popular or unpopular . . . what's worse?

[MrsBandEgglet]

Apologies mods if this belongs in the baby names section, it's just it's more of a general wondering really. I've noticed a lot of people say recently that their child having a popular name isn't for them but I've experienced both sides of the story. I have one daughter with an increasingly popular name (Violet) and another with a name I don't think I've heard anyone else (here, or in my play group/nursery circles) use - Thora. Personally I don't mind popular names and I actually wanted to call my other daughter a very popular name but my husband was put off by how common it is.

So what's worse, a really popular name or something completely obscure?

 

[lau86]

I've voted popular but to me it depends on gender... One of my boys has a popular name the other not so much, but both traditional names. I just don't think boys can carry off obscure names as well as girls can. If I had a girl I wouldn't want to call her one of the very popular girls names, growing up I was one of a billion Laura's and it would've been nice to have a more unusual name. Although back then it seemed the same 5 or 6 names were really popular, whereas now there is a lot more of a range

 

[Baby Bell]

We accidentally named our son a very popular name we avoided looking at the popular name lists as we didn't want a common name. So we picked a name that we both loved and neither of us had friend/family with the name..........turns out Lewis has topped the names list in scotland for the past who knows how many years we didn't know anyone called Lewis, but the amount of people that have, nephews, cousins, neighbours, grandsons etc called Lewis is crazy because we didn't look at the lists, we didn't know

Anyway, he's 15months old now and it's not been that bad. He's not a nursery yet so it may become a bit more annoying when he has 4 other boys in class called Lewis good thing is he has plenty of things with his name on it, like tshirts, piggy banks etc. my names Aileen and as a kid I was so jealous of my sister, Emma who had loads of things with her name on.......oh how I wanted a pencil with Aileen on it

 

[mummyof3babas]

i prefer unpopular names,

 

[tinkerbelle93]

I'm not sure. I just chose a name that I liked the sound of, which happened to be the most popular name for boys the year he was born!

It just so happens that all my favourite choices for future babies just happen to be quite popular too. I'm not going to choose a name I like less for the sake of it being unpopular. Similarly, if I liked a less common name it wouldn't matter that it wasn't popular, all that matters is that it sounds nice to you. Sometimes it is a bit off-putting thinking that my son might be one of a number of Oliver's in his class, but I just see it as lots of people like my sons name

I have a very popular first name and not particularly bothered.

 

[MrsBandEgglet]

See, I'm beginning to think I've given my youngest a really obscure name that is one of those names that is so unpopular people kind of recoil in disdain that you would call a child that lol But then on the other hand the name we've chosen for our new baby boy I didn't think was that popular at all, but it does seem to be becoming a bit more heard of now.

 

[Banshee]

We just chose names we liked but both turned out to be relatively popular. I had really liked the name Jack but ruled it out as it is too popular for me.

 

[MrsBandEgglet]

I'm not sure. I just chose a name that I liked the sound of, which happened to be the most popular name for boys the year he was born!

It just so happens that all my favourite choices for future babies just happen to be quite popular too. I'm not going to choose a name I like less for the sake of it being unpopular. Similarly, if I liked a less common name it wouldn't matter that it wasn't popular, all that matters is that it sounds nice to you. Sometimes it is a bit off-putting thinking that my son might be one of a number of Oliver's in his class, but I just see it as lots of people like my sons name

I have a very popular first name and not particularly bothered.

I wish I'd fought for Olivia now lol, despite how popular it is, or was. I love the name Thora for my littlest girl I really do but I really wanted Olivia.

 

[emyandpotato]

Well I love both your LOs' names!

I think people with more unusual names often go further as they perhaps learn to live their name and have that bit of extra confidence. Plus it makes them stand out and they're already different so they may as well be themselves! If you look at really successful people, not just celebrities but people high up in their fields, a high proportion have odd names!

 

[tinkerbelle93]

See, I'm beginning to think I've given my youngest a really obscure name that is one of those names that is so unpopular people kind of recoil in disdain that you would call a child that lol But then on the other hand the name we've chosen for our new baby boy I didn't think was that popular at all, but it does seem to be becoming a bit more heard of now.

I absolutely love your son's name! I have only heard it a few times, not sure if it made top 100? Love old-fashioned englishy traditional names and I think they're becoming a bit of a trend.

 

[Missy86]

My name is unusal and I love it, it is a bit of an ice breaker and makes you stand out

I think girls can carry off unsual names better than boys, I didn't want a popular name for my two but nothing unusal either

 

[mara16jade]

That's a hard one. And I voted obscure.

I'm not a fan of popular names, but I dislike really "out there" names more.

For example. There's nothing wrong with the name: Christopher
But to me, its way too common. I can't tell you how many "Chris'" I know. lol

But I really am not a fan of say: Apple, Ocean, Poppy, Egbert

I'd rather name my son Christopher vs Egbert if I had to chose between the two. lol

 

[MrsBandEgglet]

That's a hard one. And I voted obscure.

I'm not a fan of popular names, but I dislike really "out there" names more.

For example. There's nothing wrong with the name: Christopher
But to me, its way too common. I can't tell you how many "Chris'" I know. lol

But I really am not a fan of say: Apple, Ocean, Poppy, Egbert

I'd rather name my son Christopher vs Egbert if I had to chose between the two. lol

OMG! I've not heard Egbert before but I think I really like it lol

 

[curiousowl]

I think there's a difference between obscure and completely bizarre (North West, for example!) My name is obscure but people recognize it as a name when I say it, just people mostly don't know anyone by that name. I like those kinds of names much better than popular names.

 

[wishuwerehere]

Both my daughters names are quite popular (especially isabelle) so i voted popular, there aren't really any 'unusual' names that i would use if i had another.

 

[MrsPear]

I would prefer a name that isn't going to be heard every day. However I do get self conscious that Joni is unusual because it's horrible. If I had another girl I'd like to use opal or Ingrid which are unusual too. Boys names however I like more popular ones. I guess you just like what you like! I love love love Thora but my surname can't be used with names beginning with T (or S) x

 

[CRWx]

I'd rather have a child with a popular name than a completely ridiculously outgoing name!

I looked at the top most unusual names of 2013 the other day- Puppy, Pepsi, Tea, Peppa, Nirvana, Vogue, Paradise, Dior and Reem... As in what Joey Essex says...

I love your children's names though xxx

 

[lilyd]

I have a name that was quite common at the time, but is rarely used now. In my year at school, there was always at leat 3/4 of us with the same name.

My brother has an unusual name and really likes being a one off. My Aunt told my Mum that he would hate her for it when he grew up, but he doesn't!

I wouldn't have liked an unusual name myself, I don't like attention! My Mum did tell us both when we got to about 11 that if we wanted to change our names we could, but neither of us elected to do so.

For our children, we chose quite classic names x

 

[emyandpotato]

That's a hard one. And I voted obscure.

I'm not a fan of popular names, but I dislike really "out there" names more.

For example. There's nothing wrong with the name: Christopher
But to me, its way too common. I can't tell you how many "Chris'" I know. lol

But I really am not a fan of say: Apple, Ocean, Poppy, Egbert

I'd rather name my son Christopher vs Egbert if I had to chose between the two. lol

OMG! I've not heard Egbert before but I think I really like it lol

Me too

 

[Rhio92]

I don't know... I don't like really popular names but don't like them to be completely obscure either. If I have a girl, I really want to call her Effie