Is a name outside the Top 100 really THAT popular?

[name_m]Hi[/name_m] Berries! I am 22 weeks pregnant with my first (a boy), and while my husband and I started talking about baby names on our 3rd date over 13 years ago, naming an actual baby is proving to be much harder than we anticipated!

All of the names on our old favorite list ([name_u]Alden[/name_u] (pr: all-den), [name_u]Elliott[/name_u], [name_m]Jasper[/name_m], [name_m]Ephraim[/name_m], [name_m]Simon[/name_m]) have been vetoed for one reason or another. Our Top 3 for girls (just in case!) are [name_f]Celia[/name_f] (cee-lee-uh), [name_f]Mira[/name_f] (meer-uh) and [name_f]Caia[/name_f] (kie-uh). I love each of these names for their meaning, their uniqueness (none are above #600), and the fact that they are established yet underused names with history.

Our Top 3 for boys is currently non-existant! At this point, I’d be happy to have a Top 1…just 1 name that we both agree has the potential to be THE name. I am so frustrated with our lack of any sort of boy list that I am tempted to go against my long-standing rule of not choosing a name above #250.

So far, my husband really loves the names [name_m]Asher[/name_m] (#108), [name_u]Emmett[/name_u] (#186) and [name_m]Oliver[/name_m] (#73). Out of the 3, I have a connection to [name_m]Asher[/name_m]. It’s an old testament name, has a cute nickname ([name_u]Ash[/name_u]), was a character in one of my favorite books (The Giver), is easy to pronounce and spell, and has a wonderful meaning. When I told my husband that [name_m]Asher[/name_m] means “blessed, fortunate and happy”, he said “That’s exactly what I want for our son.” (([name_u]LOVE[/name_u]))

[name_f]My[/name_f] dilemma is: do I love it enough to look past the fact that it’s at #108 and climbing?? [name_m]Will[/name_m] my son be one of 2-3 Ashers in his grade/class for his entire school career? As a [name_f]Kimberley[/name_f] of the 80’s, I am not thrilled about the prospect. However, I have no sense as to how popular a name beyond the Top 100 really is… anyone have any thoughts? [name_m]How[/name_m] many Ashers do you know? Would you consider it a “popular name”?

Thanks everyone,
[name_f]Kimberley[/name_f]

On all honesty I don’t know anyone called [name_m]Asher[/name_m]. I see it on this board quite a lot as a given suggestion from berries but that is not indicative of real life use. In my life, I have only ever met 1 ‘[name_u]Ash[/name_u]’, so I would say it’s still unexpected & uncommon imo. [name_f]Hope[/name_f] this helps :). [name_u]Love[/name_u] [name_f]Celia[/name_f]!

[name_m]Oliver[/name_m] on the other hand is becoming very popular, it’s a top 10 in UK, Australia, [name_m]New[/name_m] Zealand, etc, and I know quite a few Olivers’. [name_u]Emmett[/name_u] is like [name_m]Asher[/name_m], I have only ever known 1.

[name_f]My[/name_f] oldest son is [name_m]Alexander[/name_m], and his name was #16 the year he was born. However, out of 150 students in his grade at school, there is only one other [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] (who goes by [name_u]Alex[/name_u] while my son goes by [name_m]Xander[/name_m]). I highly doubt an [name_m]Asher[/name_m] born in 2014 would be one of 2-3 Ashers in his class. I love the name and the meaning, and I currently only know one [name_m]Asher[/name_m] (who is 12 years old).

I feel that if you love a name that’s what is important. You could pick the a very unique name that you don’t love, but there’s always the risk that someone in your area picked the name as well. I’ve never heard of the name [name_m]Asher[/name_m] outside of Nameberry, so I don’t consider it that popular in my area.

Here are the numbers on name nerd’s 2012 boys list:
[name_m]Asher[/name_m] (3514 boys), [name_m]Ashur[/name_m] (33), Ashar (27), Ascher (21), Ashyr (13) ,[name_m]Ashor[/name_m] (5)
[name_u]Emmett[/name_u] (2007 boys), [name_m]Emmitt[/name_m] (356), [name_u]Emmet[/name_u] (156), [name_m]Emmit[/name_m] (136), Emitt (16), Emet (16), [name_m]Emett[/name_m] (16), [name_m]Emit[/name_m] (9)
[name_m]Oliver[/name_m] (5866 boys), [name_m]Olliver[/name_m] (19), [name_m]Olyver[/name_m] (12)

Compare those with the #1
[name_u]Aiden[/name_u] (14779) and 13,901 with alternate spellings

What I feel sometimes gives me a ball-bark on name popularity is to look up what percentage of babies today are given the name I am considering and match that percentage to the year I was born.

For example:
Currently (2012) 0.1749% of babies are given the name [name_m]Asher[/name_m].

You mentioned you were an 80’s kid (it would be best to use your birth year, this is just an example)

In 1980,
[name_u]Casey[/name_u] (#93) made up 0.1737% of babies
[name_m]Alexander[/name_m] (#92) made up 0.1763% of babies

now you can compare this to your experiences growing up. Did you know many Caseys and Alexanders? Was it a name you would of thought “of course it is” if you met them? Was there a [name_u]Casey[/name_u] S. and a [name_u]Casey[/name_u] A. in your classes?

This method isn’t exact but it is a fun way to get an idea of how popular a name will be by comparing it to your own experiences. [name_f]My[/name_f] only hesitation would be that we have not yet received the data for 2013, and [name_m]Asher[/name_m] could have climbed in popularity. (I used the SSA for this if you want to try it out :slight_smile: )

Congratulations!

No, it’s not but that won’t guarantee that he will not end up going to school with someone who has the name. Names aren’t always evenly dispersed, styles tend to clump around areas depending on socioeconomics. First I strongly recommend looking at how your states naming trends on the SSA site (assuming your are in the US) because the name trends do vary from state to state and even if it only goes up to #100 you might be surprised how it differs from the country as a whole. Secondly, you’re just not going to run into the same situation with [name_u]Kimberly[/name_u] growing up. (I’m using the more common spelling [name_u]Kimberly[/name_u]) In 1985, [name_u]Kimberly[/name_u] was #19 and had 14,913 girl babies born that year with that name. In 2012 the most popular name is [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] at 22,158 girls born, to get to the same number as [name_u]Kimberly[/name_u] in 1984 you drop to spot…#6, [name_f]Emily[/name_f] at 13,550. (Number one in 1985 is [name_f]Jessica[/name_f], with a whopping 48,343 births) but of course, the number of babies born each year is different. So in 1985 we’ve got #1 [name_f]Jessica[/name_f] at 2.62%, [name_u]Kimberly[/name_u] at #19 0.8082% and in 2012 [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] #1 is 1.1531% and [name_f]Emily[/name_f] #6 is 0.7052%. Personally I had the same concern as you, so I just gave myself the rule to stay out of the top 10 for my state. Unless you want a really rare name, I’d say avoiding anything more than the top 50 is overkill if you just want to avoid your child being one of too many Kimberlys.

I only know of one [name_m]Asher[/name_m] and it’s by no means a hugely popular name here in the UK. I’d say if you love the name, go for it.

Below are the Illinois 2012 Stats for your three names. The most important thing is to choose a name that you love, that has special meaning and that flows well with your surname. If you name your son [name_m]Asher[/name_m] there is really no guarantee he will be the only [name_m]Asher[/name_m] in his classroom whatever state he lives in. Chances are he will but who knows.

[name_m]Asher[/name_m] and [name_u]Emmett[/name_u] were NOT in the top 100 ([name_m]Jesus[/name_m] was No# 100 with 159 boys)
[name_m]Oliver[/name_m] was No# 54 (293 boys)

Thank you to everyone who has commented so far- especially those of you who took the time to figure out percentages and do some research! That’s the type of reassurance I was looking for, even if I didn’t know it :slight_smile:

I guess I am not as concerned about him being the “only [name_m]Asher[/name_m]” in his class as I am with the name becoming increasingly popular to the point where you can tell that he’s from a certain time period (say, 2012-2016) based on his name. I guess there’s really no way to know what names will become super-trendy…an old boss of mine named her son [name_u]Jayden[/name_u] 13 years ago because she thought it was unique!

[name_m]Just[/name_m] out of curiosity, does anyone know when the 2013 SSA lists will come out?

Around Mother’s [name_u]Day[/name_u] each year so it’s expected in [name_f]May[/name_f].

[name_m]Asher[/name_m]: You should definitely use it if you love it, or maybe commit to [name_m]Asher[/name_m] as a middle name until further notice.
Another thought is [name_u]Ashton[/name_u]. [name_u]Ashton[/name_u] is less popular than [name_m]Asher[/name_m]. [name_u]Ashton[/name_u] is # 141. His first could be [name_u]Ashton[/name_u], and his second name could begin with R, thus letting you call him [name_m]Asher[/name_m] for a nickname.
There are also these [name_u]Ash[/name_u]-like options:
Ashford
[name_u]Ashby[/name_u]
Ashland
[name_u]Ashley[/name_u]
[name_f]My[/name_f] favorite of those is Ashford, but I like [name_u]Ashton[/name_u] better.
I do not know anyone named [name_m]Asher[/name_m], or [name_u]Ashton[/name_u], or even Any other [name_u]Ash[/name_u] name when it comes to boys.
I love the name [name_f]Caia[/name_f] for a girl.

For me if you love a name popularity shouldn’t be such a HUGE issue to the point that you would not use the name, because at the end of the day even if it is popular you’d probably feel regret if you didn’t use this choice, due to your strong love and connection to it. In regards to your name and growing up in the 80s as a [name_f]Kimberley[/name_f] I really wouldn’t worry that your son may be one of three [name_m]Asher[/name_m]'s in his class, as this isn’t as likely because unlike in the 1980s this is 2014. We have a vast range of names for potential parents too choose from which means that even if a name is incredibly popular statistically it doesn’t necessarily reflect real life and what names you and your child meet. For example in the UK [name_f]Amelia[/name_f] is the no.1 girls name but still I’ve met only five [name_f]Amelia[/name_f]'s but have encountered seven female [name_u]Frankie[/name_u]'s - a name which isn’t even in the top 10 unlike [name_f]Amelia[/name_f]. I love [name_m]Asher[/name_m] and I don’t think that due to the fact that he’s statistically at #108 in the naming charts (and climbing) your son’s name is going to be ridiculously popular as statistics change and differ depending many factors like different states or counties.

I only know one [name_m]Asher[/name_m] and he’s 14 years old. I live in a hip area in western US.

The best way I think to avoid a name that reads for a certain decade is to pick something that never went out of style. Something that has held somewhere around the middle at least on the charts for three generations or more. The downside is that most of these name might seem common and unexciting. Some of these names are even kind of trendy these days, like [name_m]Alexander[/name_m], [name_m]Anthony[/name_m], [name_m]Charles[/name_m], [name_m]Henry[/name_m]. Here’s a good list. Boy Names ALWAYS in the Top 1000 | Nameberry

Asher could be that someday but it’s too new to know for sure now.

Thanks [name_u]Mischa[/name_u]! And thank you to everyone else who commented so far :slight_smile:

anaxandra: Thanks for the link. [name_f]My[/name_f] husband also likes [name_m]Alexander[/name_m], [name_m]Harrison[/name_m], [name_m]John[/name_m] (his middle name), and [name_u]Max[/name_u]. I wish I liked any of the longer variations of [name_u]Max[/name_u], as I don’t find [name_u]Max[/name_u] by itself to be a substantial name. I know it is, it just seems like a nickname to me. I do like [name_m]Xander[/name_m] as a nickname for [name_m]Alexander[/name_m], but I just know too many Alexanders (especially under the age of 10). I like [name_m]Harrison[/name_m], but I’m not sure the inevitable nn [name_m]Harry[/name_m] is useable in the U.S.

To be honest I haven’t met anyone named [name_m]Asher[/name_m]. I haven’t even met anyone who has named their son [name_m]Asher[/name_m]. IF you both like the name go for it!

I know/know of friends-of-friends named Asher, but many are quite old. I’m Jewish, which skews things a bit.

Kimberly is in a different league of popularity. It was 11th in 1963 (I searched 50 years backstory) Top Ten from 1964-1977, then from 1978 to 2012 it hasn’t been out of the top hundred. There are literally thousands and thousands more Kimberlys floating around than there are Ashers.

Yet how many NEWBORN Kimberlys do you know? It’s 88th now. They’re not filling up the daycares like Avas and Sophias. Yet it’s still more popular than Asher.

I know you mentioned [name_m]Harrison[/name_m]. I live in the US, and I know two people who are named [name_m]Harrison[/name_m]. Neither go by Harry. If you love a name, you can always figure out a nickname you prefer (even an initial nickname) or not have him go by one at all.

I know a 5 year old [name_m]Asher[/name_m]. And, duh, I totally forgot it was the name of the boy in the Giver! That’s one of my favorite books:)
I think if your [name_m]Asher[/name_m] has other Ashers in his class, it will be a coincidence. I have an [name_f]Isla[/name_f], which was in the 300’s the year she was born and is up to 200s now, but there just happens to be another [name_f]Isla[/name_f] just about her age that we run into almost daily at playgroups, library, etc.