My husband and I have FINALLY seem to have narrowed it down to two names. One is EXTREMELY popular - a top 10 - name. The other is a very rare name.
My question is which one should we go for? The advantage of a popular name is people will always know how to spell it and will pronounce it correctly the world over. The advantage of a rare name is that you will probably not have three kids with the same name in your class.
What do you think? What have your personal experiences been with a popular/rare name?
It’s hard to say. My name was only moderately popular the year I was born, but it wasn’t ever a big deal to me to be known by my first and last initial in the occasional event there was another person with my first name in one of my classes.
Maybe take the unusual name for a test run, like the Starbucks test perhaps, or ask family and friends for their impression of the name. If other people have trouble spelling it or react in less than enthusiastic ways toward the name, it might not be worth choosing.
I don’t think I have enough information about the situation to help you, but I’m sure whatever you and your partner choose will be a good choice. Best of luck!
I would go for the rare name. My own name is somewhat unusual, or at least in a school of 900 there’s just me, and I’ve always loved it. I can never find my name on anything, which to me means I have a beautiful name that not everyone has heard of. I’ve also heard more complaints from my friends with popular names, their names being called, but it’s not them, being referred to by surname or the ‘other’ one. Whereas those with more unusual names tend to get noticed and complimented. Plus with really rare names it’s likely people would double check spellings for stuff that’s really important, and to be honest there are some popular names (particularly those with variations) that still get misspelled. So, yeah, from what I’ve experienced I’d go for rare over popular almost every time. [name_f]Hope[/name_f] that ramble helped.
It’s hard to make a decision based only on the info you’ve given - i.e. without knowing what the two names are, why you like them, whether they have any personal meaning to you, etc. etc. There are some very persuasive pros and cons to both popular and unusual names (as you’ve identified) so even that key difference between your top choices doesn’t really help with narrowing down.
I’m not going to campaign for either side because I have had positive experiences both of a very common name (my name, [name_f]Emma[/name_f]) and a very unusual one (my daughter’s name, [name_f]Juno[/name_f]). But I think there are three good ways of uncovering which is your “real” favourite, or which is the best fit:
1) Leave it up to fate and decide with a flip of the coin (I know it’s a really important decision and this seems like a trivial way to resolve it, but bear with me here…) This is a really good way of discovering which is your real, deep-down favourite - if you feel a flutter of disappointment or uncertainty at the result, you know your heart really lies with the other name; if you’re happy with the outcome, chances are that’s the one you should go for.
2) Think about the other names on your list - the names that didn’t quite make the cut this time, but that you would consider for future children (of both sexes). Get a feeling for your general style - are the other names more popular/classic/modern/quirky? I’d then pick whichever name fits better with your general style, because you might find it hard to name future siblings to [name_f]Demelza[/name_f] or [name_u]Orion[/name_u] if your other favourite names are [name_f]Lily[/name_f], [name_f]Grace[/name_f], [name_u]Noah[/name_u] and [name_m]Jackson[/name_m].
3) Wait until you meet him/her. Lots of people swear by this approach - in fact, lots of parents aim to go into hospital with a list of two or three top contenders, so that they can pick the name that best fits their baby when they finally meet them. [name_m]Bear[/name_m] in mind too that you don’t have to decide straight away - I’ve known lots of babies who have been nameless for a few days to a couple of weeks after birth, as their parents get to know their little personality before deciding which name is the best fit.
There is no right or wrong answer. Which name speaks to you and your husband more? Are you planning to have other children? [name_f]Do[/name_f] you want your children’s names to have around the same popularity level? What other names are you both drawn to?
I grew up with an unusual name, but there was still another girl with the same name in my class growing up. Personally I love having an unusual name. Misspellings and mispronunciations never bother me. that being said, I do think people put too much stake into how popular a name is. Maybe you’ll give your child a unique name and she’ll wish her name was normal or vise versa. I think people should focus more on what they really like. Maybe keep both and when you meet your child you’ll have a better idea of what name to go with.
Initially I was just going to share my experience of having a very unusual name. But after seeing the two name options, I don’t think I would categorize Ellora as very unusual and given the long standing popularity of [name_f]Emily[/name_f], I’d rather see Ellora.
I agree with katinka (for the 2nd time in about 5 minutes) that you should just choose whichever heart makes your heart sing!
I will say that I’ve had to spell and correct the pronunciation of my 2 syllable name my entire life, it has never bothered me. It’s not a burden. Although I am noticing more and more people pronounce it right the first time. I credit that to people just being more culturally aware, so I think that’s helpful in choosing an unfamiliar name.
I really like [name_f]Elora[/name_f]! You might also like:
[name_f]Elvira[/name_f]
[name_f]Elmira[/name_f]
[name_f]Eliza[/name_f]
[name_f]Elodie[/name_f]
[name_f]Elise[/name_f]
In my childrens’ class over the last 3 years there has not been a single [name_f]Emily[/name_f] despite the name’s chart topping popularity; however, there has been an [name_f]Elora[/name_f]! I agree with everyone focus on which feels right to you and your spouse.
I’m another saying you should choose whichever feels right. They’re both fine names, and the one you choose will be perfect regardless of it’s popularity or lack of.
As a teacher I say go with Ellora. I am sitting on about 163 students named some variation of [name_u]Madison[/name_u]/[name_f]Maddy[/name_f] this year (including one named [name_f]Julia[/name_f] who goes by [name_f]Maddie[/name_f]). Of course I made that number up. It’s actually way easier for me to look at a slightly unusual name like Ellora and remember which kid it is and how to spell it, than to remember which one is which between [name_f]Emily[/name_f], [name_f]Emmaleigh[/name_f], and Emmeleigh (I have all three this year, the first two in the same class).
Ellora is unusual enough to stand out, but not weird. As the mother of an [name_f]Anneliese[/name_f], I also feel like people who actually care about her will pay attention to how to spell her name, and I use it as a bit of a test sometimes. I like slightly unusual, and I appreciate it as a teacher in a sea of similarly named kids. Now you never know what weirdness may happen thought! One of my daughter’s good friends has another good friend named Analisse (or something like that, with the [name_f]Ana[/name_f] pronunciation), and her cousins have a cousin on the other side named [name_f]Annalee[/name_f], and we have a neighbor named [name_f]Anna[/name_f] [name_u]Reese[/name_u]. So you may end up around something similar yet different in spelling or pronunciation or even be around the exact same name.
Growing up with a popular name, I’ve always disliked it. I’ve explained my reasons before in more detail but to put it simply, I just don’t like meeting other girls named [name_u]Abby[/name_u]. It makes me feel less special. I’m one of a kind so why am I one of three Abbys in my 8-person tap class? It also gets annoying that every person I meet and introduce myself to, there will always be another [name_u]Abby[/name_u] in their life (“Oh, I have a daughter/niece/cousin/friend/granddaughter named [name_u]Abby[/name_u]!”).
I also sometimes envy my friends with uncommon names. My friend [name_u]Laken[/name_u] will forever receive comments about her unique name… I never will.
Obviously, you will received different responses from different people but I would go for the uncommon name. I’d be much more excited to meet a little Ellora than another [name_f]Emily[/name_f].
[name_m]Just[/name_m] because a name is in the top 10 doesn’t mean that people will always know how to spell it. Look at the top 1000 and count all of the variant spellings of [name_u]Madison[/name_u]. You’ll see what I mean. For what it’s worth, I’m an [name_f]Emily[/name_f] born in the 90s. I rarely had another [name_f]Emily[/name_f] in my class.
I love Ellora because it is unique enough to distinguish a person but not too difficult to spell or pronounce. It has the on-trend [name_f]Ell[/name_f]- element but the ending is a nice differentiating surprise that adds some memorable zip to the name. It is a good combination of feeling familiar but different at the same time. [name_f]Emily[/name_f] is a fine classic, but feels overdone and boring. So I prefer Ellora.
I’d just like to agree with and elaborate on this point a bit. Although Ellora is technically a very rare name, it doesn’t jump out as being “out there” or “weird” because it contains a lot of the elements of some of the most popular names: it has the [name_f]Ell[/name_f]- beginning of [name_f]Ella[/name_f], the -ora ending of [name_f]Nora[/name_f], the exotic, elaborate feminine feel of names like [name_f]Eliana[/name_f] and [name_f]Emilia[/name_f], and the vowel-heavy shape of almost all of the Top 10 girls’ names.
If I met an Ellora, I probably wouldn’t even question the name - I think it fits right in with current trends and sounds much more familiar than it really is, if that makes sense? Neither Ellora nor [name_f]Elora[/name_f] chart in the US, but I’d be less surprised to meet a little Ellora than, say, a [name_f]Yaretzi[/name_f] (#372 in 2014), a [name_f]Journey[/name_f] (#291) or even an [name_f]Athena[/name_f] (#195).
I still don’t have an answer for you, but all this to say that if you’re worried that Ellora is too “weird” or “different”, don’t be. I don’t think anyone will bat an eyelid, though you’ll probably be asked to spell it quite a lot.
I think in this day and age most children will prefer a more rare name. Mine was very popular in my area and I disliked it.
[name_f]Emily[/name_f] is a sweet and pretty name but it is also very passive sounding to me and forgettable as there are so many. I don’t think [name_f]Emily[/name_f] makes a statement which doesn’t have to be a bad thing - depends on what you want.
Not sure if you’re open to it, but I’d recommend the more common [name_f]Elora[/name_f] spelling and think if you spell it that way you will have a lot less people mispelling the name. And Ellora/[name_f]Elora[/name_f] isn’t that rare everywhere. I know a few all of which spell it [name_f]Elora[/name_f]. I think that is also the spelling that Nameberry recognizes.
Before I saw the 2 names I was going to say unusual, and now that I know the names I still say the same thing. Ellora or [name_f]Elora[/name_f] is definitely my choice over [name_f]Emily[/name_f].
My niece’s name is [name_f]Emily[/name_f]. She was born in 2005 when this name was in the top ten (as was [name_f]Emma[/name_f]). She’s in the fifth grade now and has never had an [name_f]Emily[/name_f]/[name_f]Emma[/name_f] in her class, daycare, soccer team, Girl Scouts, etc.
You can never predict these things! Ellora and [name_f]Emily[/name_f] are both beautiful names. Go with the one you that you love!
To help with your replies, the two names are [name_f]Emily[/name_f] and Ellora 