My husband and I thought we settled on our baby boy name before we even got pregnant: [name_m]Leo[/name_m] [name_m]Kahlil[/name_m]. [name_m]Leo[/name_m] is after his grandmother [name_f]Leona[/name_f]. [name_m]Kahlil[/name_m] after the author [name_m]Kahlil[/name_m] Gibran. But our concern now is [name_m]Leo[/name_m] keeps on climbing and climbing up the charts, listed as I believe #14 on Nameberry for 2015 - eek! I don’t have any [name_m]Leos[/name_m] in my life, but we don’t want him to be one 3 [name_m]Leos[/name_m] in his class. I’ve also known a two people (not close friends) since I’ve been pregnant that named their baby [name_m]Leo[/name_m]. The more I hear how popular it is, the less exciting it becomes.
The main alternate option is [name_m]Teo[/name_m] [name_m]Kahlil[/name_m]. Note* [name_m]Teo[/name_m] is pronounced [name_u]Tay[/name_u]-o. (Not Tee-o). [name_m]Teo[/name_m] is obviously more unique, but we lose the family name connection and I do worry he will always have to say to it’s “Taaayo not Teeeeo”. Or it’s “[name_m]Teo[/name_m], not [name_u]Theo[/name_u]”.
Other contenders in the mix are: [name_u]Everett[/name_u], [name_u]Remi[/name_u], [name_u]Echo[/name_u], [name_u]Ever[/name_u] & [name_u]Rio[/name_u] and the possibility of making [name_m]Kahlil[/name_m] his first name.
Would love any feedback on the popularity of [name_m]Leo[/name_m] and our other combination options. Thank you.
(If you hate the name for some reason, please keep it to yourself)
I’ve never met a [name_m]Leo[/name_m] and no babies in my realm of family, friends, and aquaintances have ever used it. It’s a wonderfully handsome name, and I hope you keep it at the top of your list.
P.S. While [name_m]Teo[/name_m] is a cool name, I don’t think the pronunciation and spelling headaches will be worth it. In my opinion, the other names don’t come close to the handsome [name_m]Leo[/name_m].
[name_m]Leo[/name_m]'s is on the 97th spot in [name_u]America[/name_u] and for other places it isn’t anything higher than 15th place. While that might seem really high, it isn’t. If [name_m]Leo[/name_m] is [name_m]Leo[/name_m], most likely he wont be one of 3 in the class. Popularity on Nameberry doesn’t reflect popularity in countries. So I say go for it. [name_m]Leo[/name_m] [name_m]Kahlil[/name_m] is a great name
I don’t think that [name_m]Leo[/name_m] itself is too popular or that your little [name_m]Leo[/name_m] would have to share his name with a classmate. However, [name_m]Liam[/name_m] is the #2 name, and sound-wise very similar; if that bothers you, I would reconsider. As for [name_m]Teo[/name_m], I agree with @everwaiteing that the spelling and mispronunciation issues would be a nuisance. From your other choices, [name_u]Remi[/name_u] strikes me as being most in line with your style and popularity comfort zone. I don’t care for [name_m]Kahlil[/name_m] as a first, though I do love it as a middle, especially with [name_m]Leo[/name_m]. Also, have you also considered other O ending names, such as [name_m]Hugo[/name_m], [name_m]Eero[/name_m], [name_u]Cato[/name_u], [name_m]Viggo[/name_m], [name_m]Rocco[/name_m], [name_m]Otto[/name_m], [name_m]Inigo[/name_m], [name_m]Vero[/name_m], or [name_m]Jago[/name_m], to name a few?
As others have said, it is the popularity in the US that matters. You can go a step further and look at it by state. Check out the SSA site for your state Popular Baby Names. Compare that with the number of boys born or about half the number of births in your state. It might be higher than you’d like in rank, but the number of boys named [name_m]Leo[/name_m] might be lower than you think.
I personally believe [name_m]Leo[/name_m] is too popular, but that is subjective. I do however like [name_m]Leo[/name_m] [name_m]Khalil[/name_m]. It’s a wonderful honor name. Another suggestion for honoring [name_f]Leona[/name_f] is [name_u]Lane[/name_u] (just not as handsome), I do also find [name_m]Leon[/name_m] (pronounced lay-on as opposed to lee-on) [name_m]Khalil[/name_m] very handsome.
Popularity is subjective. Like others have said, nameberry popularity is a bit misleading as others have said. Users seem to be ahead of the curve, i would say [name_m]Leo[/name_m] is on the climb. I totally get you though, when you hear someone else use the name, somehow the name is less appealing. [name_m]Teo[/name_m] is lovely, like others have said, people will mispronounce at first, but if that doesn’t bother you, then go for it. Back to [name_m]Leo[/name_m]- It comes down to what would bug you. We are pass the days of having 6 [name_m]Jacob[/name_m]'s in a class, even if you picked the number one name, you wouldn’t have 6 in a class. I don’t think [name_m]Leo[/name_m] is common enough that their would be 2 in a class, at least in Kindergarten, but as you get to [name_m]Junior[/name_m] High/High School there may be a few others. For me, even that would bug me, but I am a one of a kind type. [name_m]Leo[/name_m] would meet other [name_m]Leo[/name_m]'s his age throughout life, but again, is that a huge deal? What it comes down to, which is more important? Being unique or honoring grandma?
I love [name_m]Leo[/name_m] and it pains me that it’s so popular because I would use it in a flash if it weren’t. I love how short, strong and lively it is, I love the “lion” meaning, and I think it works really well on all ages. But I will only be using it as a middle if at all because of its popularity (I think it’s even higher here in the UK) - it’s a real turn-off for me, especially now that I have one child with a more unusual name. I feel like it would be weird to have one child with an unusual name and one with a top 20 name.
However, popularity doesn’t bother a lot of people at all - in fact, there are benefits to having a more popular name, especially one as simple and striking as [name_m]Leo[/name_m]. No pronunciation or spelling difficulties, no gender confusion (my daughter [name_f]Juno[/name_f] is often assumed to be male by people unfamiliar with the name), easier for grandparents and strangers to remember the name (again, I’m speaking from personal experience here), and your child is unlikely to spend their life having to explain the meaning, origin or reasoning behind their name. It sounds like his middle name will be very unique ([name_m]Leo[/name_m] [name_m]Khalil[/name_m] is great btw, and I love that both names are meaningful to you), so it’s not like he’ll ever be one of three [name_m]Leo[/name_m] Jameses, even if there is another [name_m]Leo[/name_m] or two in his class as school.
But if you don’t like the idea even of that, then I think [name_m]Teo[/name_m] is a lovely alternative. Some people may pronounce it wrong at first, but “tay-o” is hardly a complicated or illogical pronunciation so I’m sure generally it will be easy to correct. I much, much, much prefer [name_m]Teo[/name_m] to any of your other options, including using [name_m]Khalil[/name_m] as his first name. [name_m]Teo[/name_m] [name_m]Khalil[/name_m] works really well.
Not sure if you’re open to suggestions but if it’s the brevity and/or meaning of [name_m]Leo[/name_m] that is appealing to you, might you like [name_m]Lev[/name_m] ("[name_m]LEV[/name_m]", “LEEV” or “[name_u]LEE[/name_u]-ev”)? It’s the Slavic variant (hence [name_m]Lev[/name_m] Tolstoy) and shares the meaning “lion”. As a bonus, it is also a Hebrew name meaning “heart”, and can also be spelled [name_m]Liev[/name_m].
You have many reasons to love [name_m]Leo[/name_m] and I think you’d not regret using it even if he had another [name_m]Leo[/name_m] in his class. People really over-estimate popularity, it’s just not at all likely he’d be one of three in his class. [name_m]Even[/name_m] if he did have another in his class at some point would that really be so bad? Especially when the name just seems so perfect for him?
I just have one final comment, despite any popularity, you cannot really control what other kids will be named. You may pick a name that only a handful of other kids in your state have, and one of them could be in a classroom or soccer team with your son. You can certainly try to mitigate the likelihood that will happen, but it could happen regardless.
In Massachusetts in 2014, [name_m]Leo[/name_m] was #63, resulting in 118 little [name_m]Leo[/name_m]'s. There were approximately 70,000 births in MA for the same year. [name_m]Say[/name_m] 35,000 are male. That means in MA in 2014 approximately .33% of boys were named [name_m]Leo[/name_m]. If [name_m]Leo[/name_m]'s popularity jumps up 3 fold, and there are 354 [name_m]Leo[/name_m]'s, it would put it at approximately #6 using 2014 data as a guide. [name_m]Even[/name_m] if it becomes a top ten name, only 1% of these boys will be named [name_m]Leo[/name_m].
Let’s say MA has a bad year and only half of the 35,000 little boys live, and all [name_m]Leo[/name_m]'s survive. [name_m]Even[/name_m] then, if it was a #5 or #6 name, only 2% of these boys would be named [name_m]Leo[/name_m].
Doing the math is helpful for me, and I hope it gives you clarity as well as to the risk you find tolerable.
I should also note, that in MA [name_m]Leo[/name_m] was more popular than the national average.
