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I frequent a message board devoted SOLELY to baby names. Sometimes I post the names that Hubby or I think of, and people are constantly saying that none of them are unique. All the names I THINK are unique are really the names that everyone is else considering right now.
What do you think? Do you think uniqueness really matters? Do you feel that the more you try to be unique, the less unique it will be?
i think that you shouldn't worry about what everyone else is naming their babies. It comes down to the fact that you need to pick a name both you and your man like. If you are only focused on being unique, that when you may end up with a baby named Moon Unit or Dweezle.
I think that there is a fine line. I want to pick names that aren't *too* popular, but I don't want to have a weird one like @adnama said. Lol. I wouldn't rely on huge baby name sites to determine what is popular or not in your area - check the SS Index to see what is actually popular in your state or even your city. That will make this a lot easier on you. :) I also like to keep up (vaguely) with what my FB friends name their kids and see if there are any trends...For example, in my area Aiden/Aidan is really popular and girls names ending in -leigh.
I think you should just choose a name you love. The unique names are just getting way out of hand, my mom's a teacher and every year there are more names on her class roster that are impossible to pronounce because they just completely butcher the English language. Do your child a favor by naming them something that people know how to say and that is an actual name - which all the ones in your name post were, so you're doing better than the parents of about half of her students, haha. It almost seems that more normal names are the ones actually becoming unique because people just search for a name no one else has, rather than a name that will be suitable for their child throughout their whole life.
@adnama: i do agree. like i said, i am not even sure if uniqueness matters. DH said that he doesn't care if a name is in the top ten, if he loves it he will use it!
@Wonderstruck: haha, that's what i said. maybe I should use whitney or brittany in order to be unique. :)
I want to try to name my kids things that aren't way too common, but aren't absolutely bizarre. It's sad because a lot of names I really loved before they sky rocketed into popularity. Now, they're ruined for me. Like, Isabella. I remember being like 6 at school and one of my classmates had a sister named Sophia. I fell in love with the name, now it's been beaten into the ground but I still love it. Another one of my favorite names is Amelia, and that has been a favorite of mine since I was 10 or 11. I'm not sure where it ranks on the SS list, though. I will probably end up going with it, regardless. I would just try to come up with some names that you and your DH really like and see where they rank on the SS list (assuming you're American).
What were some of the names you guys were considering? You never know, maybe those names are common in certain areas, but not all? I truly believe name trends are regional. Like, around here, Taylor, Payton, Emma, and Hunter are wayy too popular. But, maybe not where you live?
@MissDareDevil: I think if you did Brittany now, it actually would be unique for your child by the time they're of school age. For a Brittany growing up in the 90s/00s, I can tell you that most of the time when my name is called I don't even respond right away because I am so used to not being the only one around.
@Pinksapphire: Just wanted to say... <3 Lol. And I loved Audrey/Sophia/Emma/Madelyn and they are all popular now (in my area) and it sucks.
@AmeliaBedelia: Actually Audrey isn't popular here, at all. I've never met or heard of a real life Audrey in my area. I love the name. I also love Aubrie, which is gaining in popularity. Funny thing is, I swear I started that trend. Back in like 2000, I misheard someone at the park calling their daughter Aubrie. Her name was Audrey, but I thought the mom said Aubrie. I was in love after that. I never heard of anyone using that name. When I searched in on baby name sites, it was hard to find and was even listed as a male name because originally it was a male name. Recently, people have been mentioning it a lot and I'm like, "I thought of that name for a girl!"
Madelyn and Sophia also aren't really popular around here. Emma, though, that's the new Brittany.
@Pinksapphire: I think Emma has always been pretty popular, but seriously I know of three Audrey/Audree's under 1 year old in my area (friends on FB). I think Aubree is gaining popularity due to a certain Teen Mom...as is Sophia. :/ Eh. And the only reason Madelyn is out for me is the prevalence of Madison's in my area (aka Maddy's). Seriously at least 5 on my FB...5!
@Pinksapphire: Oh and I'm obviously a fan of naming your future daughter Amelia! ;) I love my name. Though it IS gaining in popularity...which I dislike. Lol.
The names that are super popular around here are isabella, sophia, olivia, and girls names ending in LYN or like madalyn, adalyn, etc. hunter, parker, connor, and other "er" names are popular for boys. and of course jackson/jaxon/jax.
a lot of the names i have been hearing are popular aren't really big in my area yet. maybe we're behind. :)
@AmeliaBedelia: yes, because of all the madisons, madalines, and madalyns, i know a TON of maddies!
We had this problem when trying to name our little one. We had two boys names that weren't too popular but for a girl we loved Emma. Still love the name. But we're having a boy - problem solved! haha
My best friend's name is Audrey :)
I think the most unique thing you can do is not follow the "unique" trend. Some of these names are so bizarre. Without a little familiarity to the name you probably won't remember it. I had a friend taking photos at my wedding and, even though I'm used to her name, the wedding guests were having so much trouble pronouncing it. We heard 100 versions of her name I swear.
I think as long as there's only one person in your close family/friends with that name and it's not like one of the top 5 on the SS list, it's unique enough.
I've really struggled with this for girl names. My name is so stinking unique that my frist pregnancy I actually gave up on a girls names unless our u/s said I needed to have one. lol
I do agree with looking to see what's popular in your area per the SS list and just go from there.
My only "requirement" I have is that we don't have a girls name that is in the top 100.
Boys names definitely shouldn't be too unique, IMO, so something around the mid 1-100 works for me =)
I graduated with 13 other girls with my first name in a class of 157. I hated it. Plus my sister has a very unique name and I was always jealous of it. So I'm trying to pick something that is classic but not used very much now. I really like the name Violet for a girl our boy name is pretty popular but we have our reasons lol.
@Pinksapphire: lol my ex had that name, although he went by his initials because everything thought it was a girl name. The first day of every school year was always rough for him with new teachers. I went to school with two aubreys (female) as well. So unfortunately you didn't *exactly* invent it... :) But it isn't really super popular.
There are 7 billion people in the world, right? So it is possible that any name you can think of might not be unique to someone else. It doesn't matter. I want the child to be unique, and he/she will be because there is only one of him/her- the name doesn't matter as much.
@cbee: From what I've found... I'm the only "me". I'm sure that I'm not... and it would be really weird if I were, but I haven't been able to find anything in my search saying that there's another person with my name.
It's kinda weird.... but at the same time I totally dig my uniqueness =)
@mwitter80: That's how my sister and I are... she had 5 others in her 5th grade class (at a 2a school) and well.. we never knew anyone with my name. It only ended up that way b/c she was "supposed" to be a he per the u/s so my parents didn't have a girl name picked out... what a surprise. lol
@KatyElle: lol true! And I had a hard time realizing that was you because of the picture change!
I think you should just choose names you and your husband both like. We love the name Charlotte for a girl and I don't really care if it is really popular at the time I have children
I do think that a popular name isn't what it used to be though. For example...
1950- top girl name was Linda with 80,408 girls names that (4.5% of total births)
1970- Jennifer with 46,151 births (2.5% of total births)
1990- Jessica with 46,459 births (2.26% of total births)
2010- Isabella with 22.731 births (1.17% of total births)
I think that baby names have gotten a lot more varied and thus not as ridiiculously popular as we think. I'm a Megan born in the 80s, so I totally had 4 others in every single class in school.
I'm staying out of the top 20.
@zippylef: Oooh statistics. :) Love those. Jessica for 1990? I knew several, but I definitely knew more Brittany/Brittney's and Ashley's. I wonder if the spelling variations made them show up as less, like Ashleigh/Ashley/Ashlee and Brittany/Brittney/Brittni/Brittnee because I know several of each.
@AmeliaBedelia: I think they are counted seperately. Those numbers came from the ssa.gov website if you would like to look. :)
My aunt and Uncle are irish history professors in a UNI and they wrote a book on old irish names, so of course myself my sister and all my cousins have really ancient all Irish names (completely uncommon in modern day ireland)
Ceola (kee o la) Means music
Saorla (say er la) means freedom
Siomha (she o va) means Peacefulness
Rioghan (re awn) King
Tiarnan (teer nawn) Country man
Ronad (row nee) Seal
Dubheasa (de vas a) Black lake
Muireann (moor in)
Doireann (there in)
HAha i could go on and on
I think you need to either fast foward to the future with names like MoonUnit or just go back a few generations, as to not touch on what is "popular" right now.
Most importantly it should be something you love and you think a child wouldn't mind being called ;)
@Eva Peron:Agreed. Actually one of my faves (for a girl) right now is Agnes, and it's really fallen out of popularity in the last 100 years.
@adnama: I don't agree with that. my parents gave me a name that they loved, but it is so common that I was never the only one in my class with my name, and at work, the guy working beside me has me sitting on his left, another woman with my name sitting on his right and his fiancée also shares my name. Not to mention that I a colleague just left our section and you guessed it... same name!
So... for me it's important to choose a name that will not be everywhere, it drove me crazy all my life and I will not do that to my kiddo... I want to find a classical name, one that sounds good at every stage of life and that has been known and used for centuries.
I don't follow the whole trend honestly. I could careless as to what's popular now. I love the name Madeline Sophia. I do hope that when I have kids no one is named that (I was an Ashley born in 1988...everyone and their sister was named Ashley that year). I haven't heard of anyone named that actually. I don't really care about what is unique..because most names that are unique are insane to me...like celebrities who name their children Apple. I pity those children. I would stick to what you and your SO like and who cares if the are popular or not. I wanted to name my child at one point Melvina after my great grandmother....FI did not agree hahah
LMAO@ Moon Unit!
Name your baby what you want to name her. My daughter's name is Madison. Is it popular? Yes, but I like it and it fits HER. (Team Green baby, so I had a couple of names picked out for her.)
I find it incredibly odd that I genuinely, wholeheartedly, do not want children... but can say with certainty that if I had a girl I would name her Hollis. Don't ask me why or how, that name just seems to haunt my dreams and sounds awesome with our last name.
Anywho, don't worry about popularity or being unique. I mean, look how many Jennifers and Megans and Lindsays are out there... its popular because it's good :)
P.S. If anyone wants to steal Hollis, please feel free. Just send me pictures.
If you want to be unique call you kid John or Adam or Sarah or Danielle. Those short 'normal' names are used less and less, because everyone is naming their kid Epponnee-Rae, Dweezil or even Unique (or Yooniik).
We are just trying to find a happy medium- my name is waaay out there, and my husband's is very common. We figure that we will be unique for our family (aka as long as it doesn't start with a J as all the others do) and be content with it.
That being said, we have a short list of 5, and every day I waffle between two of them. The big thing is that we are waiting until our shower is over next Sunday before we start calling him either name so I don't accidently slip up and let the cat out of the bag.
I've heard of a TON of girls lately being named Eleanor, Ava, Sophia, Addison and Harper. For boys, I swear every 2 boys lately is named Greyson, lots of Kadeyns in various spellings, quite a few Jacksons, and some Parkers, Holdens and Connors. I made sure the names on my list aren't in the top 100, but aren't crazy or hard to pronounce either. We're keeping them secret until the baby is born ;)
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