Stick with Names We Love or Start from Scratch?

I have loved a handful of names for ages, & now we are finally (after 20yrs of marriage!) going to have (adopt) some little girls, but I am finding that the names I loved before they were hip are now ubiquitous. I dropped “[name_u]Bailey[/name_u]” (a family name) after it became all the rage in the 90s for girls & boys. More recently, after we were actually matched with these littles, we had settled on [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] for #3. Then (about 3seconds before I registered for monogrammed everything) I met a little girl named [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f]. Looked it up to find it is in the top 20 & trending up on SSA.gov. Grrr! Whilst still debating whether to stick to my guns & risk having a one-of-many or choose another name, the hubby comes home with a “Frozen” DVD for our son. Well, who do we have on there except a troubled little girl named [name_f]Elsa[/name_f] (the name we had chosen for #4). Now I fear that Disney effect is going to send that name into the top 20 virtually overnight. (Can we all say “[name_f]Jasmine[/name_f]”?!)

Now, I am really conflicted because I always swore I would never hand out trendy names, but I still love the names & am running short on time to make these decisions before the girls come home (about 6 more weeks). Thoughts?

SIDE NOTE
Please, please, please, before you are tempted to say something sassy or judgmental about changing the names of adopted children, consider the following: When children come from terrible situations, there are often legitimate security concerns that make name changes not only appropriate, but necessary. (Ex: We have already been stalked by the birth family, though (thankfully!) they have not found out our names or where we live!)

It probably depends on where you live, but I’ve only ever met two Charlottes, one a little girl and one an adult. I can see [name_f]Elsa[/name_f] getting more popular…at least for a little while, people might wonder if you were inspired by the Frozen character.
There are so many pretty, classic names like [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] and [name_f]Elsa[/name_f], but that are less common. I think if you’ve looked around even a little bit for other name options and nothing else has stuck out to you, then you should go with the names you love the most regardless of popularity. I really doubt that a [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] or an [name_f]Elsa[/name_f] would ever be, say, one of three in their class (you come across that more with the really traditional names like [name_f]Katherine[/name_f] or [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f], in my experience). Your choices seem distinctive enough to me even if they become a little trendy.

[name_m]Case[/name_m] in point, I know a [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] born in the last two months, and a pregnant mom who loves the name [name_f]Elsa[/name_f]. If you really dont want trendy names, I suggest looking around a bit more! Something that helped me is the nameberry list of all the top 1000 names… just skip down to the 400+ range, you’re safer there! Then again, you may want something trendy/popular to protect the girls? Dont know, just a thought.

Thanks, ladies!

[name_f]Alpha[/name_f], that’s something to think about, too. Might actually work in our favor if the names are a little more common.

This is a hard topic to discuss with my F&F because (a) everyone has strong opinions on the name changing in general & (b) my name choices tend to run very traditional compared to my more “hip” younger sisters (who finished having their littles a decade ago).

trexmom, Congratulations on the adoptions!! I have no problem with the change in names. I’m adopted and my name was changed by my parents since they had to for similar security reasons.

I think if you like a name, you should go for it. If you are American, you can go to the social security’s website and look at baby names by state. That might help you see how many are actually in your area since different regions and states have different name preferences.

What about picking a similar name like
[name_f]Elsie[/name_f]
[name_f]Elise[/name_f]
[name_f]Ella[/name_f]
[name_f]Eloise[/name_f]

or

[name_f]Carlotta[/name_f]
[name_f]Lottie[/name_f]
[name_f]Charlotta[/name_f]
[name_f]Lotta[/name_f]

Maybe your daughters could go by there middle names if there first names are too popular or they could have a nickname

[name_m]How[/name_m] old are the girls if they are babies then it is definitely fine too change there names if you would like but if they are older maybe you should ask them what they want.