My name is [name]Erica[/name], and I always liked it because it was very well-heard of, but not popular. My graduating class is only about 85 kids, but there isn’t another [name]Erica[/name]. [name]One[/name] graduated 2 years before me, and one will graduate two years after. There never had to be [name]Erica[/name] S. and [name]Erica[/name] B. or anything. There have to be at least three [name]Katie[/name]'s and [name]Megan[/name]'s which are both great names but too popular. Anyways…how can you predict a name like that? Is it because I’m slightly younger than when it was really popular? (but I don’t know too many older women with the name either…) I can never figure out which names are “in the middle” like [name]Erica[/name] now.
most of us track name trends using the Social Security Administration’s annual data. Of course, you can never predict with absolute certainty what will happen in popular culture that will make a name rise or fall (a celebrity’s baby, a popular character on a TV show, a hurricane…)
That is the 25,000-dollar baby-naming question! I think most people (minus a bunch here on nameberry that like very unusual names) are aiming for this exact name. Something familiar but not too popular. I don’t have an answer for you – even after having gone through the name search for my son. It is a very difficult thing to do because you never know when a name will “pop” or shoot up the charts and then every second kid will have that name. You can drive yourself crazy trying to find those names. Best to choose a name you love no matter how popular it is or becomes.
It’s not just how popular a name is overall, it’s also how popular it is in your state or local area. A name might be more common in one part of the country and rarely heard of in another, though this seems to be lessening these days because of the internet and other media. It can skyrocket in usage if the name is used for a character on TV.
I’d say look within the top 200-400 or so range of names, those names are familiar but not extremely popular. Also, check and see how much a name has jumped in usage if it’s jumped many places on the index in a short span of time, it’s probably on its way to becoming trendy.