Choosing popular baby names?

[44npregnant]

Now that I know I'm Team Blue, I've been thinking of baby names.
I've mentioned to people I like Brandon, Aiden and Jacob. Several people have told me not to pick a popular name like Aiden or Jacob because the baby is likely to have many people in their class with the same name.

I never even thought about that. Is this something you guys take into consideration?

 

[ONE.OF.MY.OWN]

I wouldn't pick a popular one but it's obviously personal choice. My name was very common and just would not prefer my kid to be known as Harry t, Harry w, Harry d etc.

But remember, they're popular because they're lovely names so pick what u like xx

 

[Creative]

I wouldn't pick a popular one but it's obviously personal choice. My name was very common and just would not prefer my kid to be known as Harry t, Harry w, Harry d etc.

But remember, they're popular because they're lovely names so pick what u like xx

As a Karen, married to a Chris I've always tried to choose more unusual names for my children. I failed the first two times with Joseph and then Oliver who are now in their twenties. In those days there was not the computer access to see name charts etc and until they went to playschool we thought we'd done well. Disappointingly there were two Josephs and four Olivers!
With our daughter Eden we were more sucessful!

 

[cherrylips100]

Use what names YOU like, popular or unusual.I was worried one of the names i liked was too popular but have come to accept that a name is only popular because other people like it so much. Theres a fine line between being unusual and trying too hard.

 

[JJKCB]

my son is Jake... its no where near as popular as people make out, we only know 3 Jakes and 1 jacob, my sons other name is Cain which is supposed to be really rare but we know 5

you can never judge these things well... avoid top 5 or 10 and after that names arent that popular really, plus girls tend to have the way more popular names (like Rachel Louise.... who wasn't called that in 88/89? lol half our school was but there where no boys per class with matching names)

 

[xjesx]

my opinion is: Who cares!?

How is it a problem if there are other kids with the same name? My point being and I think I say this every post with this topic...I am a Jessica born in the 80s, my friends are an Ashley, a Lindsay, a Jennifer, a Laura and an Andrea (I think I just listed Canada's top 10 names for the 1980s)

We are all successful adults professionally, socially, in our relationships, some starting families, great home lives, healthy...etc.

Choose what you love. If you dont love it because its popular then you dont choose it. If you choose a name and its popular there is another mom out there with great taste!

 

[girlnboots]

I agree with a pp. There's a difference between different/unusual/uncommon names and just downright trying too hard. I heard of a lady naming her kids Evyr and Sevyn. Yup. Ever. And seven.

Don't be afraid to go too outside the box if you don't want a super common name, but keep in mind your LO will have his own personality. We had two Nathan F's in my class, but they were so different, everyone knew which one you were talking about.

 

[MummyMana]

My name's really uncommon and I wished to have a more normal one just so someone could spell it or pronounce it! (I've unofficially changed it to something even more unusual but with less letters in )

We went for a common yet largely unused name, everyone will know how to spell it/pronounce it but it's rather unlikely she'll be one of 20 Imogen's in her class, as I've only ever met one other Imogen (I was in the first year of primary school and she was in year 6).

Also you've gotta remember that although there's the whole matter of how many kids in his class with the same name, most of his life will be spent not being a schoolchild and then that will be irrelevant choose a name you like, he may have to put up with putting his hand up for the wrong person on the register for a few years but then that won't matter anymore

 

[Captain]

my son is Jake... its no where near as popular as people make out, we only know 3 Jakes and 1 jacob, my sons other name is Cain which is supposed to be really rare but we know 5

you can never judge these things well... avoid top 5 or 10 and after that names arent that popular really, plus girls tend to have the way more popular names (like Rachel Louise.... who wasn't called that in 88/89? lol half our school was but there where no boys per class with matching names)

This made me laugh so hard! I'm a Rachel born in 1990 and there were so many other Rachel's in my school year! Even my best friend was Rachel Ann like myself.

And to answer OP's question, at the end of the day if you want to name your child Jacob or Brandon, then don't let anyone else stop you! Personally, I want my child to have a 'unique' name but nothing crazy. Right now I'm loving the name Carter!

 

[steph.]

As the proud mamma of a Sophia, i think if you really love a name, then pick it. Yes i wish there werent so many other Sophias around but I had the name picked out for years and find it beautiful, i couldnt give it up. I would rather give my child a popular name than a unique one that might cause them embarrassment.

 

[AngelofTroy]

my son is Jake... its no where near as popular as people make out, we only know 3 Jakes and 1 jacob, my sons other name is Cain which is supposed to be really rare but we know 5

you can never judge these things well... avoid top 5 or 10 and after that names arent that popular really, plus girls tend to have the way more popular names (like Rachel Louise.... who wasn't called that in 88/89? lol half our school was but there where no boys per class with matching names)

Really? My OH is a Dave and I know more than 10 guys named Dave /David!
In my year at school there were 2 Davids, 2 Roberts, 2 Sams, 2 Bens, 3 Matthews! (also 3 Hannahs and an Anna, 2 Kayleighs and a Hayley, 2 Claire Louises LOL)

We nearly chose a common name, but ended up using Micah. I think it's getting more popular though so you never know. My friend called her son Caydan 7 years ago and literally nobody had heard of the name, now there are various spellings of the name in every nursery or young primary class I've been in!

 

[JJKCB]

my son is Jake... its no where near as popular as people make out, we only know 3 Jakes and 1 jacob, my sons other name is Cain which is supposed to be really rare but we know 5

you can never judge these things well... avoid top 5 or 10 and after that names arent that popular really, plus girls tend to have the way more popular names (like Rachel Louise.... who wasn't called that in 88/89? lol half our school was but there where no boys per class with matching names)

Really? My OH is a Dave and I know more than 10 guys named Dave /David!
In my year at school there were 2 Davids, 2 Roberts, 2 Sams, 2 Bens, 3 Matthews! (also 3 Hannahs and an Anna, 2 Kayleighs and a Hayley, 2 Claire Louises LOL)

We nearly chose a common name, but ended up using Micah. I think it's getting more popular though so you never know. My friend called her son Caydan 7 years ago and literally nobody had heard of the name, now there are various spellings of the name in every nursery or young primary class I've been in!

in life I know quite a few Daves and Johns but most are older and non that went to the same school, in my primary school class there was

Andrew
Richard
Simon
Gareth
Michael
Christian
Ashley
Samuel
Benjamin
Marcus
Carl
and there where 3 more but I cant for the life of me remember their names but I remember non where repeated but there was 3 Rachel

in highschool their was so many Rachel's you couldn't move, one gym class had 13 out of 28 girls called Rachel and 90% of girls in general had the middle name louise

 

[Creative]

There were four Karens in my class alone (70's) but the worst for me was when we moved back to Yorkshire and there were 5 of us living in a row!

 

[cherrylips100]

Pretty much every british girl aged between 20-30 has the middle names Louise, Jane or Marie. I think it Rose and May will be the same. Top names in my year were Amy, Laura, and Sarah and Daniel, Scott and Michael.

 

[LDC]

In relation to the op, yes I did take Into account common names vs non common names. I personally didn't want lo to be one of 5 people in her class with the same name, that being said I didn't want something totally out there that would be a cause for bullying or teasing etc.

I think it completely depends on how you feel, as some others have said, a name doesn't necessarily judge how a person will turn out and what life choices they will make (I say this because of some outrageous names that can cause teasing at school).

Go with what you feel is best for you xx

 

[AngelofTroy]

my son is Jake... its no where near as popular as people make out, we only know 3 Jakes and 1 jacob, my sons other name is Cain which is supposed to be really rare but we know 5

you can never judge these things well... avoid top 5 or 10 and after that names arent that popular really, plus girls tend to have the way more popular names (like Rachel Louise.... who wasn't called that in 88/89? lol half our school was but there where no boys per class with matching names)

Really? My OH is a Dave and I know more than 10 guys named Dave /David!
In my year at school there were 2 Davids, 2 Roberts, 2 Sams, 2 Bens, 3 Matthews! (also 3 Hannahs and an Anna, 2 Kayleighs and a Hayley, 2 Claire Louises LOL)

We nearly chose a common name, but ended up using Micah. I think it's getting more popular though so you never know. My friend called her son Caydan 7 years ago and literally nobody had heard of the name, now there are various spellings of the name in every nursery or young primary class I've been in!

in life I know quite a few Daves and Johns but most are older and non that went to the same school, in my primary school class there was

Andrew
Richard
Simon
Gareth
Michael
Christian
Ashley
Samuel
Benjamin
Marcus
Carl
and there where 3 more but I cant for the life of me remember their names but I remember non where repeated but there was 3 Rachel

in highschool their was so many Rachel's you couldn't move, one gym class had 13 out of 28 girls called Rachel and 90% of girls in general had the middle name louise

See my mum's name is Rachel and she's in her 50s, I don't know any my age!

 

[LoolaBear]

i normally steer clear of names popular to my area. I love the name Lily for a girl but in my circle of friends i have 5 with daughters that have a variation of Lily (lilly,lillie,lilly-mae etc) so to me i jsut wouldn't choose this name as close to me there are too many already (and also my sister used to have a cat called lily)

but if they are just generally a popular name (i.e in the top 100 names list) but aren't many or even any in my area or known to me then i would more than likely choose that name if i like it enough.

for example the only boys name i love is Jacob, i have a friend who's son is Jake but that's it. a mum who's daughter is in the same class as my twins has just had a baby who she has called Jacob but that doesn't affect me in any way. Jacob i think is number 9 for the top 100 names for the UK but in my area it is much further down the list. also it helps being friends with the local registrar so i can keep an eye on it and this year only two boys have been registered Jacob and the girls name i like right now hasn't been registered at all as a first name (it is very popular as a middle name though but i don't care about that as people aren't known by their middle names here)

what i am trying to get at is go for it if you like it, if it's bothering you do a bit of research into it to see if they are popular names for your area, it may be popular all over the country/state but it may not be popular in your area.

 

[lovelylaura]

If it doesn't bother you then call them what ever you like. We both really liked emillia but when we fell preg it was becoming so popular so we chose something different however poppy is now becoming a little common although ive only heard one poppy in my area! and no freya's yet!

 

[Cheska]

Pretty much every british girl aged between 20-30 has the middle names Louise, Jane or Marie. I think it Rose and May will be the same. Top names in my year were Amy, Laura, and Sarah and Daniel, Scott and Michael.

Haha so true. My middle name is Marie. Another common middle name was Leigh of various spellings.

Had 4 Daniels in one of my classes.

To op follow your heart. Don't think about it too much of you love a name you love a name. I don't think your names are über popular anyway x

 

[cherrylips100]

Pretty much every british girl aged between 20-30 has the middle names Louise, Jane or Marie. I think it Rose and May will be the same. Top names in my year were Amy, Laura, and Sarah and Daniel, Scott and Michael.

Haha so true. My middle name is Marie. Another common middle name was Leigh of various spellings.

Had 4 Daniels in one of my classes.

To op follow your heart. Don't think about it too much of you love a name you love a name. I don't think your names are über popular anyway x

Haha mine is Marie too.