I was wondering about everyone’s gut feelings about the name [name]Aurora[/name]. It’s on DH’s and my short list for our yet-to-be-conceived baby, but I’m curious if it will keep climbing meteorically or if it has more or less settled/peaked in the medium popular 100-200 range on the SSA lists. We’d probably still use it even if it was top 50, but I’m interested if anyone has any predictions/insights/intuition about it.
Other names we like are [name]Penelope[/name], [name]Rosie[/name], and [name]Clementine[/name]. DH loves [name]Clover[/name]. I love [name]Annabel[/name] but DH had a difficult roommate by that name so it’s out, sadly.
What do you guys think of the top 10 potential for [name]Penelope[/name] or [name]Annabel[/name] in the future? I feel like [name]Penelope[/name] will ultimately be held back by the “pee” ending, despite being a Kardashian, and [name]Annabel[/name] by its multiple spellings. (Though I could see [name]Annabel[/name] being like [name]Madeline[/name] and ending up very high on the list when they are all tallied.)
My guesses for eventual top 10 status include [name]Charlotte[/name], [name]Avery[/name], [name]Harper[/name], [name]Aubrey[/name] (unless [name]Aubree[/name] splits the tally too much), [name]Amelia[/name]…not sure what others. Maybe [name]Lila[/name].
Sorry…this post kind of went all over the place! Insights, anyone?
P.S.-- I guess I wonder about [name]Aurora[/name] becoming a top 10 hit because of its similarity (to my ear) to names like [name]Sophia[/name] and [name]Olivia[/name]. [name]Sophia[/name] in particular because they share Ancient [name]Greco[/name]-[name]Roman[/name] roots and gentle vintage style.
I also like [name]Athena[/name] from that category.
I don’t think [name]Aurora[/name] will ever be in the top 10, I do think it will settle as you’ve said in the 100-200 range. I think it’s a bit princess-y for most people, and from what I’ve seen from forums, some people seem to have trouble pronouncing it? Plus there was the shooting in [name]Aurora[/name], [name]Colorado[/name], but I’m not sure if that’s turned any people off of it.
I don’t think that [name]Aurora[/name] will hit the top 10. It might climb higher, but not much, I think. It’s a pretty name, but I think it’s kind of a mouthful for some people. I love [name]Penelope[/name] and [name]Clementine[/name] too. [name]Annabel[/name] is nice, but if you’re worried about popularity, I think it might be up there with all the “belle” names. What about [name]Annabeth[/name]? It’s familiar, but not even in the top 1000.
[name]Aurora[/name] is mine and my DBF’s favorite name too and I really don’t see it being in the top ten. I do think that [name]Penelope[/name] and [name]Annabel[/name] are going to keep skyrocketing, though I’d be a little surprised to see them in the top 10.
I think [name]Aurora[/name] has the potential to hit the top ten, but I’m doubtful that it ever will. I feel the same way about [name]Penelope[/name] and [name]Annabel[/name]- they have the potential, but I really don’t think they’ll go that high up in popularity. I think the name [name]Athena[/name] will probably go up to about 200, but never will breach the top 100.
I definitely don’t think that [name]Aurora[/name] will become a top ten name, I don’t know anyone who has an [name]Aurora[/name] or even has it on their list. [name]One[/name] of my daughters is named [name]Isla[/name] which I hesitated to use because I think it will one day be a top 10 name (as a replacement for [name]Emma[/name] & [name]Ava[/name]) but given that you can’t predict the future it seems silly to me not to use a name you love because it ‘might’ become a top 10 name. I am not positive on this but I believe [name]Charlotte[/name] is already a top 10 in [name]Canada[/name] and yet whenever I meet a little [name]Charlotte[/name] I still think it is a beautiful name. I think it is more like an [name]Elizabeth[/name] or [name]Catherine[/name] that even when it becomes hugely popular it retains it’s beauty because it is a classic. I think [name]Penelope[/name], [name]Rosie[/name] and [name]Clementine[/name] are all too quirky for the masses for any of them to hit the top 10. I think [name]Annabel[/name] could because [name]Anna[/name] is already hugely popular and I think it is a natural extension of the name that will appeal to many.
I’m asking more because of curiosity than anything else. I’m pretty sure we would use [name]Aurora[/name] no matter where it landed on the charts if we decided it was the name.
Maybe [name]Aurora[/name] is one of those names that’s very geographical? I know a handful of Auroras under the age of 5-- more babies named [name]Aurora[/name] than [name]Sophia[/name] for example. I also know several small girls named [name]Lucy[/name], [name]Lila[/name], and [name]Scarlett[/name]. I’m based in NYC so maybe it is more of an [name]East[/name] Coast urban thing. Also, as always, there’s just random chance involved.
ajh, I agree to a point-- but fifteen years ago, wouldn’t one have said something similar about [name]Chloe[/name]? Without a doubt [name]Chloe[/name] and [name]Zoe[/name] were both “quirky” names well into the late 1990s/early 2000s. [name]Layla[/name]/[name]Lila[/name], too. It’s so mysterious how some names go mainstream and others never quite make it.
I agree with this, although I do think that just maybe, [name]Annabel[/name] will hit top 10 when all of the different spellings are taken into account - though I do see it more often as a middle name than as a first.
Anytime I hear an American saying this name, it seems like they’re “eating it”. The pronunciation seems to be quite tricky, so I don’t see [name]Aurora[/name] in top10…
Yeah I agree with joana, it’s a gorgeous name but because it’s not really that easy to pronounce, especially with some of the American accents, I don’t see it being top 10, which are usually made up of accessible names that are easy to pronounce regardless of accent.
I saw this list at Upswing and was so intrigued and impressed! I think it is so cool she tried to make the predictions (and how much thought/reasoning she put into it-- I downloaded her e-book). However I do have some qualms with a few parts of it. I really can’t envision a top 20 ten years from now that includes [name]Sophia[/name], [name]Sofia[/name], AND [name]Sophie[/name]. I mean, maybe, but I think [name]Sophia[/name] will be past-peak by then and don’t see [name]Sophie[/name] suddenly taking up the slack (unless perhaps there is a sudden major trend towards ends in -ee sounding girls names). I also think [name]Addison[/name], [name]Madison[/name], and possibly [name]Mia[/name] and [name]Chloe[/name] will have fallen from the top 20 in ten years, replaced by names it would be hard to guess in advance… I’m judging that by looking at the top 10 names from 2002. Most of them are long gone from the top 20, including [name]Alexis[/name] (#5 in '02, #40 in '12), [name]Hannah[/name] (#3 in '02, #22 in '12), [name]Ashley[/name] (#6 in '02, #50 in '12), [name]Sarah[/name] (#8 in '02, #43 in '12), [name]Samantha[/name] (#9 in '02, #26 in '12)…and so on. All of those names had been around for several years (or more than a decade, in the case of [name]Ashley[/name] and [name]Sarah[/name]) and were in the process of peaking ten years ago. I think [name]Olivia[/name], [name]Ava[/name], [name]Isabella[/name], and possibly [name]Sophia[/name] are peaking now and will be out of the top 10 in 2022. So I think Upswing is a wee bit conservative. But it’s an admirable effort! I would love to hear other predictions.
I do think she’s completely on the money regarding [name]Harper[/name] and [name]Aubrey[/name] making top 10. I don’t think [name]Amelia[/name] will be #1 (too many people are drawn to the [name]Emilia[/name] spelling), but I think it will be top 10, and I think [name]Charlotte[/name] will be even higher. On the boy’s side, I can see [name]Henry[/name] as top 10 but not #1 because it is not a particularly masculine choice, but it’s not feminine in the way that non-masculine boy’s names have been popular recently, like [name]Liam[/name], [name]Noah[/name], [name]Elijah[/name], etc. [name]Henry[/name] has harsher sounds but a softer, less brawny image and that doesn’t scream #1 to me. (Though it is definitely number one in my neighborhood! With [name]Oliver[/name] hot on its heels.) I can see [name]Liam[/name] as a #1 but I think it will have peaked in ten. Maybe [name]Elijah[/name] or [name]Noah[/name] too. I don’t think [name]William[/name] is going anywhere for the time being.
@rosierose - it’s true it is really difficult to know which names will become megapopular and which won’t but to me the difference between [name]Chloe[/name] and [name]Zoe[/name] and [name]Penelope[/name] and [name]Clementine[/name] is cuteness. To me [name]Chloe[/name] is not that much unlike the [name]Kaylee[/name], [name]Kylie[/name], [name]Kayla[/name], [name]Callie[/name] group sound wise and although it is a much more sophisticated name it still has the same components of a ‘k’ sound to start and ending in a perky ‘e’ which make it more palatable to the masses. [name]Zoe[/name] also fits into the cute and perky two syllable category along the same lines. [name]Penelope[/name] and [name]Clementine[/name] are much more lengthy and complicated sound wise and to me neither(and I love both btw) scream cuteness as most of the other meganames do. The names that reach the top ten if they are long generally have a short, accessible nn. [name]Penny[/name] might fall into this category but most of the people I know who like [name]Penelope[/name] don’t like the nn [name]Penny[/name] and I don’t think ‘[name]Clem[/name]’ is something most people would respond to. As always I think it depends on your peer group and as you said, different regions respond to different names, but in order to reach the top 10 pretty much everyone has to be responding the same way to the names. I have twin daughters [name]Isla[/name] and [name]Freya[/name] and the responses I get to their names when we are out are very different. With [name]Isla[/name] everyone loves it and comments on how ‘cute’ and ‘sweet’ it is. With [name]Freya[/name] I get ‘oh that’s different’, basically a nice way of saying ‘I don’t like it’. This is why I think [name]Isla[/name] could reach the top 10 it has the same ingredients as [name]Emma[/name] and [name]Ava[/name](a vowel to start, two syllables and ends in and ‘a’) that the majority of people respond to.
As I said I don’t know any [name]Aurora[/name]'s or anyone who has it on their list but I do know an [name]Aurelia[/name] and a ttc friend who has [name]Aurelia[/name] as her top pick, which I don’t think is dissimilar to [name]Aurora[/name] sound wise, and their main complaint is its lack of nn. This is something that I think [name]Aurora[/name] would struggle with as well. You could go with [name]Rory[/name] or Ror but that changes the whole feel and it isn’t a natural nn. I think for something to reach the top ten it has to seem like an easier name to most people.
In don’t think [name]Aurora[/name] will reach top ten, but I wanted to suggest [name]Amabel[/name] (maybe you’ve already thought of it) but I don’t see it becoming too popular and I think it is lovely. Plus it won’t have the roommate connection!
With Freya I get ‘oh that’s different’, basically a nice way of saying ‘I don’t like it’. This is why I think Isla could reach the top 10 it has the same ingredients as Emma and Ava(a vowel to start, two syllables and ends in and ‘a’) that the majority of people respond to.
I know this is massive off topic, but I love a [name]Freya[/name]. I adore the name.
On topic: I think [name]Aurora[/name] might become top 100, because it’s very familiar, very girly. But must agree with the rest. [name]Aurora[/name] isn’t top 10 name. I think [name]Aurora[/name] raised a bit ([name]Colorado[/name] shouting didn’t ruined it).
I used to love the name [name]Aurora[/name]! Sleeping Beauty was my favorite Disney name and I thought the name was so regal and beautiful. I also liked the nickname [name]Rory[/name] for a little girl…but now I hate the name! I teach 2nd grade and there are 2 girls on our grade level with that name. It seems much less posh now than it did when there was only a princess named [name]Aurora[/name]. I don’t think it’ll ever make the top 10 or even close but it is popular enough that we have several at our elementary school!