This is a question for the name gurus and experts.
I really like the name [name_f]Maren[/name_f] for my daughter (due at the end of [name_u]March[/name_u] 2018). It has been on our short list of about 5 names for quite a while. The other 4 choices are more traditional… [name_f]Anna[/name_f], [name_f]Lillian[/name_f], [name_f]Maggie[/name_f], [name_f]Fiona[/name_f].
I like [name_f]Maren[/name_f] because it is somewhat unique. But how can I predict whether or not it will become trendy in the next couple of years? If [name_f]Maren[/name_f] became the new [name_f]Ava[/name_f] or [name_f]Ella[/name_f] and there were 5 of them in my child’s class, I would be heartbroken! Should my fear of future trendiness lead me to go with one of my more traditional choices?
Perhaps there is no way to predict if a name will trend, but if there is some magic to it, please share!
Looking at the top 15 right now, all of the names were in the top 20 five years ago. It looks like [name_u]Harper[/name_u] went from off the charts to top 10 in a fairly short time, but it still took 10 years of climbing. At most there would be a lot of Marens several years younger than your daughter. But I think that’s unlikely. With [name_u]Harper[/name_u] it looks like there were a lot of celebrities naming their daughters [name_u]Harper[/name_u] ten years ago, and I don’t see that with [name_f]Maren[/name_f].
I don’t see it happening with [name_f]Maren[/name_f]. The name voyager tool on baby name wizard can help you see if a name if very suddenly streaking toward popularity. But [name_f]Maren[/name_f] doesn’t use the sounds/trends that seem to be most popular right now. And there aren’t any celebrities shining a light on the name.
Names are so diverse now that there will never be 5 Marens in a class. There might be one other, but that’s impossible to say. I think if you love a name it, you should use it rather than avoiding it on the off chance your daughter might someday encounter someone with her name and the trauma of such a catastrophe will send her on a downward spiral from which she’ll never recover
Of course, you never can tell what will happen (maybe [name_m]William[/name_m] and [name_f]Kate[/name_f]’s third child will be a [name_f]Princess[/name_f] [name_f]Maren[/name_f]… highly unlikely, but possible!) but I’d say that you’re fairly safe with [name_f]Maren[/name_f]. As a pp said, other than being uncommon and a lovely name, there’s nothing about it that suggests that it’s set to shoot up the charts. It doesn’t belong to any of the popular/trending categories and that’s part of its charm for me — it’s unassumingly chic and self-contained and distinctive.
I also really love [name_f]Anna[/name_f] from your list. You really can’t go wrong with timeless, gorgeous [name_f]Anna[/name_f]!
