[name]Josephine[/name]
[name]Cora[/name]
[name]Penelope[/name]
[name]Margaret[/name]
[name]Beatrix[/name]
[name]Susannah[/name]
[name]Eleanor[/name]
[name]Juniper[/name]
[name]Harriet[/name]
[name]Aurora[/name]
[name]Josephine[/name] - Maybe. It’s pretty, but I’d be torn on it and probably look at some similar alternatives. But I can’t use it anyway, everyone calls me [name]Josie[/name].
[name]Cora[/name] - No, but I don’t love it in any case. I do love [name]Flora[/name] and [name]Nora[/name] though.
[name]Penelope[/name] - Yes.
[name]Margaret[/name] - No. I do love [name]Marguerite[/name] and [name]Mairead[/name] and [name]Margaux[/name] though. [name]Margaret[/name] is rather hard and edged to me.
[name]Beatrix[/name] - Yes, but probably only as a middle.
[name]Susannah[/name] - Yes, love it, and I don’t love [name]Susie[/name] for its rareness, only its sweetness.
[name]Eleanor[/name] - No. Never did like it.
[name]Juniper[/name] - No. I dislike [name]June[/name] as a nickname.
[name]Harriet[/name] - No.
[name]Aurora[/name] - Yes, I blame Sleeping Beauty. But I think I prefer [name]Briar[/name].
[name]Beatrix[/name] is the only one. I [name]ADORE[/name] [name]Penelope[/name], but it’s already been kicked form the list for making huge leaps in popularity.
Yes. For all of them. I mean, if I loved them, that is. Most of them are too [name]Berry[/name]-ish for me to actually love/use–I like them, but they’re just not really my style, with the exception of [name]Aurora[/name], which I would absolutely use, even if it were number one, if it didn’t sound so completely atrocious with my surname (which is just as “R” heavy, if not more, as [name]Aurora[/name] is). Which is why, sadly, it’s a MN spot. I like [name]Josephine[/name], [name]Cora[/name], and [name]Eleanor[/name], too–the only thing that would keep me from them would be that I just don’t love them enough, not that they had become top 100 names. I think their gorgeous, and I love [name]Josephine[/name]'s and [name]Eleanor[/name]'s nn potential.
If I loved the name, I could care less about popularity. I have a name that’s been number 1, and I love it. I can understand the desire for something a bit novel, but being a top 100 name would honestly not keep me from the name. 8 of my top 10 are either in the top 100 or have variants in the top 100, though, so I guess that kind of says where I’m coming from. 
If I REALLY loved a name popularity wouldn’t stop me. I’ve seen people discard names for being in the 200/300s and honestly that baffles me. [name]Jacqueline[/name] (the 200th most popular name) was only given to 1,551 girls last year, that really doesn’t make it popular at all. [name]One[/name] of my favorite names ([name]Amelia[/name]) is ranked 30 and in 2011 only 6,307 girls were given the name; when you consider how many babies are born every year that’s not a lot.
Hah! I had a bit of a fail there, hitting post when I was just brainstorming options. lols.
Anyhow, [name]Ash[/name], I mostly thought I agreed with you, and then realised that it wasn’t entirely true-- [name]Eleanor[/name] is the name that got me thinking about this. I loved it forever, and it has plenty of family significance, but it just doesn’t work for me anymore. On the other hand, [name]Elizabeth[/name] does, and I can’t imagine that anything could dissuade me from using [name]Margaret[/name].
[name]Flick[/name]: it’s the other way around for me! I love [name]Penelope[/name] and [name]Beatrix[/name] (though they’re not ones I’d actually name a daughter), but [name]Penelope[/name]'s leaps and bounds up the list don’t change how I see the name (might if it got into the top 20 or so), whereas I think if [name]Beatrix[/name] went any higher than the top 200 I’d not stop loving the name, but I might stop loving seeing more of them around? It doesn’t make sense!
I think I partially understand. Popularity, for the most part, could bother me less, but when it comes to [name]Eliza[/name], it just kills me. I just can’t even think about [name]Eliza[/name], it leaves me heartbroken, haha. I loved the name since I was itty bitty, it’s just been one of those names I’ve always loved, but now that everyone and their mother (and sister, and step-brother, and second-cousin-twice-removed, and BFF, and the total stranger down the street…) love it, too, it just seems less special. Most of my favorites have always been fairly popular, so I guess it just doesn’t bother me. I don’t mind sharing them. But [name]Eliza[/name]. Gah. I’m gutted. 
It’s vintage, it’ll stand the test of time, but it’s just not special anymore. Therefore, it’s gone from my list. I held onto it until about 2 years ago, but I just can’t do it. And I keep seeing [name]Eliza[/name], and I want to say forget it, and just add [name]Eliza[/name] [name]Gwendolyn[/name] back to my list, but wahh. Not happening. Maybe that’s you and [name]Eleanor[/name]? It was pretty much at its lowest point when I was born (late 80s), not even in the top 600, so maybe it just seemed like [name]Eleanor[/name] would be your special name. Like [name]Eliza[/name] and me. Oh, well. When it comes to scenarios like [name]Eliza[/name], I can totally understand! If [name]Arianne[/name] (the only other name I’ve absolutely adored that was outside the top 500 or so–it’s not even listed) ever became top 100, I would probably cry, too, lol.
That’s exactly how I feel 
Actually, while I’d still use [name]Elizabeth[/name], my favourite nickname ([name]Betsy[/name], not to be used outside the family unless she said so…) seems to be RACING up the charts on its own in the UK. [name]One[/name] of the fastest rising names last year! Somehow, that makes it less fiery and more cutesy. Sigh. I just can’t seem to figure out which ones lose their specialness and when- I mean, [name]Harriet[/name]. Why does that bother me that it’s in the top 100? There are lots of Harriets my age in the UK, it’s seen reasonably steady use…and yet.
Only [name]Aurora[/name], hate the rest.
I wouldn’t use any of those except [name]Aurora[/name] and perhaps [name]Eleanor[/name].
[name]Aurora[/name] I’d still use if it was in the top 100, yes.
Lately I have been having conflicting views on this subject… I entered my daughter into a photo contest the other day and it had the option to scroll through all the entered children ages newborn - 4 years old. So, as a dutiful name nerd, I scrolled through probably over 1,000 entries looking at the kid’s names. It seemed like the boy’s names were repeating after awhile they were all so similar… [name]Jacob[/name], [name]Bentley[/name], [name]Carson[/name]/[name]Cason[/name], [name]Ayden[/name], [name]Brennan[/name], [name]Cole[/name], [name]Luke[/name], [name]Payton[/name], [name]Jackson[/name], [name]Hunter[/name], [name]Jacob[/name], [name]Bentlee[/name], Cassen, [name]Aiden[/name], [name]Kole[/name], [name]Peyton[/name]…and repeat. [name]Every[/name] once in awhile I ran across a [name]William[/name] or a [name]Samuel[/name] or a [name]Henry[/name] and it seemed so refreshing. The girls were just as bad, it seemed like every girl name ended in some variation of -lyn or [name]Madison[/name], [name]Lily[/name], [name]Lyla[/name], [name]Layla[/name], [name]Katie[/name], [name]Mia[/name], [name]Sophia[/name], [name]Isabella[/name]… I was just as refreshed to run across a [name]Eleanor[/name] or a [name]Jane[/name]. My beloved boy’s name [name]Asher[/name] that I had almost scratched off my list even though it’s the only boy name I [name]LOVE[/name], was nowhere in sight. I didn’t see a single one. It gave me new hope that being #100 and something really doesn’t matter, because 95% of the people you meet will end up using an overly trendy, “blah” name.
Another quick story that happened today too, I sold my infant carseat on craigslist to a pregnant girl my age. I asked her “[name]Do[/name] you have a name yet?” and she started glowing and proudly said “[name]Kaya[/name]” and then proceeded to tell me she was spelling it Kaiyah to “make it more unique” ::face palm:: When I told her my daughter’s name was [name]Rowan[/name], she was like “[name]Ro[/name]… what?” She had never heard of it before, and she thought it was so unusual. It made me feel so much better about my choices. 
I think I would only use [name]Eleanor[/name] and [name]Beatrix[/name] for first names. The others have some potential as middle names, but [name]Harriet[/name] is completely out because it clashes with my last name. I try not to care too much about popularity, but it is sometimes hard because I don’t want to just follow a trend. If I really love the name and could not give it up I would be willing to use it somehow.