Is popularity something that is important to you or do you just use whatever name you like regardless of popularity?
Also what is your cut off by that I mean will you not use names that are in the top 10? Top 20? 50? 100? 500? Etc.
I have a very popular name [name]Samantha[/name] and I have a really boring filler type middle name. No only did I go to school with 4 other [name]Samantha[/name] in my grade but two of them had the same first and middle and one of them had a last name that started with the same letter so our entire initials were identical. Several times there was me and another [name]Samantha[/name] in a class and we had to use a last initial or go by [name]Sam[/name]. I hate the nick names for my name but likes my full first name except for it being popular.
I had my daughter at 17 I was naive thinking if I had never met anyone with that name then obviously it must be somewhat rare so I used my favorite name with our thinking of the actual popularity and used [name]Izabella[/name]. It fits her and I think it’s beautiful but it’s scared me away from using popular names ever again. My sons are named [name]Holden[/name] and sawyer and though they are somewhat popular they aren’t in the top 100. For boys I won’t use a top 200 names. For girls I like to use nothing in the top 500 with the exception of one of
My current considerations [name]Cecelia[/name].
Yes, popularity is a big deal for me. I had quite a lot namesakes too (when I was in school) and eventhough I love my name, I hate to share it with so many people. But that was nothing. Wait until you have a fight/problem with one of them and you’ll hate it even more to see your name used by the people you really really dislike (luckily we’re okay by now but still, back then it wasn’t pretty).
Basically, I don’t think I’ll ever use top 50 names. [name]Will[/name] try to avoid 100 too. But, maybe (just maybe), I will still use a popular name if it has a significant meaning, or if I really love it and just can’t find a replacement I love as much.
I usually try to avoid top 20 names for my area. I would prefer a name out of the top 100, but there are some top 100 names that I love and would use anyway. My son’s name isn’t even in the top 1000, but I wish it was. It is a great name, imo, and it makes me sad that others don’t seem to think so. The only really popular names I would consider using are classic names like [name]Elizabeth[/name].
I don’t have a cut off, or a hard rule about popularity. Perhaps because of my own experience - my name’s been in the top forty or so for the past few decades, yet I can count on one hand the number of others I’ve met with my name. I think I’m fine with a name as long as it’s not in the top twenty. [name]Even[/name] the current most popular names aren’t being used as much as names like [name]Jennifer[/name], [name]Jessica[/name], etc were back in the day.
Popularity is a huge issue for me, yes. I have a very unusual name (I don’t think it’s technically an actual name) and while I hated that no one could pronounce or spell it at first, I’m happy my name isn’t [name]Jessica[/name]. (#1 name the year I was born.) Because of those reasons I want my children to have unusual names, but names that are easily pronounced and would be easy to spell. (Ex., [name]Winter[/name])
I love the name [name]Violet[/name] but will probably not use it because of its increasing popularity. I’d prefer my favorites to not be in, at least the top 100.
Popularity doesn’t bother me at all! My favorite girl name is [name]Isabella[/name] and i’am going to use despite all the [name]Isabella[/name] out there
I had four [name]Catherine[/name]/[name]Kathryn[/name]/[name]Katherine[/name]/Catharines in my class, so not only am I wary of top 20 names but they also must have just one spelling.
My daughter is izabella I hate that her name is so popular though even though I still love it and think its pretty but I sigh every time I meet another izabella/[name]Isabella[/name]/[name]Isabelle[/name]/[name]Bella[/name]
I’ve met a lot of people with my name, but no one with my nickname. My name’s popularity has never particularly bothered me, but I still wouldn’t like to give any future children a name they’d have to share with three other kids in their class. Basically, the top 50 names are completely off-limits and the top 200 are only allowed if I really love them. (Sigh. [name]Calvin[/name], why do you have to be #189?)
Popularity is not a concern for me at all. I would prefer for some names to be a little less common, but popularity would not stop me from using a name that I truly loved.
I’ll also second the comment that today’s top names aren’t used as much as [name]Jessica[/name] and [name]Jennifer[/name] were back when we were young.
I do not have children yet, but a lot of the names I like are top 50 at least, and I know [name]Elizabeth[/name] jumps back and forth out of the top 10. I have a name that I’ve only met one other person who has it - so maybe I haven’t been scarred by that. I feel like if I love a name, it shouldn’t matter how popular it is. HOWEVER, I do get turned off by popularity on names I don’t love. Like [name]Isabella[/name]. I liked it. It is a good name, but I didn’t [name]LOVE[/name] it, so now I’m over it.
Another thing for me is that I am very nick name centric. I love nick names and I love coming up with new and unique ones. So if I ever do have an [name]Elizabeth[/name] or a [name]Katherine[/name], for example, I will call them something else. Bit, [name]Kit[/name], [name]Bess[/name], [name]Kate[/name], [name]Betsy[/name], [name]Kat[/name], [name]Eliza[/name], etc…
I’m grappling with that question right now. I have loved the name [name]Henry[/name] all my life but it’s so common now. I would have said nothing in the Top 100 but I adore [name]Henry[/name] and it’s one of the few that my husband likes too.
I was often one of 3, 4, or even 5 with my name in a class. It was awful and I will not inflict it on my children.
I completely agree with charlieandperry. As a side example, my daughter [name]Madelyn[/name] was born in 2006. [name]Madelyn[/name]/[name]Madeline[/name] together ranked in the top 20 that year, and [name]Madison[/name] was #3. However, there is not a single other girl named [name]Madelyn[/name]/[name]Madeline[/name]/[name]Madison[/name]/[name]Maddie[/name] in her class of 100 girls at school. On the other hand, there are three [name]Jacqueline[/name]'s in her grade, and [name]Jacqueline[/name] was #118 that year. My son’s name, [name]Alexander[/name], was #13 the year he was born. So far we have only met one other [name]Alexander[/name] his age. But he has two friends named [name]Mario[/name]. [name]Mario[/name]! And we live in the midwestern United States. Popularity isn’t everything. It doesn’t mean you will meet hundreds of other kids with the same name. And choosing a unique name doesn’t mean your child won’t ever have another kid with the same name in his or her class. In general, I kind of try to avoid the top 10. But if you look at the number of kids with each name, it has decreased over the last ten years. [name]Jacob[/name] was the number 1 boys name in 2002 and 2012, but in 2002 there were over 30,000 boys who were named [name]Jacob[/name] as compared with 18,000 in 2012.
Ultimately I think you should name your child something that you [name]LOVE[/name] and try not to obsess about popularity.
Thanks for all the feedback. It’s just hard for me to use a name that’s even somewhat popular since I’ve been so scarred by my name and my daughters names popularity. I like using a name that is so rare no one has heard it or maybe only heard it in a book or movie. So far I’ve not met any other [name]Holden[/name]'s or Sawyers. But izabella has met three izabellas. For a long time I liked the name [name]Scarlett[/name]. I had a friend named that about 13 years ago and never met another person named that there wasn’t even another girl in my school district named that. Now it is a top 100 name and I won’t use it. I also like [name]Elizabeth[/name] and [name]Caroline[/name]. But I feel like since they are so familiar they kind of lack wow factor. I want my child’s name to really be distinctive and make an impression.
I don’t think I’d use anything above top 50 - only because my name is [name]Gwen[/name] and I loved having a uncommon - yet not out there, name. Although I’m loving [name]Haley[/name] right now, which I believe is around 30-40 right now :-/
Of my children’s 2-3 names (first-mid-mid), I would prefer that only one of them was in the top 100. The other name(s) should definitely on the other side of the top 300.
