If you already gave a kid a name that was in the T10, T50, or T100, would you look in a similar spot for siblings? Or would you mix a popular name with a less common one? Why or why not?
Do meanings/associations/honors beat out commonality? What other measures do you use to create a more cohesive bunch?
I don’t think matching popularity matters and I think giving up on a name you truly adore for a more common one, simply because your first born has a T10 name, you’ll most likely regret it. [name_m]Just[/name_m] use the names you love!
For first names, I strongly prefer names below the T1000 or at least at the very bottom. And I do prefer sibling sets when each name has similar popularity and style. Probably because it’s more cohesive. It also seems unfair to give siblings names that are so different in popularity, like one will feel left out, resentful or jealous later on. [name_f]My[/name_f] parents gave me and my brothers names in the top 20, but also names that had not been used by anyone they knew yet. This seemed to work for us as a family and never brought up any issues.
I do agree that you should go with a name you love, but in my case, I think a popular name would really bother me in the long run.
None of my names could be considered popular, but although I don’t find it an issue on anyone else, I do worry a little for my future [name_f]Persephone[/name_f] (in the 800s and on the up) and [name_f]Aurembiaix[/name_f] (totally unused). Maybe I would be better with [name_f]Aurembiaix[/name_f] and [name_f]Ferelith[/name_f]?
I’m a bit of a popularity-phobe so my choices are usually well below the US top 500, or maybe even off the charts. I have one boy name I like right now that cracks the top 500 and tbh that bugs me. Since finding a new boy name crush in spot 799, I’m actually leaning away from my original choice and back on the hunt for another rarely-used gem.
I’m always very surprised to see people who choose to mix popular and unpopular! It’s most surprising when their first child has an uncommon name and their next a common one.
Funnily enough, I have close friends who just named their twins in the most unexpected way of all (to me): a VERY popular girls name (top 10) and a very unpopular boys name (just recently joined the US 1000, but staying very low).
I really like [name_f]Persephone[/name_f]! I don’t know if it’s because I love literature and history, but Greek names have a very special place in my heart. And I love the nickname Persie.
I feel like I like names with similar “themes” or “origins” more so than popularity. But I think having a [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] and then a [name_f]Persephone[/name_f] would be a little awkward. But [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] and [name_f]Lydia[/name_f] or [name_f]Persephone[/name_f] and [name_f]Seraphina[/name_f] (or [name_f]Aurembiaix[/name_f]) would match fine to me.
I feel like a cohesive style is more important than popularity.
Most of the names I like are pretty popular, and pretty much all of them are at least in the top 500, but most are on the higher end of that–top 200 for girls and top 100 for boys, I’d say? I do feel like since the names I like most are quite familiar ([name_u]James[/name_u], [name_f]Catherine[/name_f], [name_u]Michael[/name_u], [name_f]Rose[/name_f], etc), some of my less-common favorites like [name_u]Quentin[/name_u] might not work as well, but I’m not quite as attached to them anyway.
I have names that lie both inside and outside the top 100, with some of my names not even on the most recent charts (I think the last time some names entered the chart was the early 1900s, if they ever charted at all). I don’t really care where names fall on the popularity charts as long as I/we love them. Note: I have found that many of the names I like that are lower on the chart or even off the chart are names that sound familiar, like another name that ranks higher on the chart in sound, look or style.
Although I don’t want my kids to be 1 of 6 with the same name in their class, I am more concerned with them being 1 of 6 within the family. They will only be in school for a few short years (when looking at the bigger picture) that this is less of a sticking point to me, whereas family is forever. We have multiple people with the same given names/nicknames that we have trouble differentiating between them when speaking. I’m more concerned about not adding to this so my kids will have their own name – I have one given name exception, but the nickname will set my child apart from the rest.
I think having the names match in style is what’s important. For example, [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] is in the Top 10, [name_m]Edmund[/name_m] doesn’t even rank, but I still think they’d be perfect sibling names! 
I agree completely with this–even the names on my list aren’t the most cohesive bunch lol. Most of my names are there because they make my heart sing and they remind me of stories or life experiences or people that mean a lot to me. 
I could easily end up with kiddos named [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f], [name_m]Boaz[/name_m], [name_f]Eleni[/name_f], [name_f]Vera[/name_f], and [name_u]Rowan[/name_u]… I think what matters most is that it’s the name.
Interesting question. I guess naming style also influences choice in name, there may be a few factors which come into play. For instance, if you liked a floral theme for your girls. Names like [name_f]Lily[/name_f] and [name_f]Poppy[/name_f] are popular but other floral names like [name_f]Dahlia[/name_f] and [name_f]Peony[/name_f] are not…
So I guess for me I would probably look at what naming style I have and then find names I like within that style. I tend to gravitate towards the biblical names as I just really like them, but there is a big difference in popularity from say [name_u]Noah[/name_u] to [name_m]Abraham[/name_m] etc.
I think that it depends, [name_u]Jodie[/name_u] Sweetin named her daughters [name_f]Beatrix[/name_f] (900s) and [name_f]Zoie[/name_f] (900s, but a spelling variation on a T100) and I think it fits perfectly! And something like [name_u]Liam[/name_u] (#1) and [name_f]Dixie[/name_f] (#1000) could totally work!
For me, style is the most important thing when it comes to a cohesive sibset. But I might try to avoid names on completely opposite ends of the popularity charts e.g. [name_f]Olivia[/name_f] and [name_f]Tess[/name_f] (rankings #1 and #996) as I think they might feel jealous of each other at times, wishing their name was more/less common.
this is interesting. i think long names and short names both hold a certain power behind them. [name_u]George[/name_u] [name_m]Clooney[/name_m] named his twins [name_f]Ella[/name_f] and [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] and I think those are both strong names in different ways.