I’m a guy who hates having a popular name. I see boys slapped with the same old “classics” while girls get a variety of interesting names. Those classics bore me to sleep([name]Michael[/name], [name]James[/name], etc.) [name]Do[/name] you think name popularity is equally important for both genders?
I don’t think it’s as much about popularity as it is about picking a classic name that will last. I think it’s because of tradition, naming after family members is very common with boys, not so much with girls. It’s a little disturbing to me, to be honest.
Yes, it definately is. However, I think that guy’s name popularity is more important to girls than it is to boys. Girls definately talk about guy’s names and associate coolness with their names. Especially during the teen years. Guys don’t dwell on names the way girls do. The more classic names like [name]James[/name] and [name]Michael[/name] are “safe” names too. They always get the classic nn’s that come along with them.
My DH has the name [name]Michael[/name] and he never cared one ounce about how popular it is. Really, only name nerds care about this stuff.
Anyway I don’t care as much compared to girls names. I like to choose unique names for both genders though. Sometimes if I like a name a lot for either gender I don’t care as much about the popularity.
Most of my favorite boys’ names are far more unusual than my girls’ list – [name]Waldo[/name], [name]Cosmo[/name], [name]Magnus[/name]! That said, when it comes to popularity, girls’ names have a MUCH higher turnover rate than boys’, and a higher percentage of boys are given names from the Top 100. Because of this I’m far more comfortable simply choosing a boys’ name that I like, since there’s less of a chance of that name skyrocketing to popularity overnight. [name]Simon[/name], for instance, is probably the most popular name on my boys’ list, hovering in the 200’s, but it’s been there for decades. I’m way more anxious over [name]Eloise[/name], my favorite girls’ name. Sure, it’s in the 500s, so you’re far more likely to see two Simons in a kindergarten class, but [name]Eloise[/name] is trending up with alacrity. It could very well hit the Top 50, or even the Top 10. [name]Simon[/name], on the other hand, has a pretty good chance of staying exactly where he is: familiar, distinguished, and underused.
Personally, my style trends toward classic names – names that would probably bore you to sleep. We prefer names that have a family history – as [name]Ottilie[/name] mentioned, except our daughters (if we have any) will also be named after family members. My husband is mostly in agreement with me on general style of names but prefers more uncommon ones, although he did make a very convincing case for our son to be named [name]Maximus[/name] (obviously not a family name, but probably the ultimate “cool” name, as my husband kept saying). And actually, I was on board until he was born and didn’t seem like a [name]Max[/name] at all (and DH agreed), and the reality of actually naming a baby after a gladiator hit home. Now, I’m very glad we changed our minds because I can’t see him as anything other than [name]Samuel[/name] (a family name). From now on, we’ll stick to family names I think. It just means so much more in my opinion.
I don’t think popularity matters at all. I think what matters is that you have a really great reason to name the baby the name you choose–even if that reason is just that you love the name. My oldest two–[name]Miriam[/name] and Cowen–were picked just because we absolutely loved them. Cowen is way more trendy than [name]Miriam[/name] but I don’t care at all because the names were chosen for a reason. My [name]Emeline[/name] is named after [name]Emmeline[/name] B. [name]Wells[/name], a suffragette and hero of mine. My [name]Eli[/name] was chosen because my husband loved it. [name]Harriet[/name] is named after [name]Harriet[/name] Tubman. Yep, [name]Eli[/name] is crazy popular right now and [name]Harriet[/name] might start trending because of its popularity in [name]England[/name]. It just doesn’t matter because of the reason we picked the names.
I agree with what @mara_taylor86 said–I know plenty of guys with common names, and they just don’t care. I think a lot of people when they’re naming, in general they want their child to love their name, but they care even more for girls. I’ve heard more girls complain about having a common name than boys, etc.
Honestly, though, I could care less about popularity in general. If [name]Isabelle[/name] and [name]Caleb[/name] were number one names, I would still use them. Ironically, a lot of my boys’ favorites are less popular than my girls’ list, lol.
I think so, I think it’s more important actually. I feel like there are more in number of a popular boys name than girls.
I checked the SSA list, and found some interesting information.
Until the top five, there are more girls born with the corresponding popular name than boys.
Example:
[name]Jacob[/name] - 20,153 boys
[name]Sophia[/name] -21,695 girls
Once the top five name pass however, the number switch drastically.
Example:
#15
[name]Liam[/name] - 13, 347
[name]Lily[/name] - 8, 112
So it does factor in after a certain point, if you have twins named [name]Liam[/name] and [name]Lily[/name], [name]Liam[/name] will run into more kids with his name in his grade than [name]Lily[/name] will.
If that bothers you, then it does matter.
Popularity is something I don’t even consider when looking at names. I have a lot more fun with boys’ names than I have with girls’ names, and as a result my boys’ list has a lot more variety and personality to it. My girls’ list… well… it struggles. As a general rule, girls’ names have always come and gone out of style at a rapid rate.
Really interesting info! Thanks for looking that up. I have absolutely nothing to add, but I had to say … (though hesitantly because it has nothing to do with the post) … how cute and perfect would twins named [name]Lily[/name] and [name]Liam[/name] be!!! Almost (but not quite) makes me want to have twins. 
You’re welcome, I found it really interesting as well. And I totally agree about [name]Lily[/name] and [name]Liam[/name]! I found that to be common actually, that often corresponding names in popularity make lovely twinsets, or have very similar sounds and qualities.
Examples:
#3 [name]William[/name] and [name]Emma[/name]
#7 [name]Ethan[/name] and [name]Abigail[/name]
#29 [name]Lucas[/name] and [name]Leah[/name]
#32 [name]Caleb[/name] and [name]Hailey[/name]
#33 [name]Dylan[/name] and [name]Layla[/name]
#40 [name]Evan[/name] and [name]Allison[/name]
#52 [name]Angel[/name] and [name]Arianna[/name] (religious tones)
#54 [name]Connor[/name] and [name]Harper[/name]
That’s so crazy! And you’re so right – those are fantastic pairings! Wow. Now I know where to look if I do ever have twins. Very cool!
Haha, yeah. My favourite would have to be #92, [name]Jesus[/name] and [name]Maria[/name]. 
But it’s definitely a neat way to look for twin inspiration.
I care about both genders popularity BUT I only care about it’s popularity in my home province. And I prefer names (if somewhat popular) to be classic NOT trendy!!!
My sons name is [name]Josef[/name] and in the year he was born he was the ONLY [name]Josef[/name] (with an F) and there were only 61 [name]Joseph[/name]'s compared to the #1 name [name]Jacob[/name] of which there were 263.
[name]Joseph[/name] didnt even get in the top 50! [name]Even[/name] [name]Cohen[/name] (78)beat [name]Joseph[/name]! ( there were an additional 10 [name]Coen[/name]'s)
I dont know that [name]Joseph[/name] would even be in the top 100 if you combined alternate spelling like [name]Kayden[/name], [name]Kaidan[/name], [name]Caiden[/name] etc.
I think Popularity can be VERY relative!
I agree with you that some of the classics on men can get quite boring (although I will say that I’ve never found [name]Matthew[/name] boring :)).
That said, when it comes to girls names, that “variety” can come back to bite a person. Fads and trends can be extremely unpredictable, particularly if you’re not a name nerd obsessing over how many ranks a name jumped in X amount of years. So, you innocently name your daughter the beautiful-and-familiar-but-safely-sitting-at-98 [name]Jessica[/name] in 1970. Ten years later, every.single.birth.announcement you receive is for a [name]Jessica[/name]. And what goes up, must come down (and often way down). Trendy today = dated tomorrow.
All that to say, you’d have a hard time putting an age on someone named [name]James[/name] [name]Phillip[/name], with just his name to go by. But I’m guessing you’d know right away when [name]Linda[/name] [name]Sue[/name] was born.
This phenomenon makes it generally easier to spot “trendy” male names and stay away from them, if that’s your desire.
to me it absolutely matters. i think for both genders u can have an uncommon or little used name without venturng into the youneek or made up
We are struggling with this very issue. I generally like classic names for boys because you can’t go wrong and they tend to last. Some of the names that I think are cute and less boring for a little boy, I just can’t see on a grown man. Or I think of whether a girl would be excited about going on a date with a guy with a more out-there name. I also assume our son will be short and probably unathletic (though you never know) so I think of names that won’t cause him to be beaten up. I guess I think “safety” names are more important for boys.
For girls, many of the more popular names now aren’t really classic, or at least not perennial, as others have said. There is a lot more variety and I think girls tend to care more about having unique names, though your posting suggests I may have been making sexist assumptions.
The two boys’ names we have on our short list are both pretty common and we are having a really hard time finding something not particularly popular, but not too out there, and classic all at once. That is less of a challenge with girls’ names.
I personally think popularity is really important, so yes, it matters. Regardless of gender.
However, the fact of the matter is that boys are given classic names where girls are given youneek names, retro names, mythological names, nature names and even boys names, seemingly for no apparent reason…
It also disturbs me that my name collection mirrors this. I can never get the boys list to be as long as the girls list, and I have been semi-trying for a year. My boys list has everything from Aboukir to Ziziphus, but it’s still 250 names shorter than the girls list (used to be 500), and most of the ‘to be added’ names or the new discoveries I make are girls names. It’s very frustrating…
My lists for both tend toward the classic. I always like more “out there” names until I think about actually naming a child and then I go back to the classic. I dont think boys care at all about popularity especially since I find by middle school they all have nicknames (not related to their name) or are called by their last names. I also think boys/men feel safety in numbers more.