To use a popular name, or not?

[PurpleIvy44]

I'm in the same boat. I love Charlotte & Mackenzie but I don't want her to be in a class with 5 other girls with the same name. I have a unique name and have never met another person with the same. I loved that growing up b/c there was so many Jennifer's and then they were known by the initial of their last name. My niece is named Annabelle and we call her Belle for short. She thinks it's too long since she's begun writing her own name . I think Isabella blew up b/c of Twilight and "Bella" became huge but go with what you love, its your choice.

 

[Quailpower]

The traditional way (spanish) way of spelling Isabella is Ysabelle if you're interested in that at all?

 

[d_b]

I prefer unique names personally, but if you love the name then use it! Have any of your friends or relatives named their babies Isabella? If not at least you can beat them to it

 

[newmommy21]

Quialpower--that is a nice spelling , but since I am Portuguese I would spell it Isabella

Emma--Go for Rebecca its such a lovely name also...its my name but I think I met about 1 other Rebecca in highschool when I was in school

 

[JJKCB]

I had/have an unusual name but i went by my christened name because i went to a christian school and my parent split up so they fought over everything (including my name because it was unusal)

I hated my christened name - in one class 17 other girl in my class had that name (2 girls even had the exact same name first, middle and last) every class had at bare minimum 3 girls with that name and it made me want to scream, we often got refereed to by alphabetical letters and it felt like we where denied an identity (i went by a nickname of my old name when ever i could)

At 14 we moved and i chose to go back to my original name (although the school had been told my old name s it constantly popped up) after school though i haven't had a problem and now everyone comment how unusual my real name is an asks about its origins (its African America but im white yet have Africa family, never even heard of another white girl with my name)

if you like that name you could change the spelling or the name to be diffrent, like:

Izibella
Isabel
Isobelle
Issabelle

similar names:

Elizabelle (prounounced: el-i-za-bell - only heard it once but think its lovely)
Annabelle
Arabelle
Isabelita

you could attempt to create more of an identity by using a more unique nickname/shortening, like:

Zizi
Isa (I-sa like sa in sat)
Sabel
(maybe you could even get away with Lizzy or Lissa)

more common nicknames:
Izzy
Izzi
Belle
Bella
Ella

 

[huskergrl]

Personally, I try to stay away from names that are too common. I like names that aren't very common, but people still know them. Isabella, Ella, Ellie, Gabriella, Annabelle, and Bella are very popular where I live. My name, Rebecca, was very common growing up and I hated it! There were times when there were several of us in the same class and sometimes I would get stuck being called a short name which I didn't normally go by (Beck, Becca). With that being said, if you really like the name then go for it! It's your baby!

 

[daneuse27]

While I was leaning more towards unusual names, I really do love the name Isabella (can't choose it for myself as its already 'taken' in my family.) But its very feminine, posh sounding, exotic. Just perfect!

I also love Olivia, Sophia, and Lilly. Emma was a name I'd loved for a long time, and I considered it regardless of its popularity but unfortunately it didn't go well with FOBs last name so I went with something else. An uncommon name. I hope she likes what I picked when she grows up because she will probably be the only one in the class.

Go with your gut

 

[brinib]

If you love it then by all means use it but... I have an unusual name (Sabrina) and I loved being the only one. DH and I had picked Sophie originally if we had a girl, which we both love, but Sophia and Sophie are EXTREMELY popular right now so we decided not to use it. It depends on how much it will bother you if there are five other Isabellas in her class.

 

[Warby]

My daughter has an unusual name, and my boys all have popular names. Guess which child is the only one to have a "name double" in the same class? Yep, my daughter whose name is not in the top 200! Whereas my top ten-named boys are the only ones.

 

[onetwothreebp]

I would keep Matilda and Isabella and see which one she looks like more!

 

[steph.]

I named my daughter Sophia. Even when I wad little I named my dolls that and I couldn't give up on the name. I have come across 2 others so far so it's not as common here as I thought. I think it's hard to predict who's going to be in the same class as your baby so just go for it. Oh and I have met one Isabella!

 

[hulagirl]

One of my biggest things was choosing a non popular name, I had 6 other girls in my class at school with the same name as me and I hated it and still do.
We managed to come up with an unusual name for our little boy but not off the wall but we are struggling with boys names this time round.
I think if you like the name then that's the main thing.
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