During one of my obsessive name hunting binges, I grabbed my daughters yearbook from last year. I started going through all of the names to see if any stood out or if there were some that were more popular than others. I was surprised as to what I had found. Are there any names in your general area that are super popular, stick out in a good/bad way, or just plain over used and abused? By the way I live in Northern [name]California[/name].
Here are some the most popular names that I found -
Boys-
[name]Connor[/name]/[name]Conner[/name]/[name]Konner[/name] - Was by far the most popular name.
[name]Dylan[/name] - Came in at a close second.
[name]Mason[/name] - I actually couldn’t believe this little treasure was so popular.
[name]Matthew[/name] - Still a great name all these years imo.
[name]Dominic[/name]/[name]Dominick[/name] - I’m very sad to see it in the masses. It’s on my list
[name]Andrew[/name] - [name]Ah[/name] another classic I can’t see ever dying.
[name]Brandon[/name] - I’m growing tired of [name]Brandon[/name].
[name]Zachary[/name] - Another surprise.
[name]Zane[/name] - Really there was more than one [name]Zane[/name] in the whole school. WOW.
[name]Benjamin[/name] - I always picture a sweet little boy.
[name]Daniel[/name] - This one and the next two where holding their ground.
[name]Joseph[/name]
[name]Samuel[/name]
[name]Owen[/name] - This was shocking too.
[name]Alex[/name]/[name]Alexander[/name]
[name]Hunter[/name]
[name]Cameron[/name]
[name]Brady[/name]/[name]Brody[/name]
[name]Tanner[/name] - : / really? I like it but never knew there would be a few on the playground at the same time.
Girls-
[name]Olivia[/name] - Another frown graces my face. It too is on my list.
[name]Sienna[/name]/[name]Siena[/name]/[name]Sierra[/name] - Oddly enough this did NOT surprise me.
[name]Taylor[/name] - My youngest child’s middle name.
[name]Emily[/name] - I bet you weren’t surprised. Neither was I.
[name]Katelyn[/name] or any variation of it’s spelling - Still I’m not surprised.
[name]Sophia[/name] - Oh sweet [name]Sophia[/name] why did you get so popular?
[name]Samantha[/name] - It was on the list years ago.
[name]Kailey[/name] and all of it’s spellings - Pretty name - so overused.
[name]Michaela[/name] - See above.
[name]Elizabeth[/name] - A classic that will never die.
[name]Alyssa[/name]
[name]Brianna[/name]
[name]Madison[/name]
[name]Chloe[/name]
[name]Alexis[/name]
[name]Hope[/name] & [name]Faith[/name] - [name]Happy[/name] to report not [name]Nevaeh[/name]
Unisex-
[name]Bailey[/name] and it’s variations was found for both boys and girls.
The uncommon ones that stood out-
[name]Chandler[/name] - For a boy.
[name]Berkley[/name] - I do love this name.
[name]Quince[/name] - Nice use of the letter Q.
[name]Landry[/name] - For a girl. Cute? idk
[name]Alfredo[/name] - Hmmm.
[name]Tyson[/name] - I like it as long as [name]Mike[/name] stays out of it.
[name]Romeo[/name] - Lets hope he can live up to that name.
Connaire - I think of the movie [name]Con[/name] [name]Air[/name] with [name]Nicolas[/name] Cage.
[name]Rhyan[/name] - For a girl. I think it’s cute. Reminds of [name]Rhiannon[/name].
[name]Starlight[/name] - [name]Remember[/name] I’m in [name]California[/name].
Xeke - By far my favorite one that stood out. I’m assuming you pronounce it like [name]Zeke[/name].
[name]Gage[/name] - Ultra-cool.
[name]Ryker[/name] - Same as above.
[name]Dalton[/name] - A surname?
[name]Junel[/name] - This name belonged to a girl.
Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings.
Any names that are common in your area? Too many ??? at the park? [name]How[/name] about the most unusual/original names you’ve heard in your area?
I live in a little city in between L.A. and Pasadena. Parts of it are very old for [name]CA[/name] and super expensive. Parts of it have apartments. Our part has some really old cabins from when our hills were a mountain resort. We also have much newer houses that either dangle over cliffs or climb up cliffs like towers. We have a tower house. Because our neighborhood is really close to L.A., it is boho and not so expensive. But if you have kids, it is great to live anywhere in our little city because the schools are so fabulous.
These are some of the kids my daughter hangs with:
[name]Kayla[/name]
[name]Katelynn[/name] (but she’s from CO Springs, where we used to live.)
[name]Katie[/name]
[name]Kelly[/name] (she is from twenty minutes away)
[name]Chloe[/name]
[name]Mia[/name]
[name]Alana[/name]
[name]Anna[/name]
[name]Amy[/name]
[name]Rachel[/name]
[name]Henry[/name]
[name]Ivo[/name]
Sachko or maybe it’s Sashko
[name]Eric[/name] (he is from twenty minutes away)
[name]Cole[/name]
[name]Luke[/name]
[name]Zane[/name]
Our next-door neighbor on one side is named [name]Joseph[/name]. His son is named [name]Thomas[/name], so cute!
The lady on the other side is named Hua. It is pronounced Hwah.
Next to the lady named Hua and her husband [name]George[/name] there is a man named [name]Aoife[/name] (I think that’s how he spells it. He says it’s a Dutch name. He has two really old wooden houses on his lot. He lives in one, and [name]Jacqueline[/name], his tenant lives in the other. They don’t have a driveway or a garage, so they have to park across the street from us on the cliff. [name]Aoife[/name]'s car window won’t roll up, so my son likes to try to throw things from our balcony on the third floor and see if they will go through [name]Aoife[/name]'s window and onto the seat of his car. He has only thrown soft things, so we don’t have to worry about [name]Aoife[/name]'s paint job! [name]Jacqueline[/name] seems to be almost blind. I always worry that when she parks on the cliff, she will go over the edge. But fortunately there is a big tree stump that she runs her car into, and it stops her.
There are two toddlers who live near us named [name]Emma[/name] and [name]Auden[/name].
There were some kids in my son’s school who had some great names:
[name]Ramses[/name]
[name]Spencer[/name]
[name]Harper[/name] (girl)
[name]Camille[/name]
[name]Jacqueline[/name]
[name]Giselle[/name]
[name]Milton[/name]
kids from my daughter’s elementary school which had a lot of hipsters:
[name]Alice[/name]
[name]Victor[/name]
[name]Callie[/name]
[name]Lara[/name]
[name]Georgia[/name]
[name]Veronica[/name]
[name]Simona[/name]
Stassia
[name]George[/name]
[name]Grant[/name]
[name]Carlo[/name]
[name]Russell[/name]
[name]Adriana[/name]
[name]Love[/name] your post! Would be great to hear all the real life neighborhood blocks listed out. And please tell us your approx geographic location.
Our immediate neighborhood, in the nice burbs of [name]Washington[/name], D.C.
All these kids are 9 and under…
Boys:
[name]Matthew/name
[name]Max[/name]
[name]Henry[/name]
[name]Ryan[/name](5 on the block, 1 is mine - AAARRRRGh!)
[name]Kyle[/name]
[name]Aidan[/name]
[name]Ty[/name]
[name]Billy[/name]
[name]Christopher[/name]
[name]Jack[/name](every 3rd boy around here is [name]Jack[/name])
[name]Nick[/name]
[name]Ben/name
[name]Michael[/name] [name]Angelo/name
[name]Zachary[/name](2 on the block, 1 is mine)
[name]Reece[/name](mine, I got smarter with 3rd boy and named away from the trends, but now am dealing with the fact that all the other [name]Reese[/name]'s are girls)
[name]Benson[/name]
[name]Griffin[/name]
[name]Owen[/name]
[name]Josh[/name]
[name]Tyler[/name]
[name]Brian[/name]
[name]Ethan[/name]
[name]Bruce[/name](2, believe it or not)
Girls:
[name]Casey[/name]
[name]Samantha/name
[name]Kate[/name](at least 4 of these)
[name]Cami[/name](short for [name]Camille[/name])
[name]Sophia[/name](these are everywhere around here!)
[name]Celia[/name]([name]LOVE[/name] this!)
[name]Sarah[/name]
[name]Olivia[/name](tons of these around here too)
[name]Anjali[/name](of [name]Indian[/name] descent)
[name]Ryan[/name](3 girls on the block with this name!)
[name]Kieran[/name]
[name]Rowan[/name]
[name]Sloane[/name]
[name]Lindsay[/name]
[name]Arden[/name]
[name]Ella[/name]
[name]Lauren[/name]
[name]Hallie[/name]
[name]Mali[/name](pronounced like [name]Molly[/name])
[name]Taylor[/name]
From my son [name]Reece[/name]'s preschool class:
[name]Dylan[/name] B
[name]Dylan[/name] C
[name]Avery[/name]
[name]Zane[/name]
[name]Aaron[/name]
[name]Francesca[/name]([name]LOVE[/name] this name, and she was so cute too!)
[name]Matthew[/name]
[name]Jack[/name]
[name]Diego[/name]
[name]Sophia[/name]
[name]Sarah[/name]
[name]Tiffany[/name]
[name]Sammy[/name]
My youngest daughter is in kindergarten this year. The name that stands out the most is [name]Max[/name] [name]Rocco[/name] O’M(insert Irish last name). I just love that name for some reason. [name]Rocco[/name] may not be a name I’d considered for a first or mn but I just love his whole name.
She has a [name]Nevaeh[/name] in her class, which honestly is a first for me. [name]Griffin[/name] is another name that I’ve heard but never met.
A-names seem to be hit with the girls - [name]Annabel[/name], [name]Audrey[/name], and [name]Allison[/name] (I’m sure I’m forgetting some one).
Besides my [name]Mia[/name] and little [name]Max[/name], the rest of the class has pretty long names. This was really apparent when the children had decorated they’re names that had been written out by the teacher and hung on the wall. My poor [name]Mia[/name] who says she wants to be an artist must have felt ripped off with her measly 3 letter name. Too bad they weren’t coloring last names, ours has 9 letters!
I live in a large [name]East[/name] Coast city, and Irish names are huge. There are tons of kids named [name]Connor[/name], [name]Colin[/name], [name]Finnegan[/name], [name]Caitlin[/name], [name]Kerrigan[/name], [name]Ryan[/name], [name]Tierney[/name], [name]Liam[/name], etc. Also there are lots of Catholic people who were named after popular saints are now naming their kids “[name]Jr[/name].”: [name]Michael[/name] [name]Jr[/name]., [name]Thomas[/name] [name]Jr[/name]., [name]Joseph[/name] [name]Jr[/name]. (or III in a few cases), etc.
Geographically, I’m on the [name]Jersey[/name] Shore. I live on a street with very few young children. Up the street there are two sets of siblings: [name]Diego[/name] and [name]Mara[/name], and [name]Aiden[/name] and [name]Katie[/name]. My neighbor’s grandkids visit often - [name]Lindsey[/name] and [name]Jack[/name].
When I was growing up (late 80’s, early 90’s) there were (listed as sibsets):
[name]Abby[/name]
[name]Adriana[/name] (her dad is from Puerto [name]Rico[/name])
[name]Aidan[/name] ( x 3)
[name]Amanda[/name]
[name]Anna[/name]
[name]Ashton[/name] (girl)
[name]Audrey[/name]
[name]Austin[/name] x 2
[name]Avery[/name] (girl)
[name]Ben[/name] ([name]Benjamin[/name])
[name]Betsy[/name] [name]Aurora[/name]
[name]Blake[/name] (girl)
[name]Brady[/name]
Braxley (boy)
[name]Brooke[/name]
[name]Charlotte[/name]
Chatham (boy)
[name]Christopher[/name]
[name]Colin[/name]
[name]Corbin[/name]
[name]Davis[/name]
Demry (boy)
[name]Dylan[/name]
[name]Emerson[/name] (boy)
[name]Emery[/name] (girl)
[name]Emma[/name]
[name]Emmaline[/name]
[name]Eve[/name]
[name]Gage[/name] x 2
[name]Gavin[/name]
[name]Graham[/name]
[name]Harper[/name] x 2 (girl & boy)
[name]Hayden[/name]
Iley
[name]Jace[/name]
[name]Josie[/name]
[name]Kaitlyn[/name]
[name]Kaley[/name]
[name]Karleigh[/name] - sister of [name]Kyleigh[/name]
[name]Katie[/name]
[name]Kelsey[/name]
[name]Kenzie[/name]
[name]Kevin[/name]
[name]Kyleigh[/name] - sister of [name]Karleigh[/name]
[name]Leah[/name]
[name]Lindsay[/name]
[name]Lucy[/name]
[name]Madison[/name]
[name]Mallory[/name] [name]Zane[/name]
[name]Malone[/name] (boy)
[name]Miles[/name]
[name]Molly[/name]
[name]Morgan[/name] x 2
[name]Natalie[/name]
[name]Nathaniel[/name]
[name]Nicholas[/name]
[name]Paige[/name]
[name]Phoebe[/name]
[name]Preston[/name]
[name]Reed[/name]
[name]Riah[/name] ([name]Ry[/name]-A)
[name]Riley[/name] (boy)
[name]Sadie[/name]
[name]Savannah[/name] (2)
[name]Shaun[/name]
[name]Silas[/name]
[name]Skye[/name]
[name]Sydney[/name]
[name]Tyler[/name]
[name]Walker[/name] x 2 (boy & girl)
[name]Zoe[/name] Evangaline
I live in [name]Georgia[/name]. I’m a little obsessed with names, can you tell? In fact, I just started a name blog if anyone wants to check it out. It’s http://names4real.wordpress.com/.
In Chicago, our friends have children named [name]Sophia[/name], [name]Nolan[/name],[name]Ryan[/name] and [name]Daniel[/name]. In our hometown of Michigan, little ones include [name]Isabella[/name],[name]Isabel[/name], [name]Ava[/name], [name]Emma[/name], [name]Gus[/name], [name]Fisher[/name] and [name]Jackson[/name]. We are at the age where our friends our just starting to have kids, so don’t know of too many yet! We do know several little [name]Emma[/name]'s though!
i live in central california, in a mostly rural/farming community. although our immediate neighborhood is considered the older “historic” part of town…these are the kids around us:
beckett (my son)
jackson (my nephew)
channing & holland (both g)
nicholas, goes by nico
lily
maddox
hudson
jakob, melissa and jordan (b)
emory (b)
ava
mia & colby (b)
elanor, asher and izzy (not a nn, full name)
trace (b), tessa and vaughn
lauren
zachary
I love reading everyone’s posts. It’s actually interesting that we lived only a few miles away from where we do now and the naming trends are different.
rosypoesy and teabee I’m actually near Sacramento, so not quite that north. We have the worst summers! I remember when we lived in southern [name]CA[/name] and would drive up the 5 during the [name]Summer[/name] to visit family, nothing can describe that kind of heat. It’s not the worst in the nation but I swear we vow to move every [name]Summer[/name].
[name]Do[/name] you think that more boys are given classic names than girls or vice versa? I think more people take a chance with girls names than they do with boys. What you do think?
Those are the kids (now not so much kids anymore but between 15-25 year-olds) that I hang out with as a child because they were my immediate neigbors. Now all arranged in sibling sets:
[name]Eileen[/name], Niklas and [name]Dominik[/name],
[name]Stephanie[/name] and [name]Andrea[/name],
[name]Stephanie[/name] and [name]Lena[/name],
[name]Julia[/name], [name]Sabrina[/name] and [name]Tim[/name],
[name]Marcel[/name] and [name]Stefan[/name],
[name]Oliver[/name], [name]Kirsten[/name] and [name]Julia[/name]
as well as [name]Katharina[/name] ([name]Kathi[/name]) and [name]Anna[/name]
I don’t know the rest of their names yet, but one of the little girls in my preschooler’s class is a little girl named [name]Sahara[/name] (like the desert). Pretty and unusual I thought the night of open house when it popped out at me from her cubby. As soon as I know the other names, I’ll post again. This little girl is probably 4 years old.
I live in Brisbane, capital of Queensland Australia. I live on the waterfront where most of the houses belong to old money families. And the other houses are retired couples. Most are wealthy business people with a couple children. They either don’t work because they don’t need to or constantly work to pay off their house. That being said, they are usually friendly but boring…
So the most popular names I have noticed are:
[name]Isabel[/name]/la (times a million)
[name]Sophie[/name]
[name]Abigail[/name]
[name]Emily[/name]
[name]Amelia[/name]/ [name]Mia[/name]
[name]Ashlee[/name]/leigh/ley
And then there are the [name]Tahnee[/name]/Tianni/[name]Tawnee[/name] crew and [name]Kaylee[/name], [name]Kayla[/name], Mickayla etc.
[name]Jack[/name]
[name]Josh[/name]
[name]James[/name]
[name]Tom[/name]
[name]Jacob[/name]
Although most of the boys go by [name]Jonesy[/name], Hughesy, Smitho, Macca etc.
In conclusion, very boring.
Where I used to live, an arty part of melbourne, there weren’t many kids but the ones I remember are:
[name]Skye[/name]
[name]Storm[/name]
[name]Maya[/name]
[name]Kira[/name]
Once again I live near the capital of [name]California[/name]. I now have the complete list names for my daughters kindergarten class. There is a 6 year difference between my oldest and youngest. It is surprising to see some of the same names that were in my oldest kindergarten class on the list below.
Kindergarten 2009-2010 - I don’t know this class well enough to note their characters.
[name]Alexander[/name]
[name]Allison[/name]
[name]Annabelle[/name] - sweetie
[name]Ariana[/name] -
[name]Ashlyn[/name]
[name]Audrey[/name]
[name]Brandon[/name]
[name]Brayden[/name]
[name]Carolina[/name]
[name]Carson[/name]
[name]Cesar[/name] - My daughter can’t ever remember his name she calls him Teaser or Weazer .
[name]Griffin[/name]
[name]Hope[/name] - all the kindergartner’s love [name]Hope[/name].
[name]Jack[/name]
[name]Justine[/name]
[name]Lilly[/name]
[name]Max[/name]
[name]Mia[/name]
[name]Nevaeh[/name]
[name]Nolan[/name]
[name]Sofia[/name]
[name]Tatum[/name] - a girl
[name]Just[/name] for fun -
Kindergarten 2003-2004
Ariyana
[name]Ashlynn[/name] - sweet, spunky and full of confidence.
[name]Carley[/name]
[name]Carlos[/name]
[name]Cassidy[/name] - bossy, a leader.
[name]Chloe[/name] - shy and quite.
[name]Elizabeth[/name] - the smartest girl in class.
[name]Evelyn[/name] - very very shy.
[name]Hunter[/name] - girl crazy, purposed to all the girls and woman too.
[name]Isaiah[/name]
[name]Jeremy[/name]
[name]Jordann[/name] - a girl
[name]Josiah[/name] - sweet and artistic.
[name]Kiley[/name] - THE sweetest little girl in class.
[name]Kira[/name]
[name]Nicole[/name] - a good little friend.
[name]Nicholas[/name] - timid but spoiled.
[name]Noah[/name] - a real fun kid and a cutie too.
[name]Rebecca[/name] - also a good friend to all.
[name]Stepan[/name]
[name]Tatyana[/name]
