Unsurprised, haha. It doesn’t bother me.
My husband is a [name]Justin[/name] too! Lol. All his friends seem to be [name]Chris[/name] or [name]Josh[/name] though.
I don’t think [name]Zoe[/name] was popular AT ALL when I was born and I loved being the only one. I never had to worry about having a class with someone with my name until I got to college and another girl in my major had the same name. I find it really annoying. Although I do know lots of younger people with my name now. I guess I’m selfish because I want people to like my name, but I also don’t want them to use it. Sigh.
I’m 25, and never met another [name]Kenzie[/name] until this past year. I found it kind of cool! I was checking out at a store and she read my name on my debit card and said, “My name is [name]Kenzie[/name], too! Spelled the same way!” We were both surprised! I’ve met 1 [name]MacKenzie[/name] before, who went by [name]Kenzie[/name], and that kindof annoyed me. I also met someone with the middle name [name]Kenzie[/name], and she went by that. Also kindof annoyed me. Not sure why though.
I hear it is becoming somewhat popular now. I think I will be thrilled when I meet a little [name]Kenzie[/name].
I have yet to meet another [name]Gemma[/name] face to face, so I’d like to think that I’d feel a bond and be excited if it ever does happen. I do feel a bit possessive of my name because I tend to be the only [name]Gemma[/name] that anyone of my acquaintance knows, so I won’t rule out a little potential jealousy! It’s also handy that at work and socially whenever someone refers to [name]Gemma[/name], there is no doubt who they mean. I wouldn’t like to give up that sort of instant recognition and lack of confusion.
My Scottish boyfriend assures me that it’s a common name for other women in their twenties in the UK, but it’s quite rare in the Netherlands (where I was born) and rather unusual in [name]Canada[/name] (where we live now).
For most of my life I’ve enjoyed having an unusual and distinctive name and I get a lot of compliments on it. Generally once I’ve spelled it for someone they don’t have any trouble with it ([name]Emma[/name] with a G!).
I meet other [name]Jessica[/name]'s all the time. It’s not a problem. It’s fun - if we forget that the other person is a [name]Jessica[/name], we laugh, and if we’re introducing ourselves, it’s funny 'cause it’s like “I am too.” Overall a positive.
My middle name is rare for my age (so I’ll keep it private). I’ve twice met women roughly my age (both a little younger) with it, and that is fun exciting thing! It’s actually fairly popular for girls now, but before I knew that I once spoke excitedly to a woman whose little girl was called that, in a store - I think I scared her because I was talking about how cool it was to hear the name, whereas to her she probably felt she had picked a common name!
Wow, lots of interesting responses! [name]Love[/name] to hear them, thanks so much Berries. I was curious since people talk a lot about how they don’t want their child to be one of many with that name, whether they mind themselves if they meet/know people with their name.
It seems that people with very common names are less likely to mind, while those with more unusual names find it unpleasant. I can see why one would get possessive about their name! Interesting that some people with unusual names hate to “share” their name while others find it a cool connection. [name]Just[/name] goes to show how we’re all different, I guess, and that every child is affected by it differently too!
Mm. I don’t like it, but it’s not like I hate it. I hate being [name]Amanda[/name] G. though. Because G just isn’t a nice-sounding letter, ahaha…But other than that, it’s fine with me.
It used to be I only met (in passing or otherwise) one other [name]Natalie[/name]. That was back in 6th grade; it didn’t bother me much, we were differentiated by something like “tall [name]Natalie[/name]” and “short [name]Natalie[/name]”, never by “[name]Natalie[/name] D.” or “[name]Natalie[/name] G.” (the latter in both examples being me) Not sure why, but I always thought it would awful to have to be differentiated by last initial.
However, I’m noticing it to start changing. I start to hear children being called to and [name]Natalie[/name] comes up more often than ever. It’s not all over the place, but over the past year I’ve heard it in passing about 3 times. This may be pessimistic of me, but, I can’t help but think, “Oh, great! I bet she doesn’t even spell it right!” when I hear my name in passing on someone else.
To top it off, an old friend from my hometown recently had a daughter, whom she named [name]Natalie[/name]. (I am sure of the spelling because she updates a lot on Facebook) What gets to me is how her daughter’s nickname is spelled (and pronounced, I imagine) Naddie. Personally, I use (and insist on) [name]Nattie[/name], so can’t stand it when people refer to me as Naddie or - even worse - Nad.
In short, I find myself as of lately being a bit cynical toward others with my name.
Until high school, I had only ever met 1 girl with the same name as me. I loved having a name I thought no one else had. I thought I was one of the only ones with my names in the world. I loved reading my name is history books, seeing my name on characters in period movies, and occassionally hearing my name in movies. I have always felt very attached to my name, like it was only for me.
When I started high school, I met 3 new girls with my name. At first, I was kind of offended (lol), because it was “my” name and I though it made my name less special. I never had another girl with the same class or workplace as me with my name until I was 17. There was a 6 year old with the same name as me at my work, so we had to start going by our first and last names to avoid confusion. I hated it. I like being the only one with my name.
In college, I had a couple of classes other girls with my name. I still didn’t like it, but it was no longer offensive to share my name with others.
Now, I like meeting girls with my name. I have now met very many girls my age, older than me, and younger than me with my name. Now I know that my name is still just as special as it was when I was little, even if other people have it.
My name is [name]Lincoln[/name], which is obviously very uncommon for a girl. I haven’t ever met another girl with the name, and only like 2 boys with the name (in passing). But a few months ago, a woman came up to me at a parade (I had no idea who she was, but apparently she knew me) and she told me that she was pregnant and naming her baby girl after me. Lo and behold, in [name]July[/name] a little [name]Lincoln[/name] [name]Hope[/name] was born. Honestly, this really made me mad (and it still does). My name is very special to me because it is so unique and I always get compliments on it. And I am always the only one named [name]Lincoln[/name] anywhere I go. So for someone to name their child my name in such a close area to me (about 20 minutes away from where I live) was pretty offensive! I know I probably sound stupid and selfish, but I just had to vent because none of my friends get it!
I meet lots of little Emilys, so it really doesn’t phase me too much. But recently a couple of people have told me about a new tv show coming out this fall called “[name]Emily[/name] [name]Owens[/name], M.D.”
That one really threw me for a loop since that’s my maiden name!
I grew up being the only [name]Lynn[/name], having to always tell people “L-y-n-n, no e at the end”, “No, its not short for [name]Linda[/name]”, or “Yes, [name]Lynn[/name] is my real name, not my middle name.” I never had the brief confusion in school when the teachers called on girls with more common names at the time, and wonder which [name]Rachel[/name] or [name]Sarah[/name] she was talking to. I hardly ever found my name on little souvenirs at gift shops on vacation. I loved it.
I have only ever met one other girl my age with my name. I had classes with other Lynns in college, and met 4 in one sitting a few weeks ago (a few of which I seriously could not stand lol!). Because I’ve spent the vast majority of my life being the only [name]Lynn[/name] I knew… I’m a little irked when I meet another [name]Lynn[/name] lol!
I’m an [name]Amy[/name] and there is another girl in my class with the same fn and mn as me. I was best friends with an [name]Amy[/name] and after two more [name]Amy[/name]'s in my workplace, there is now 3 of us.
CALLING ALL NAMEBERRIES, find a nickname for [name]Amy[/name] [name]Louise[/name] please… To distinguish between an [name]Amy[/name] Broome, jones and [name]Evans[/name].
( I’m the [name]Evans[/name] and my initials spell ALE)
I think I’ve talked about this several times on here… gosh, I hate it. I’ve met at most 4 others with my name, 2 with different spellings and one with the same spelling but different pronunciation (I’ve yet to meet another who spells and pronounces my name the same as I do – that annoys me along the lines of “you’re saying it wrong,” ha), one who went by my name but it was a nickname (a mishmash of her given name’s sounds). When I was very young, I’d get a lot of comments about how unusual/unique/pretty/special my name was, and I think it became a deep-seated point of pride for me, so when I later encountered others with my name I felt robbed! I think I genuinely thought I was the ONLY person with that name when I was very young, and each additional person with my name just made it more and more clear how delusional I was, haha.
Yes, I know this is irrational and unfair. But that’s definitely how it makes me feel 
My name was in the low 500s, very close to 600, on the SSA list the year I was born. It climbed to the mid-300s in the late 90s, then back down again.
For what it’s worth, I’ve known at least 8 [name]Laurens[/name] in my lifetime 
Because of that experience, I tend to prefer names that either are quite familiar (no kid could make the “it’s mine! alllll mine!” mistake) or ones that are SO uncommon that they’re almost (almost) guaranteed to never meet another one (this is my top choice). Of course, sometimes preferences don’t line up, and those rules don’t always dictate our list… but they definitely guide it. Regardless of the drawbacks, I definitely love and value having a less common name. I wouldn’t rather be a 20-something [name]Katie[/name] (which I almost was).
I’m married to a top-5-for-his-birth-year name, and he thinks I’m nutso.
My husband is also [name]Justin[/name]! He claims he has never met another one and thinks his name is uncommon… I think he must just not remember or something.
There are a million other Jennifers, Jennys, Jennies, Jennies, [name]Jens[/name] and Jenns in my life… haha. Always has been, always will be. It’s a bit annoying but it’s not the worst thing in the world I guess. It’s one reason I’m hoping I can give my kids somewhat less popular names (though I’m not going to reach for names just because the ones I like are in the top 500 or something). I’ve always been known as [name]Jenni[/name] P or [name]Jenni[/name] with an “I” (or [name]Jenni[/name] with an eyeball as a sorority sister would say ALL the time!).
My cousin did marry someone with my first name. She usually goes by [name]Jen[/name] in the family but it is a bit confusing if her siblings are around because a lot of people call her [name]Jenny[/name]. So at Thanksgiving someone will say [name]Jenny[/name] and I’ll get confused. Other than that it doesn’t really bother me since my name is so popular anyways.
My name is not common, so I don’t meet others with it very often. They also have a different spelling. I love that My name is more rare. I would have hated to have had other children with the same name in my classes.
It doesn’t really bother me meeting another [name]Margaret[/name], I know that back when my parents used it, it was a fairly widely used name (if my memory serves me rightly, [name]Margaret[/name] was lingering just outside the Top 100 for the year I was born, where it had been lingering for several years prior to that).
Having said that, I haven’t met many other [name]Margaret[/name]'s my age or around my age, I’m more likely to come across an older [name]Margaret[/name].
I’m another [name]Margaret[/name]! I actually know quite a few other Margarets who are all over the age spectrum, but most of them go by a nickname. (In fact, I live with a [name]Margaret[/name]–who goes by [name]Maggie[/name]–who was born just three days after me, but that’s another story, hee hee). 
That being said, I don’t really enjoy meeting gals my age (early 20s) who go by the full name of [name]Margaret[/name], since I’ve never used any nicknames for myself and I have this ridiculous pride thing where I enjoy being the “only” actual [name]Margaret[/name].
I do know of a toddler [name]Margaret[/name] at my church, and she wears the name well.