Is Eleanor Becoming Too Common?

My absolute favorite name ever since I was a kid has been [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f], ever since I read a book about [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] of [name_f]Aquitaine[/name_f]. And for the first time, I feel like it’s just become another name where there’s going to be 5 or more of them in the same classroom. I feel like it’s become too popular for me, and I probably won’t use it unless it starts to fall out of fashion again.

Am I alone in this?

I know two Eleanors … one is late 20’s and one is late 30’s. I have never met a baby / little [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f], and don’t know anyone that has talked about it as baby name option. Based on this, I wouldn’t call the name popular at all. I know it depends a bit on where you live and such, so maybe it is more common near you? But I personally wouldn’t be worried.

In my state it’s ranked at 17th most popular, with 100 baby girls being given that name last year. It went up 12 places, and 26 more babies were given that name from the year before.

I don’t think [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] is super popular here in the U.K. I knew a few [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f]’s around my age in school, but not more than one a year. My boyfriends mother is called [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f], so I would consider it for a middle name.

Statistically it is popular, but personally I only know of one, my cousin’s little girl who’s almost 2. As far as I know they’ve never encountered another little [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] either.

Another good point is that US statistics cover a LOT of babies - you’re best off to look at your state individually for a more accurate perception - ie; in [name_f]Alabama[/name_f], the name [name_f]Mary[/name_f], [name_f]Journee[/name_f], [name_f]Emersyn[/name_f] and [name_f]Margaret[/name_f] rank at #11, #58, #77 and #82 respectively but nationally rank at #126, #207, #147 and #127.

Finally, I’d like to point out that names now aren’t given to as many babies as they once were in the 80s or even 90s!

Like over a 50 year span, names ranking at #32 looked like this;

1968 - [name_f]Sharon[/name_f] - 10,339 births
1978 - [name_f]Tiffany[/name_f] - 7,700 births
1988 - [name_u]Kelly[/name_u] - 8,911 births
1998 - [name_f]Julia[/name_f] - 8,328 births
2008 - [name_u]Allison[/name_u] - 6,239 births
2018 - [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] - 5,694 births.

In 50 years the number of babies given the name ranked at #32 has dropped by nearly half, so names really aren’t as ubiquitous as they once were, even in the top 100.

Another way to look at it is that [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] accounted for 0.3084% of ALL births in the US last year. Not even 1% makes it highly unlikely that she’d encounter anymore than one, possibly.

I think you should be safe.

ETA: just saw you said you checked your state. 17 is high, but 100 babies isn’t at all. Most states have thousands of classrooms. 100 babies would be pretty well dispersed across your population.

I know 2 little Eleanors but keep in mind most probably go by [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] or [name_f]Nora[/name_f]

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I only know one [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] and she goes by [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] 99% of the time. I think [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] has become quite common and I’m tired of it. But [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] I think is lovely. And you’ve loved it for a long time you may regret not using it if given the opportunity.

I know at least 3 girls named [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] BUT one is exclusively [name_f]Ellie[/name_f], one is exclusively [name_f]Nora[/name_f], and the last is my mom’s age and goes by [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f]. I’m not sure if you’d call her a nickname so keep in mind that while your daughter may have friends named [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f], it may not be a big deal because they’re going by something else.

I agree that it’s getting pretty popular. I love it too; see my signature. :slight_smile: . It’s a new addition for me though, but I completely feel your pain about long time favorites that didn’t used to be high on the charts and suddenly are. It’s really hard to tell if it’s going to reach top ten or stay consistent where it is in the 30s on the SSA list. I’m leaning towards the latter. Another thing is that a lot of Eleanors go by [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] or [name_f]Nora[/name_f]. Maybe a few Nellies too (my favorite!) That being said, if you used just [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] it may not be repeated in school as much.

I don’t think it’s too common. I’ve never met an [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f], and since only 100 baby girls have been named [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] in your state, it’s unlikely you’ll encounter many of them.

I’m not sure. When I was born my name was 20th most popular in my state, and I’ve only met one other person who shares my name, but I was also homeschooled, and I know I would’ve met more if I had gone to school. I think if a had a daughter and named her [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] she’d meet quite a few in school.

I also live in Oregon, and our population is heavily concentrated around the [name_m]Portland[/name_m] area, so I think there’s a good chance that she would know other Eleanors. Maybe they would go by [name_f]Ellie[/name_f], or [name_f]Ella[/name_f] or [name_f]Nora[/name_f], which I know I wouldn’t want my daughter to go as; I’d want her to go as simply [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f].

I just have a thing about naming my future kids a name that’s more popular than mine was. Maybe that’s weird.

There is one in my daughter’s daycare class and 3 in my mom’s kindergarten class. It has become very popular. It’s odd though, there are three Eleanors and a couple of charlottes but no Olivias or sophias

Yeah, see, I might not know any, but my children definitely will.

I only know one under age 10-- she goes by [name_f]Ellie[/name_f]. A different but also classic name is [name_f]Ellen[/name_f] or you could go with [name_f]Lenore[/name_f] or [name_f]Leonie[/name_f] as some other similar names.

I don’t know one [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] personally from my area, so I don’t feel like it’s becoming too popular yet. If you are worried about it’s popularity rising, you could consider changing the spelling, like [name_f]Elenore[/name_f] (love this spelling!) or using a variation of the name!

I don’t like the name [name_f]Ellen[/name_f] or [name_f]Lenore[/name_f], and [name_f]Leonie[/name_f] is a completely separate name, so I don’t associate it with [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] at all.

I know one [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f], and she’s 16, if that helps you any.

Babies/little girls I currently know are [name_f]Julia[/name_f], [name_f]Aubree[/name_f], [name_f]Ava[/name_f], and [name_u]Reagan[/name_u].

[name_f]Susan[/name_f]

I totally relate to this. [name_f]Violet[/name_f] has been my “name” since I was a little girl and now it seems so popular. The other name my husband and I like is [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f], ahhh! [name_m]Don[/name_m]’t have an answer but wanted to say that I absolutely relate.

I don’t think it’s TOO popular, but it has certainly come into the popular sphere, and the prevalence of other [name_f]El[/name_f]- names has made it seem more so.

I also notice it seems to exist in bubbles, like a lot of other mildly popular names; there will be three in one school, none in another. [name_f]Violet[/name_f] and [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] are both like that in my area.

However, I don’t know how popular is too popular for you. Most of the most popular girl names right now are beautiful, so I don’t look down on anyone for using them. You can also use it as middle if you want.

[name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] of [name_f]Aquitaine[/name_f]'s name in her language, Occitan, was [name_u]Ali[/name_u]énor. I don’t know if that would be an option you’d consider…? The form of [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] that’s my favorite is from The [name_m]Lord[/name_m] of the Rings, [name_u]Sam[/name_u] & [name_f]Rosie[/name_f] Gamgee’s daughter [name_f]Elanor[/name_f].