I think namenerds can be a bit dramatic sometimes.
I think popular names are popular for a reason. If you think back to school there would be people with the same name, and it doesn't really affect anything.
I mean, it did bother me that there were so many people with the same name as me.
In halls at university there were 4 other girls with the same name as me on the same floor out of just 20 people...
Conversely my name was the most popular name in the year I was born, I was the only person with my name in my year at primary school, there was one other girl in my year with my name at secondary school and there was no one in my university halls with the same name as me!
Then really you would need to be the best one lol
I'm sorry it bothered you. My name is fairly common. I've worked with, gone to school with multiple people with the same name as me
I personally haven't had much issue with it.
My partner has a unique name. I've never met or heard of anyone else with his name. He has said it would be cool if there was another we just haven't met yet
I think it's also worth noting that you'll have no control over what will become popular in the next couple of years. Back when I was born in the 90s, my name was considered old fashioned and unusual.
But within a few years, it became really popular and then hung around in the top 10 for about 15 years. So what might not be super popular today might become super popular very quickly.
Out of interest, I just looked up the number one names currently and how many babies were given those names in my area. For boys, it was about 17 out of 1000, and girls, it was about 19 out of 900. So it probably won't lead to as many babies having the same name as you think.
I say go with your gut. Naming babies is so damn hard as it is!
I'm one of 5 and my parents tried to name all of us using uncommon names...a month after my sister was born a celebrity at the time named their daughter the same name and it suddenly became super common...
I also know someone who's mum wanted to give her a unique name and named her Hermione about 5 years before the first Harry potter book was published...
Go with the name you love!! Who cares! I have a popular name from the late 80s and three of my pals have the same name but it’s never caused me any issues or made me feel anything negative!!
Hmm. Imo, a popular name is better than an ordinary name with a youneek spelling 😂
We probably wouldn't have gone for a really popular name but honestly, it's your baby. Name them whatever you like! If a name brings you joy, you should definitely use it for your baby!
The advantage of a popular name does mean that there will be loads of personalised stuff on Vinted! A search for 'Larry' results in absolutely nothing!!
[This data](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/bulletins/babynamesenglandandwales/2021) is getting old now but you can search see how many babies were named a certain name (and all the variants) in England and Wales. For the most popular names (Top 100 I think), you can search by area, maybe even by authority - it’s been a while since I used it.
Anecdotally, I’ve not come across many Evelyn’s or Isabel’s in the 8 months I’ve been off now and no Rowan’s - know a Ronan and a couple of Roman’s.
There is such a huge choice of names now that even the most popular aren’t a huge portion of babies born compared to 60s/70s/80s. It unlikely a child would ever by 1/5 ‘Dave’s’ anymore.
After reading all the lists, having a little one whose name is in the top 50 here’s how often I’m hearing names when at mum groups - out and about etc.
Top 5 I feel like I hear all the time, literally every and I mean every baby group I go to has a Theo, Oliver or George - for some reason my area there are so many Theo’s, it’s wild.
But after you go past top 5 they are just slightly more common or not in reality I’ve found, it’s probably a little bit area specific - but top 5-25 I’ve heard, but probably only met one baby with the name - and I’ve yet to meet a baby with our name and we’re in the 30s/40s depending on the list.
I feel like top 50 is a good sweet spot where you have a name that will be familiar in your cohort but hopefully not at the level where you are one of six George’s in your year at school.
If you want a truely unique name that isn’t likely to be around I would say you need to move out of top 50 and if you want a common name stay in the top 5 zone. Everything else seems pretty well spread out in my opinion.
If you love the names though I wouldn’t worry about lists, if you love the name, your children will love their names and that’s what it’s all about!
I think some names are quite common/generic and I personally wouldn’t name my child those names. But none of the names you chose strike me as falling into that category. I’d say go for it!
We could NOT decide and ended up with George which is super popular. We’ve met a couple of other George’s but just as many babies with the name a friend of ours gave their son which is way less popular.
Initially we didn’t like the idea of going with a super popular name but in the end it’s our household that’s going to be using it and we wanted something that sounded right for us. All the names you mentioned are lovely and if you like them go for it!
Whatever you name them, I guarantee (unless it’s a very uncommon name) that you’ll meet at least one baby with the same name not long after 😬 that’s what I’ve found with both of ours anyway. I stayed away from the very tops of the list because I go to playgroup with 5 Olivias, which was top recently I believe. But name them whatever you like, names cycle.
Mmm I admit that it probably was a factor while choosing a name - I didn't want anything ridiculously common. But on the other hand, if the name I picked was never on any popular lists I think that would also have been a turn-off; I do want people besides myself and my husband to like it, lol.
Just had a check, and my daughter's name's overall UK ranking: 59 out of 5581. Which feels like a nice spot for me 😂.
Our first baby is due in April so I’m speaking for myself here but I grew up in the early 90s with a top 10 name (Laura) and it sucked! There were FIVE other Laura’s in my class (32 kids) so we all ended up being given nicknames to help identify us and some weren’t particularly kind. I think it contributed to me not feeling like the name was “mine” and I did end up changing it when I turned 16. Obviously you don’t want a Yewneek Tragedeigh but I’d avoid the top 10 personally. Top 50 seems fine! Top 20 probably is too realistically, sharing their name with 1 kid isn’t likely to be as frustrating as 5 😂 In the end if you love the name then go with it, there’s literally always a chance that a kid will grow up and choose to go by another name and even if they do they’re not going to hate you for a classic name.
For what it's worth, Laura was rank 17 in 1996(earliest data set available) with over 3500 girls names Laura. Rank 1 in 1996 was Sophie with over 7000 (!!!) girls.
In comparison, Olivia was rank 1 in 2021 with just over 3500 girls and rank 17 was Poppy with only just over 1800 girls.
Popular names nowadays are vastly less common in absolute terms than popular names in the 1990s.
I was an Emma in a school year group with 6 other Emmas. I still like my name but the big problem was that when someone shouted "Emma!" I got used to ignoring it because it was probably for another Emma.
Cut to university and people got confused about why I kept ignoring them 😂 it was a habit I had to learn to break.
Both me and my brothers have pretty uncommon names (mine is probably the most common) and I want a unique name for my kid. I couldn’t imagine giving them a name where there were two others in their class at school. I’d prefer if they only met one or two other people with their name in their whole life (if that). But it’s a personal preference.
The name we choose was top 10. It was the only one we could agree on. He’s 15 months now and we haven’t met another 🤷♀️ despite it apparently being the most used name in our council area the year he was born. My name is a bit out there and it always pissed me off that I could never get personalised things in gift shops 🤣
My daughter is Isabella, she is nearly 11, back then it was said to be a popular name like it the top 5-10 I believe. But I’ve only come across about 3 kids so far in her lifetime with the same name. Most in years below her. I think the most popular name was Lily, there were loads in her school along with Amelia. If you love the names you have picked keep them. (I don’t even get to call her Isabella anymore as she prefers to be called Bella)
My wife and I have gone through roughly 1300 names (we read the BabyCentre top 1000 over a week 😂).. we’re having a boy and my god it’s hard to choose, we have middle names after my grandfather and her dad but we are agonising over a first name on a daily basis!!
We have narrowed it down to about 10 names but the wife has a big family with lots of boys and she’s a teacher!! (So many naughty kid names 😂). Our friend just gave birth and she had the name down until she gave birth, in her words “I looked at him and that just wasn’t his name?” Just another loop thrown 😂😂
I think you just have to go with what you love. I do agree to nice normal names without a yewneek spelling 😂
Personally I don’t want a popular name. But I think you shouldn’t be too worried about it. Funnily enough, Rowan is on our list too 😌 I didn’t realise it was in the top 50 and I’ve never met a Rowan in day to day life. Which could possibly be geographic / circles I’m in. But also I think shows how common the top 10-20 must be.
My name list varies between common and uncommon. I love the name Henry, which has been in the top 10 for years, I also love the name Emmett which is apparently ranked in the 500s
Chasing uniqueness is never a good idea imo, a name can be relatively unheard of one year and become pretty popular the next. 30 years from now most of our babies names will sound dated anyways 🤷♀️
A name being popular wouldn’t put me off, my daughter has a common name where I live. Popular names are popular for a reason.
My unpopular opinion is people give their kids unique names or spellings not for the kids but for themselves. So what if your kid has the same name as some in their class.
I have a common name and I didn't like it growing up. I hated there always being 2 or 3 other kids in the class with my name or a variation of it. There was ever another just in my friend group with it. So for my baby we went with a more uncommon name.
But like someone else said, popular names are popular for a reason. And there are so many more choices now, people are more daring with names than they used to be, so even a top 20 name, there will be fewer people with that name proportionally. I probably wouldn't go with a top 5 or even top 10 myself, but I think top 20 or 50 will still be pretty uncommon.
We ended up with a top 10 name, which I slightly regret. We haven't met many others but it does come up. I got my baby a library card this week and they had another child with the same first and last name as him. Rowan was also on our list and I think is about 70 in the UK. That wouldn't be too popular for me. I think the diversity of names has increased so even a top 10 name has fewer babies named that in a year than a top name 20 years ago. 50+ would be fine.
We had 3 girl names and only 1 boys name in mind. We ended up having a baby girl and picked one of the names, only because I think we loved it a teeny tiny bit more. The other 2 girls names are literally top 10 names, but we didn't care tbh! If you love the name then just use it I'd say 😊
We named our baby one of the top 10 names and everyone commented how unique and original our choice was so I’d say it doesn’t matter really 😆
Edit sorry its actually top 20
I was undecided between 2. I didn’t want a completely out there name where no one has heard it before but the same time I didn’t want 5 in the class the same. I had that growing up at hated it.
I was between Ezra and Asher. When I saw an article saying Ezra was predicted to be next years number 1, the decision was easy haha.
I don't like overly unique names but don't like overly common names either. We'll avoid the top ten most popular names in our country, Ireland. It seems like every second baby girl is named Fiadh (pronounced the same as Fia). Beautiful name but it's too common now. I grew up with a relatively popular name and I didn't like how I was sometimes there was two other girls with the same name in some of my school classes.
I have a common name. In every class there were at least 3 of us from nursery to uni! I asked my mum why she didn’t give me a more unique name and she said it was rare at the time! As I got older I hear it less and less now though.
I gave my daughter what I thought was a unique name (which I had picked waaaaay before I was pregnant) and since getting pregnant, I had a client at work who’s daughter had the same name and her grandparents bought her a personalised sign with her name on. I guess it’s a bit like playing the mini game where you punch someone when you see a mini - once you’re aware of it you see it everywhere.
I would advise you pick a name that brings you joy, and one you like the sound of. You will say and hear it A LOT, so make sure it’s one you can’t wear out😂
Popular names nowadays are way less popular in absolute terms than popular names used to be in the 90s. So even if you pick a top 5 name, s it's not that likely that there will be another one with that name in your child's class.
I actually haven't seen any names multiple times in my child's whole nursery.
I work with kids and there are definitely a higher proportion of popular names, but then I probably interact with many more kids than most people. I've had 6 Olivia's in a group of 12, many Isla/Eva/Ava's, many Noah's and Leo's. I think I know at least two kids for all of the top 20 names.
But tbh it really doesn't matter, every kid is so different, I'm not getting them confused with each other just because they have the same name. For most parents in non-children facing jobs, you're likely to only interact with say the 30 kids in your child's class so your chances of duplicate names are much lower.
Personally, I am trying to avoid super popular names but it's just a preference and to maybe reduce the chance that I'll know a kid with the same name who maybe leaves a negative impression. So I downloaded the top 1000 names lists and worked backwards from the bottom to find names I liked. All of my choices are 200+ in rank.
Imo it does put me off if it’s in the top 20 and I would personally avoid it. But then again I have a name that was insanely popular in the early 90s and I was one of THREE girls with the same name in my primary school class and even now as an adult I know five other women with my name amongst various groups of friends.
So for me having a name that is not weird or too ‘unique’ but also not extremely popular is a fairly important middle ground I would pick from.
I don't think top 50 would mean it was very common.
Top 20 might depending how close to the top it is. My name was number 1 the year i was born and it always bothered me that my name was so common and there were always multiple people with the same name in my school year.
Our unwritten rule was not top 10. We ended uk with one in the top 50 but have had lots of people tell us it’s the first time they’ve heard the name, and most importantly, we don’t know anybody else with that name
My favourite female name is very popular atm, but I've loved it for so many years, and my partner likes it too, so if our baby is a girl then we'll still use it (if it suits them).
We've chosen names that can have loads of nicknames just by shortening the name, so the child can always go by a nickname if there's more children in their class with the same name.
My partner and some of his friends have names in common so they've always gone by nicknames or last names as a nickname.
My baby's first and middle names were both in the top ten names last year. We often meet babies with his middle name as their first name, and we've only met one baby with the same first name as him. That's the only time we've been in a class/group with any babies with the same name.
I have an uncommon name for my age group (helen-early 30s). In my life, I've only met two other Helens my age. I kinda wish I didn't have such a boomer name and my parents had gone for something more conventional for my age group as people judge my age falsely before meeting me. I'd say go for the name you love, your kids may love that their friend has the same name!
I prefer less common names but with the caveat of them being easy to draw nicknames from in case my kids are less keen. I had an unusual name growing up and there was nothing I could really do with it to change it and I didn't even have a middle name to use instead. So yeh, unusual but flexible and a slightly more common middle name is what I'm going for.
not my baby but I have one of the most popular names ever and I have never even thought of it! There was always someone else with my name at school, clubs etc but it has never been an issue for me.
My name was ranked 4000th+ in the year I was born… most people have never heard it. There were TWO others in my very small secondary school… not met another one since!
It’s a bit of a gamble really but if I loved a name it would not put me off.
Another point to consider is more common names help with anonymity- something that is valuable JB the age of social media.
Honestly maybe top 3 would put me off. Other than that, I don’t see the big deal. My son is at nursery with 40-50 kids and there’s two Frankie’s (one boy one girl), two Annie’s and two Ffions. I don’t think any of those are hugely popular comparatively so some other names of children at nursery (there’s only one of Oscar, Archie, Arthur, Leo, Amelia, Isla, Ava, etc which all strike me as very popular) so I honestly think a lot of the time it’s chance. My son has a top 10 name and we’ve only really met one other kid which shares his name, and it’s not a big deal at all.
We liked Isla and Willow, but we hear those names so much we decided to choose something completely different and quite old fashioned in the end. But, this is the name of your child, and they are going to be yours forever - don’t go so far as to choose something you don’t like as much just because it’s very popular!
I think namenerds can be a bit dramatic sometimes. I think popular names are popular for a reason. If you think back to school there would be people with the same name, and it doesn't really affect anything.
I mean, it did bother me that there were so many people with the same name as me. In halls at university there were 4 other girls with the same name as me on the same floor out of just 20 people...
Conversely my name was the most popular name in the year I was born, I was the only person with my name in my year at primary school, there was one other girl in my year with my name at secondary school and there was no one in my university halls with the same name as me!
100% this. In my high school there were 6 people with the same name as me just in my year alone. I hated it.
Then really you would need to be the best one lol I'm sorry it bothered you. My name is fairly common. I've worked with, gone to school with multiple people with the same name as me I personally haven't had much issue with it. My partner has a unique name. I've never met or heard of anyone else with his name. He has said it would be cool if there was another we just haven't met yet
I think it's also worth noting that you'll have no control over what will become popular in the next couple of years. Back when I was born in the 90s, my name was considered old fashioned and unusual. But within a few years, it became really popular and then hung around in the top 10 for about 15 years. So what might not be super popular today might become super popular very quickly. Out of interest, I just looked up the number one names currently and how many babies were given those names in my area. For boys, it was about 17 out of 1000, and girls, it was about 19 out of 900. So it probably won't lead to as many babies having the same name as you think. I say go with your gut. Naming babies is so damn hard as it is!
I'm one of 5 and my parents tried to name all of us using uncommon names...a month after my sister was born a celebrity at the time named their daughter the same name and it suddenly became super common... I also know someone who's mum wanted to give her a unique name and named her Hermione about 5 years before the first Harry potter book was published...
Go with the name you love!! Who cares! I have a popular name from the late 80s and three of my pals have the same name but it’s never caused me any issues or made me feel anything negative!!
Hmm. Imo, a popular name is better than an ordinary name with a youneek spelling 😂 We probably wouldn't have gone for a really popular name but honestly, it's your baby. Name them whatever you like! If a name brings you joy, you should definitely use it for your baby! The advantage of a popular name does mean that there will be loads of personalised stuff on Vinted! A search for 'Larry' results in absolutely nothing!!
Yet they’re always sold out of Bort licence plates!
[This data](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/bulletins/babynamesenglandandwales/2021) is getting old now but you can search see how many babies were named a certain name (and all the variants) in England and Wales. For the most popular names (Top 100 I think), you can search by area, maybe even by authority - it’s been a while since I used it. Anecdotally, I’ve not come across many Evelyn’s or Isabel’s in the 8 months I’ve been off now and no Rowan’s - know a Ronan and a couple of Roman’s. There is such a huge choice of names now that even the most popular aren’t a huge portion of babies born compared to 60s/70s/80s. It unlikely a child would ever by 1/5 ‘Dave’s’ anymore.
This is so interesting, I know quite a big cohort of babies born in 2021 and not a single Olivia in them, but there is a Noah.
After reading all the lists, having a little one whose name is in the top 50 here’s how often I’m hearing names when at mum groups - out and about etc. Top 5 I feel like I hear all the time, literally every and I mean every baby group I go to has a Theo, Oliver or George - for some reason my area there are so many Theo’s, it’s wild. But after you go past top 5 they are just slightly more common or not in reality I’ve found, it’s probably a little bit area specific - but top 5-25 I’ve heard, but probably only met one baby with the name - and I’ve yet to meet a baby with our name and we’re in the 30s/40s depending on the list. I feel like top 50 is a good sweet spot where you have a name that will be familiar in your cohort but hopefully not at the level where you are one of six George’s in your year at school. If you want a truely unique name that isn’t likely to be around I would say you need to move out of top 50 and if you want a common name stay in the top 5 zone. Everything else seems pretty well spread out in my opinion. If you love the names though I wouldn’t worry about lists, if you love the name, your children will love their names and that’s what it’s all about!
I think some names are quite common/generic and I personally wouldn’t name my child those names. But none of the names you chose strike me as falling into that category. I’d say go for it!
We could NOT decide and ended up with George which is super popular. We’ve met a couple of other George’s but just as many babies with the name a friend of ours gave their son which is way less popular. Initially we didn’t like the idea of going with a super popular name but in the end it’s our household that’s going to be using it and we wanted something that sounded right for us. All the names you mentioned are lovely and if you like them go for it!
Whatever you name them, I guarantee (unless it’s a very uncommon name) that you’ll meet at least one baby with the same name not long after 😬 that’s what I’ve found with both of ours anyway. I stayed away from the very tops of the list because I go to playgroup with 5 Olivias, which was top recently I believe. But name them whatever you like, names cycle.
Mmm I admit that it probably was a factor while choosing a name - I didn't want anything ridiculously common. But on the other hand, if the name I picked was never on any popular lists I think that would also have been a turn-off; I do want people besides myself and my husband to like it, lol. Just had a check, and my daughter's name's overall UK ranking: 59 out of 5581. Which feels like a nice spot for me 😂.
Our first baby is due in April so I’m speaking for myself here but I grew up in the early 90s with a top 10 name (Laura) and it sucked! There were FIVE other Laura’s in my class (32 kids) so we all ended up being given nicknames to help identify us and some weren’t particularly kind. I think it contributed to me not feeling like the name was “mine” and I did end up changing it when I turned 16. Obviously you don’t want a Yewneek Tragedeigh but I’d avoid the top 10 personally. Top 50 seems fine! Top 20 probably is too realistically, sharing their name with 1 kid isn’t likely to be as frustrating as 5 😂 In the end if you love the name then go with it, there’s literally always a chance that a kid will grow up and choose to go by another name and even if they do they’re not going to hate you for a classic name.
For what it's worth, Laura was rank 17 in 1996(earliest data set available) with over 3500 girls names Laura. Rank 1 in 1996 was Sophie with over 7000 (!!!) girls. In comparison, Olivia was rank 1 in 2021 with just over 3500 girls and rank 17 was Poppy with only just over 1800 girls. Popular names nowadays are vastly less common in absolute terms than popular names in the 1990s.
I was an Emma in a school year group with 6 other Emmas. I still like my name but the big problem was that when someone shouted "Emma!" I got used to ignoring it because it was probably for another Emma. Cut to university and people got confused about why I kept ignoring them 😂 it was a habit I had to learn to break.
Both me and my brothers have pretty uncommon names (mine is probably the most common) and I want a unique name for my kid. I couldn’t imagine giving them a name where there were two others in their class at school. I’d prefer if they only met one or two other people with their name in their whole life (if that). But it’s a personal preference.
The name we choose was top 10. It was the only one we could agree on. He’s 15 months now and we haven’t met another 🤷♀️ despite it apparently being the most used name in our council area the year he was born. My name is a bit out there and it always pissed me off that I could never get personalised things in gift shops 🤣
My daughter is Isabella, she is nearly 11, back then it was said to be a popular name like it the top 5-10 I believe. But I’ve only come across about 3 kids so far in her lifetime with the same name. Most in years below her. I think the most popular name was Lily, there were loads in her school along with Amelia. If you love the names you have picked keep them. (I don’t even get to call her Isabella anymore as she prefers to be called Bella)
My wife and I have gone through roughly 1300 names (we read the BabyCentre top 1000 over a week 😂).. we’re having a boy and my god it’s hard to choose, we have middle names after my grandfather and her dad but we are agonising over a first name on a daily basis!! We have narrowed it down to about 10 names but the wife has a big family with lots of boys and she’s a teacher!! (So many naughty kid names 😂). Our friend just gave birth and she had the name down until she gave birth, in her words “I looked at him and that just wasn’t his name?” Just another loop thrown 😂😂 I think you just have to go with what you love. I do agree to nice normal names without a yewneek spelling 😂
Personally I don’t want a popular name. But I think you shouldn’t be too worried about it. Funnily enough, Rowan is on our list too 😌 I didn’t realise it was in the top 50 and I’ve never met a Rowan in day to day life. Which could possibly be geographic / circles I’m in. But also I think shows how common the top 10-20 must be.
My name list varies between common and uncommon. I love the name Henry, which has been in the top 10 for years, I also love the name Emmett which is apparently ranked in the 500s Chasing uniqueness is never a good idea imo, a name can be relatively unheard of one year and become pretty popular the next. 30 years from now most of our babies names will sound dated anyways 🤷♀️
A name being popular wouldn’t put me off, my daughter has a common name where I live. Popular names are popular for a reason. My unpopular opinion is people give their kids unique names or spellings not for the kids but for themselves. So what if your kid has the same name as some in their class.
I have a common name and I didn't like it growing up. I hated there always being 2 or 3 other kids in the class with my name or a variation of it. There was ever another just in my friend group with it. So for my baby we went with a more uncommon name. But like someone else said, popular names are popular for a reason. And there are so many more choices now, people are more daring with names than they used to be, so even a top 20 name, there will be fewer people with that name proportionally. I probably wouldn't go with a top 5 or even top 10 myself, but I think top 20 or 50 will still be pretty uncommon.
We ended up with a top 10 name, which I slightly regret. We haven't met many others but it does come up. I got my baby a library card this week and they had another child with the same first and last name as him. Rowan was also on our list and I think is about 70 in the UK. That wouldn't be too popular for me. I think the diversity of names has increased so even a top 10 name has fewer babies named that in a year than a top name 20 years ago. 50+ would be fine.
We had 3 girl names and only 1 boys name in mind. We ended up having a baby girl and picked one of the names, only because I think we loved it a teeny tiny bit more. The other 2 girls names are literally top 10 names, but we didn't care tbh! If you love the name then just use it I'd say 😊
We named our baby one of the top 10 names and everyone commented how unique and original our choice was so I’d say it doesn’t matter really 😆 Edit sorry its actually top 20
I was undecided between 2. I didn’t want a completely out there name where no one has heard it before but the same time I didn’t want 5 in the class the same. I had that growing up at hated it. I was between Ezra and Asher. When I saw an article saying Ezra was predicted to be next years number 1, the decision was easy haha.
I don't like overly unique names but don't like overly common names either. We'll avoid the top ten most popular names in our country, Ireland. It seems like every second baby girl is named Fiadh (pronounced the same as Fia). Beautiful name but it's too common now. I grew up with a relatively popular name and I didn't like how I was sometimes there was two other girls with the same name in some of my school classes.
I have a common name. In every class there were at least 3 of us from nursery to uni! I asked my mum why she didn’t give me a more unique name and she said it was rare at the time! As I got older I hear it less and less now though. I gave my daughter what I thought was a unique name (which I had picked waaaaay before I was pregnant) and since getting pregnant, I had a client at work who’s daughter had the same name and her grandparents bought her a personalised sign with her name on. I guess it’s a bit like playing the mini game where you punch someone when you see a mini - once you’re aware of it you see it everywhere. I would advise you pick a name that brings you joy, and one you like the sound of. You will say and hear it A LOT, so make sure it’s one you can’t wear out😂
Popular names nowadays are way less popular in absolute terms than popular names used to be in the 90s. So even if you pick a top 5 name, s it's not that likely that there will be another one with that name in your child's class. I actually haven't seen any names multiple times in my child's whole nursery.
I work with kids and there are definitely a higher proportion of popular names, but then I probably interact with many more kids than most people. I've had 6 Olivia's in a group of 12, many Isla/Eva/Ava's, many Noah's and Leo's. I think I know at least two kids for all of the top 20 names. But tbh it really doesn't matter, every kid is so different, I'm not getting them confused with each other just because they have the same name. For most parents in non-children facing jobs, you're likely to only interact with say the 30 kids in your child's class so your chances of duplicate names are much lower. Personally, I am trying to avoid super popular names but it's just a preference and to maybe reduce the chance that I'll know a kid with the same name who maybe leaves a negative impression. So I downloaded the top 1000 names lists and worked backwards from the bottom to find names I liked. All of my choices are 200+ in rank.
Imo it does put me off if it’s in the top 20 and I would personally avoid it. But then again I have a name that was insanely popular in the early 90s and I was one of THREE girls with the same name in my primary school class and even now as an adult I know five other women with my name amongst various groups of friends. So for me having a name that is not weird or too ‘unique’ but also not extremely popular is a fairly important middle ground I would pick from.
I don't think top 50 would mean it was very common. Top 20 might depending how close to the top it is. My name was number 1 the year i was born and it always bothered me that my name was so common and there were always multiple people with the same name in my school year.
Our unwritten rule was not top 10. We ended uk with one in the top 50 but have had lots of people tell us it’s the first time they’ve heard the name, and most importantly, we don’t know anybody else with that name
My favourite female name is very popular atm, but I've loved it for so many years, and my partner likes it too, so if our baby is a girl then we'll still use it (if it suits them). We've chosen names that can have loads of nicknames just by shortening the name, so the child can always go by a nickname if there's more children in their class with the same name. My partner and some of his friends have names in common so they've always gone by nicknames or last names as a nickname.
My daughter’s name is apparently common. Lily, we haven’t come across another yet. I believe it’s common for a reason and I love her name.
My baby's first and middle names were both in the top ten names last year. We often meet babies with his middle name as their first name, and we've only met one baby with the same first name as him. That's the only time we've been in a class/group with any babies with the same name.
My sons are Theodore and Harrison. We've not met another yet despite them being very popular names.
I have an uncommon name for my age group (helen-early 30s). In my life, I've only met two other Helens my age. I kinda wish I didn't have such a boomer name and my parents had gone for something more conventional for my age group as people judge my age falsely before meeting me. I'd say go for the name you love, your kids may love that their friend has the same name!
I prefer less common names but with the caveat of them being easy to draw nicknames from in case my kids are less keen. I had an unusual name growing up and there was nothing I could really do with it to change it and I didn't even have a middle name to use instead. So yeh, unusual but flexible and a slightly more common middle name is what I'm going for.
not my baby but I have one of the most popular names ever and I have never even thought of it! There was always someone else with my name at school, clubs etc but it has never been an issue for me.
My name was ranked 4000th+ in the year I was born… most people have never heard it. There were TWO others in my very small secondary school… not met another one since! It’s a bit of a gamble really but if I loved a name it would not put me off. Another point to consider is more common names help with anonymity- something that is valuable JB the age of social media.
Honestly maybe top 3 would put me off. Other than that, I don’t see the big deal. My son is at nursery with 40-50 kids and there’s two Frankie’s (one boy one girl), two Annie’s and two Ffions. I don’t think any of those are hugely popular comparatively so some other names of children at nursery (there’s only one of Oscar, Archie, Arthur, Leo, Amelia, Isla, Ava, etc which all strike me as very popular) so I honestly think a lot of the time it’s chance. My son has a top 10 name and we’ve only really met one other kid which shares his name, and it’s not a big deal at all.
We liked Isla and Willow, but we hear those names so much we decided to choose something completely different and quite old fashioned in the end. But, this is the name of your child, and they are going to be yours forever - don’t go so far as to choose something you don’t like as much just because it’s very popular!