that name, ever! Perfect name!
And then? All of a sudden, it was everywhere! People were suggesting it all the time, it seemed to be on everyone’s short list. [name]How[/name] could that happen? I have no clue. But it seems like it happens all the time! I’ve noticed the same thing with clothes and even colors and trends in all sorts of things. I think it’s like in the movie [name]Josie[/name] and the Pussycats where they’re controlling what we like subliminally!
I’ve had the same experience with [name]Braden[/name] and [name]Sawyer[/name]. About ten years ago when I first started driving, we moved to a new town. To get to my grandmother’s house we had to drive through the town of [name]Braden[/name]. I remember thinking back then that it would make a nice name for a boy and now it’s super popular, I was astounded when I started hearing little boys named [name]Braden[/name]. About 7 years ago I worked at a daycare and kept a little girl who had a brother who had just started kindergarten named [name]Sawyer[/name]. I decided then that if I had a boy his name would be [name]Sawyer[/name] and now it too is becoming more popular. It can be really frustrating! I don’t think I have to worry about that with [name]Casper[/name], but I worry that I will choose a name that at the time is very uncommon and a year later every other baby I meet will have the same name.
I think it may have something to do with the fact that for many of us, we first started thinking about or becoming interested in names when we were kids/teens. And, by the time all those kids/teens grew up and started actually having kids, we’d been influenced by the same things, perhaps subconsciously. For example, most mid-20s to late 30s women knew at least 2 (if not many more) Jennifers, Lauras, Crystals, etc. because they were very popular names in the 80s (at least in the US). I think it made us start dreaming about unique names, and wanting to name our kids something that wouldn’t require a last name initial in school. Unfortunately, we all had that thought.
For me, I remember thinking [name]Chloe[/name] was the most beautiful name ever, when I was in my early teens. It was the name of a cute, little old lady in my church. I decided that it’s what I’d name my daughter, and everyone thought it sounded so “old fashioned” and thus “ugly” at the time. Now, because many people my age were probably influenced by the older names that no one “our” age has, it’s become one of the most popular names in the country. So, do I give it up or resign my (future) daughter to being [name]Chloe[/name] P?
This is so interesting isn’t it?
Back in the mid eighties I read a stunning children’s book by [name]Mollie[/name] [name]Hunter[/name] called A Stranger Came Ashore and encountered a most curious name that I’d never heard before - [name]Finn[/name]. That was my boys’ name for years and years. Now, finally I’m pregnant with a boy it’s suddenly everywhere, it’s more popular in the top 100 in Aus than [name]John[/name]!! I honestly don’t know how it entered consciousness so quickly. [name]Via[/name] other Gaelic naming trends? (In Australia at least [name]Connor[/name] came first, on the back of a resurgence in interest in names like [name]Hamish[/name] and [name]Angus[/name]). [name]Even[/name] in 2007 it was still being included on “names that are weird but not too weird” lists.
I feel like [name]Oscar[/name] sprang out of nowhere too about 8 years ago (around the time I was having my first). [name]Sesame[/name] [name]Street[/name] nostalgia? Not many little Kermits around though.
Hmmm…seriously considers [name]Kermit[/name] slaps self in face
Names I like seem to go up in popularity as well and this annoys me greatly. I had my first daughter, [name]Avery[/name] in 2000. When I was pregnant with her, I didn’t know any other [name]Avery[/name]'s and the year she was born her name was #176 on the SS list. Now it is in the top 50 and I know all kinds of little girls that are preschool aged with that name. My second child is [name]Graham[/name]. He is almost 2 and in 2008 his name was #322 on the SS list. Last year, it jumped to 262. While it is still uncommon, I bet in 10 years it will be popular.
Now I’m pregnant with another boy and I am having such a hard time coming up with a name. I want to choose something uncommon, but am afraid it will just get popular later. So now I am thinking of using a name that used to be popular and is on the downswing. My husband thinks I spend way too much time obsessing and we should just pick a name we like and go with it.
What I’ve come to realize is that a name that you may consider unique, and uncommon is just more noticeable when you see even one other child with that name. It makes more of an impact. Having 2 “Hudsons” in a class is more obvious than having two [name]John[/name]'s, or two Michaels. Those are names you wouldn’t even notice if there were doubles.
It’s when some other set of parents shockingly have the same unique epiphany about [name]Hudson[/name]/[name]Oscar[/name]/[name]Felix[/name] that it becomes noticeable, and at least imo a little embarrassing when you realize you’re not quite as unique and free thinking as you thought.
[name]True[/name] katieanne…however, I’m not going to go the route of naming my kid [name]Mike[/name] or [name]John[/name] just so they won’t be noticed, and then, on the other hand, I’m not going to name them [name]Kermit[/name] just so I can be sure it won’t ever be popular…so there ya go…you end up in the middle somewhere, and maybe we are just making our own new Michaels and [name]John[/name], and [name]Matthews[/name], but, then again…I really do like those names anyway, so shall see!