Spin-off - Popular Named child

[bethbuchall]

We named our first Matthew without realizing how popular a name it was/is. I knew that it was common, but I didn't realize that he'd be Matt<lastname> (usually said as all one word) his whole life. I wanted to keep it Matthew, but he decided that he was Matt (probably when he realized that writing four letters was easier than writing seven). I wanted Nora for my daughter, but my husband's one grandmother was Nora, and we didn't want to start any family hurt by using one grandparent's name even if that isn't why it was chosen, so I went with Laura instead. It's common, but not nearly as popular as Matthew, so she hasn't had as many people with the same name. My last is Miles which really wasn't popular at all. My daughter was in kindergarten when he was born, and the little girls all thought it was such a funny name. They'd say, "Is he going to run for miles and miles?" and things like that. Now, Disney has a Miles in one of the Disney Jr. shows.

 

[Lilliputian]

I have a Jacob. It was the number 1 name the year he was born and several years before and after he was born. Oddly enough, we hardly ever run into boys with his name. We homeschool, so there obviously isn't anyone with his name in his class, but even at church, swim lessons, or whatever, we just haven't had another one. We hear it on the playground, but none of the other Jacobs travel in our circle.

I also have a Micah. That was one that I thought we wouldn't hear much. It is more common than I expected, and there are a lot more girls with that name than I expected. That part is disappointing to me because I always wanted to give my boys names that were only boy names and my girls names that were only girl names. I thought I was doing that, but I didn't. I just wanted them to have the kind of name that someone can see written down and know if it's a man or a woman.

 

[MainMom]

After being saddled with a name so popular they named a baby book after it and my DH having the second name in that book title I had some naming 'rules' for my own children. If we had a girl no name in the top 20 popular list, for a boy no name in the top 10. Of course now my DD name is top 15, my son is not even top 20. DD name was in the 90's on those popular name charts when we named her. Guess we are trend setters?

 

[Jedana]

My parents expected me to be a nun, boy did I disappoint them, so they gave me a name that I wouldn't have to change.

I also have a very common last name. I graduated in a class of 450 with 6 of us having the EXACT same name including middle name and spelled the same.

The apartment I lived in in Dallas had me on the first floor, directly above me on the third floor and across the hall on the second floor we all had the same name including spelling. The postman hated us.

I am a nurse and the floor I work on there are 4 of us with the same first name and 2 of us have the same first and last name.

My kids therefore have names that are not common, neither when they were little or now. My grandkids all have popular names for their age group.

DH has a very basis first name. Combined with his last name, and it's a very very common name. Add in the middle initial, and there are still TONS of others with the same. If you move to the whole middle name, well, there are still an enormous amount of people with his name. Kinda weird, but when DD2 was a baby, he lived in an apartment building with another guy with the exact same name (first, middle and last) who was also from Georgia (although a different town). They'd get each others mail all the time.

His cousin is named a name similar to DH's middle name, with just the first letter changed. His aunt wanted DH's middle name, but DH's mom got to it first, so the aunt just "changed it a little". It's not a name you hear a lot, though.

 

[Dizlvr]

I have a very popular name, ranked #4 for the year I was born (just looked it up). I had a bunch of friends with the same name, and we got used to it but it was very annoying at times. I never really paid too much attention to the popular names of the year when my kids were born, but after checking 2 of them have names in the top 50, and the other in the top 100.

 

[willowsnn3]

My son's first & middle names are Scott Jason. Another family moved into our neighborhood a couple years later and their son was named Jason Scott. Weird coincidence.

 

[anniemae]

We gave dd a very common name. I did not realize until we started going to the park, the library, then preschool and practically every other girl had that name. I hate how common it is, but I simply did not know at the time we named her. I had a pretty common name and hated it. I hated how we always had to be distinguished by the initial of our last name, ann b, ann m, etc. As a result, I gave my son an unusual name.

 

[puffkin]

I grew up being Kelly H. my entire school career. There were at least 4 in my grade in a very small school. While it is not popular now, I vowed neither of my kids would have a name in the top 100 where they needed their initial, but I also wanted names that weren't spelled weird, and common but not popular.

Both my boys ended up with semi-popular surnames as first names. My oldest is Brady. It was in the 100's, but then surged to the nineties the year and year after he was born. It's fading a bit now though. We don't run into many Brady's and it is definitely much more popular in our area of the country due to Tom Brady I think. We have been to Disney during New England spring break and I swear every other kid is Brady. But around here it is mostly Brody and Brayden (which is extremely popular). I think we did ok with him.

Our youngest is Jacoby but we call him almost exclusively JJ. I have yet to meet a Jacoby. Right after he was born Jacoby Jones did Dancing with the Stars but his name spiked in the 500's and hasn't climbed higher since so I think we are safe. We don't even run into that many JJ's which is surprising. It does amaze me how many people mispronounce his name though considering it is a common surname. We get a lot of JACK-oby instead of Ja-coby.

I do have a knack though for picking popular girls names for our cats right before they spike in popularity. My cats are Lilly, Riley, and Harper and now those names are very popular girls names!

 

[Jusacuz]

We wanted names that were different, but not TOO different, if you know what I mean! We chose Aidan. This was over 15 years ago. There were very few Aidans at the time. We actually got a few sideways looks when we told people the name we'd chosen. Fast forward a few years and it's one of the most popular out there. Couldn't go anywhere without hearing another mom calling for her Aidan. I think it's dying down a bit, but there's a HUGE group of Aidans a few years younger than my son. We like to think we were trendsetters!

My Aidan is 18 years old. I got the name from Aidan Quinn when I watched Legends of the Fall. I also have a Tristan (14) which has become rather popular. My other kids do not have popular names at all. My name is Jessica, so I was one of many in middle school in the late 80s and didn't want my kids to have that problem.

 

[SoccerDogWithEars]

We gave dd a very common name. I did not realize until we started going to the park, the library, then preschool and practically every other girl had that name. I hate how common it is, but I simply did not know at the time we named her. I had a pretty common name and hated it. I hated how we always had to be distinguished by the initial of our last name, ann b, ann m, etc. As a result, I gave my son an unusual name.

I guess a sign of how times change...my legal name is Ann, and I go by Annie! BUT I never had a single girl in any of my classes with the same name. I think I've only ever run into maybe 2 other Annies in my school/work. One was on my soccer team, but since my dad was my coach he just called me by my full name. So then I just thought I was in trouble haha

I do remember being surrounded by Kates and Katies. DBF's mom is named Catherine, and he mentioned wanting to name our hypothetical daughter after her, but I'm firmly opposed!

 

[morgan98]

I am a Christine married to a Mark (both very common names for our age group). Ironically enough, my first husband was a Mark too! LOL!

I do not have children, but I tend to like traditional "strong" names for both genders. I guess I would really not care about where a name fell on the popularity charts because I would still like that given name.

I knew lots of Christines growing up and at various times have used Chris to distinguish myself from others. Now I do not see many younger children named either of our names.

 

[E&Cmom]

I knew lots of Christines growing up and at various times have used Chris to distinguish myself from others. Now I do not see many younger children named either of our names.

I have an 8 year old Christine. . She is the only child I know named Christine and so many people call her Christina instead of Christine.

 

[PollyannaMom]

My name is more popular now than when I was a kid, but at that time I only had one other girl in my grade with a similar name. (Mine was the more formal version, but I went by the nickname when I was little, while hers actually was the "nickname" version.) We weren't in the same class until third grade, but our last names also began with the same letter, so I started going by the formal version at that point, and it lasted the rest of school.

DS's name is common, but not top twenty or anything. There is another popular one that rhymes with it, though, so his teachers still get two kids answering sometimes.

 

[MrsDuck]

We don't have kids but we do have a short list of names for if that time comes... we've picked names that are purposefully not super popular (I'm a teacher - one year I had 4 Nicks in the same class) but that aren't "weird" either. Things could definitely change but I'm content with our list. That said, I think parents should pick the name they love regardless of popularity.

 

[Jaime4004]

My Aidan is 18 years old. I got the name from Aidan Quinn when I watched Legends of the Fall. I also have a Tristan (14) which has become rather popular. My other kids do not have popular names at all. My name is Jessica, so I was one of many in middle school in the late 80s and didn't want my kids to have that problem.

Aidan Quinn where I got Aidan from also

 

[lustergirl]

My new grandbaby's name is Jaxson. That is pretty popular right now but I liked the way it is spelled.

 

[traviesojmt]

My legal name is Kimberly, but I go by Kim. I rarely meet anyone with my name. I know they exist, but apparently do not run in my circles. Lol. My DS17 was born John Nicholas ( my DH is also John) but we have always called my son Nicholas. Schools friends call him Nick but our family and friends still call him Nicholas. There was only 1 other Nick in high school. Our DD12 is Lauren Gentry. Gentry is a family name and right now she hates it. Lol. She has had one classmate with the name Lauren so far.

 

[ashley0139]

I wish people would just say the first name they are referencing on this thread. It gets confusing with "my name is common but the nick name is more common so a shortened version of that name...." It would be much easier to understand (and more interesting) if people would list the name. Just a thought.

 

[MickeySP]

I am a Christine married to a Mark (both very common names for our age group). Ironically enough, my first husband was a Mark too! LOL!

I do not have children, but I tend to like traditional "strong" names for both genders. I guess I would really not care about where a name fell on the popularity charts because I would still like that given name.

I knew lots of Christines growing up and at various times have used Chris to distinguish myself from others. Now I do not see many younger children named either of our names.

I don't know how old you are - not asking but my DS's BIL & SIL are Mark & Christine too.

When I named my DS his name is very common but we did the Celtic spelling, so Geoffrey instead of Jeffrey. He was always Geoff with the G to his teachers.

 

[morgan98]

I don't know how old you are - not asking but my DS's BIL & SIL are Mark & Christine too.

When I named my DS his name is very common but we did the Celtic spelling, so Geoffrey instead of Jeffrey. He was always Geoff with the G to his teachers.

I am 45 years old...my husband is ten years older, my first husband was my age. No worries, I have to face the fact I am aging!