My favortie boys name for YEARS was [name]Noah[/name]. I was in love with it long before the old man/Biblical names started to become trendy. It was more popular than I thought (in the 200’s) but now it’s suddenly shot up and I was horrified when I saw it was now number 5!!! I still love the name and it’s soft, unassuming quality and demeanor. I think it’s a beautiful name for a boy. But now I sm kind of put off by how popular it is. I wouldn’t want my son to be one of half a dozen [name]Noah[/name]'s in his class. Plus, my five year old niece has a cousin on her dad’s side named [name]Noah[/name]. He’s a year younger than her I think. I’ve never met him. My sister and my niece’s dad have been split up since my niece was a baby and I despise most of that family and the things they do.
My list of boy names is so very short and [name]Noah[/name] hs been either in the top spot, or hovering around the top spot since I was a teenager. Is it unusable now? The middle name would probably be [name]Michael[/name] for someone very important to me who passed away.
But I don’t love them way I love [name]Noah[/name] (although I do think [name]Kai[/name] is a beautiful name and I [name]LOVE[/name] water related names) which is another reason I love [name]Noah[/name]. [name]Even[/name] though it isn’t technically a water name, it’s relationship to [name]Noah[/name]'s ark does give it a water connection.
I just don’t know what to do now that [name]Noah[/name] is SO uber popular.
I have only ever met one [name]Noah[/name]…ever…in person. He is around 30 now. And a girl I went to school with has a son named [name]Noah[/name] (I think he is about 4). So idk. But I think if you truely love it, the popularity shouldn’t matter to you.
I think [name]Noah[/name] is a lovely name. You could always use it as a middle name, or just go with the name and not care about the popularity.
According to BtN [name]Clinton[/name] and [name]Douglas[/name] have water associations. I don’t know if those fit your style though.
Here are some combinations (I am bad at combinations, so these may not be good)
[name]Douglas[/name] [name]Noah[/name]
[name]Felix[/name] [name]Noah[/name]
[name]Noah[/name] [name]Douglas[/name]
[name]Felix[/name] [name]Henry[/name]
I just never wanted to do anything uber popular. My sister and brother both have really common, trendy names. [name]Both[/name] are top 100 names, my sister’s was a top 10 when she was born and my brother’s was in the top 40. On the other hand, my dad named me and my name had never even come close to touching the top 1,000 and while my sister and brother always had other kids in their classes with the same name so they always ended up being an initial (i.e. [name]Ashley[/name] I.) I’ve never met anyone with my name and get compliments on how different and pretty it is all the time.
Maybe that doesn’t matter as much to boys but I still never wanted anything so trendy and top 5 is really, really popular. But I still love it and I hate to throw it out just because other people saw its merit as well and one person I don’t like used it. Decisions, decisions.
[name]Mara[/name] thanks for the suggestions but [name]Clinton[/name] and [name]Douglas[/name] are nms. [name]Douglas[/name] was the name of an ex and [name]Clinton[/name] is too [name]Clint[/name] [name]Eastwood[/name], tough guy image. I like softer names.
I think [name]Noah[/name] has and will always be a classic and popular name. I think I’ve only know two [name]Noah[/name]'s in my life. But I understand what you are saying about popularity. I do not want my child to be referred to by his initial of his last name because there are multiple kids around him with the same name. I love [name]Liam[/name], but it’s becoming super popular so I’ve taken it off my list, unless I want to use it for a middle. Same goes for [name]Levi[/name]. If you like [name]Noah[/name], maybe you’d like [name]Joah[/name]? Same appeal as [name]Noah[/name], but [name]WAY[/name] less popular.
I think if you are lucky enough to have found a name you love, then you should use it.
I only know 2 Noahs - one is my 6 year old nephew in the southwest, another is a newborn in the south. My sister says there has only ever been one [name]Noah[/name] in his grade - not even in his class.
I hate to say it, but I feel like [name]Noah[/name] is set to be the next [name]Aiden[/name]. I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong about this (I don’t know the numbers as well as others on here), but it seemed to shoot up super quickly in popularity last year (like [name]Aiden[/name] did a few years before that), although I can’t see people somehow getting all those related names ([name]Jayden[/name], [name]Braden[/name], etc.) with [name]Noah[/name], so maybe it won’t be that bad. I agree that [name]Noah[/name] is a classically nice name, but I don’t think it has the same classic-ness (if that’s even a word) as [name]Michael[/name] or [name]Thomas[/name], which could never be dated to a certain year because they are always popular. I knew two co-workers who named their sons [name]Noah[/name] last year and there is another one in my son’s storytime. (We are on the east coast.) Maybe it’s less popular where you live? I do love this name and it was near the top of our list too. We ended up with [name]Samuel[/name], which has that same soft, classic vibe. I also want to suggest [name]Scott[/name] for some reason, even though I know most berries would hate that name. Something about it feels soft and strong at the same time. If you love [name]Noah[/name] and would always love it no matter how popular it is, you should use it anyway, though. Good luck!
I think for boys a name that fits in is more of an asset, and less of a drawback, than for girls. I’ve known 3 adult Noahs (all in their 30s), so, go figure, that seems totally opposite to everyone here. Maybe it is where you live. You could actually check your state’s records it may be a little higher or lower there. Although your son can easily move : D.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the familial negative connection…if it hasn’t ruined your love for the name, that’s that.
There is [name]Noam[/name] as a more unusual option, not without its own issues, but a nice name too.
[name]Jonah[/name] to me has a very similar feel.
It’s also on a clear upswing, but I don’t think as high as [name]Noah[/name].
[name]Micah[/name]
[name]Nathan[/name]
[name]Ethan[/name]
[name]Nathaniel[/name]
[name]Joseph[/name]
[name]Seth[/name]
[name]Eli[/name] (captures some of the [name]Kai[/name] rhythm)
[name]Elias[/name]
[name]Silas[/name]
[name]Malachi[/name] (capture some of [name]Kai[/name])
All capture some of that softness and are Biblical.
I mean they’re all popular in their ways too!
But I don’t think top 5 ([name]Eli[/name] and [name]Nathan[/name] and [name]Ethan[/name] might be close).
Water names… (loose associations in many cases)
[name]Niles[/name] (like the [name]Nile[/name])
[name]River[/name]
[name]Brooks[/name]
[name]Kent[/name] ([name]River[/name] [name]Kent[/name])
[name]Kyle[/name] (means channel, strait)
[name]Adrian[/name] (like the Adriatic)
[name]Dylan[/name] (son of the sea - also pretty popular)
[name]Fisher[/name]
[name]Sailor[/name]
Adapted from some forum posts and this list for further reading
I like [name]Noah[/name]. I think if you love it, you should use it. I’ve never met a baby or young [name]Noah[/name], if that helps.
I think [name]Liam[/name] is in the same boat as [name]Noah[/name], it’s a pretty popular name as well.
I really like [name]Felix[/name], [name]Henry[/name], and [name]Rhett[/name]. Those are handsome boy names.
Other boy names to consider:
[name]Declan[/name]
[name]Everett[/name]
[name]Owen[/name]
[name]Oliver[/name]
[name]Simon[/name]
[name]Emmett[/name]
[name]Jonah[/name] (I agree with the poster that this name has a similar feel/sound to [name]Noah[/name])
[name]Ethan[/name]
[name]Elijah[/name]
[name]Paul[/name]
[name]Clark[/name]
I don’t know any [name]Noah[/name]'s and I’ve been a teacher for ten years. [name]Ive[/name] seen the name on tv a little lately and I see it on nameberry but if I liked it that much I would use it. I don’t think it’s going to be so used that you would regret it.
I think it has a lot to do with where you live. I have two nephews named [name]Noah[/name] and one out of my 5 coworkers has a son named [name]Noah[/name]. [name]One[/name] is 5 yrs old and the other two are 2 years old. I know a few others but not that I’m close to. That being said, I don’t think popularity alone should stop you if it’s something you’ve loved for a while. BUT I totally understand because where a name ranks in popularity makes me hesitate as well.
First of all, popularity shouldn’t be a deciding factor, I think. The only people named [name]Noah[/name] that I know are my own age (early 20s), and one 8-year-old boy. It IS a popular name, but check things like your own state lists, too, because sometimes it is lower in certain places. Also, [name]Noah[/name] is classic enough to not feel trendy, to me. Also, top ten names now are used way less than they used to be, so even a number 5 name won’t necessarily result in ‘5 in every classroom’. If you pick a name just because it is less popular, you might be disappointed when it begins to rise.
That said, if it is a deciding factor for you not to use it, I love some of the suggestions others have given. [name]Jonah[/name] sounds similar but it less popular (alternatively [name]Jonas[/name]), [name]Noam[/name] is also similar but almost unheard-of in the US, and both [name]Micah[/name] and [name]Eli[/name] are great, Biblical names that feel current without being trendy.
I do actually like [name]Jonah[/name] though not as much as [name]Noah[/name]. [name]Eli[/name] used to be at the top of my list but with the full [name]Elijah[/name] and the nn [name]Eli[/name] until I met someone who had an eight year old son named [name]Eli[/name] and he was just such an awful little devil it ruined the name for me completely.
That said, I did search [name]Noah[/name]'s popularity in my state. There were 281 [name]Noah[/name]'s born in [name]Colorado[/name] in 2011 and there are 251 cities in [name]Colorado[/name] so I guess that isn’t such a bad ratio even if you consider that I live in a suburb of [name]Denver[/name], which is a larger area and probably has a larger portion of those [name]Noah[/name]'s. But it isn’t as many as I feared.
I like the suggestion of [name]Noam[/name] as well. It kind of sounds like foam, which makes me think of sea foam, which I like. Weird? Well, like I said, I enjoy water references.
I thank all you ladies for your help and suggestions.
I know it has been brought up in other threads, but I think the discussion fits here as well… ‘Popular’ isn’t what it used to be.
I’m having trouble finding the data, but basically if you look at the the actual numbers of babies with the #1 name, it is way lower than it was in say, the 1980s. Parents seem to be diversifying their name choices, so that even if you pick a “popular” name the chances of 4 in the same class are less than 15-20 years ago.
I say if you love the name [name]Noah[/name] you should go for it!
Basically what zaelia said. [name]Just[/name] because a name is ranked high in popularity doesn’t mean that that many kids are actually given that name. Here are some stats that I got using the social security website.
Percentage of kids born that year who were given the number one ranked name:
1982
Boys - 3.6%
Girls - 3.1%
1992
Boys - 2.5%
Girls - 1.9%
2002
Boys - 1.4%
Girls - 1.2%
2011
Boys - 1%
Girls - 1.1%
Oh and [name]Noah[/name] was given to .83% of boys last year. So as you can see, popularity isn’t what it used to be.
I’ll also just add something I share from time to time here - I’m a [name]Jessica[/name] from the 1980s and I never had a class with another [name]Jessica[/name]. They were in the school sure, but not the class. And yet with the name [name]Emily[/name], which was much lower in popularity on the whole in the 1980s, certainly compared to [name]Jessica[/name] and also compared to its popularity now - every class many years was full of Emilys. Sometimes there are just these fluke things and you can’t totally plan around them.
[name]Noah[/name] is a great name and while it’s fine to look and see if something else less popular fits - I agree you should use it if nothing else feels as right.
I really appreciate everyone’s imput and I will have to really think this over. I’ve been so dead set on avoiding popularity but when looked at broken down into numbers the odds don’t look so bad. I really do love [name]Noah[/name] and don’t want to take it off the table.
