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HelpRe: How popular is too popular?
in reply to a message by Rosalia_Paw
I am not sure. I think I prefer to avoid the top 100 or top 50, but only the top 10-20 are a significant deterrent. Sadly that rules out Emma, Sophia, Alexander, and some other great names, which have wonderful histories but seem liable to date or be on four kids in a class.
We chose August, in 2012 when the name was in position 333. (It is now 193.) That felt like it ought to be familiar enough not to be weird, but not a name every other kid would have in school or a name that would wind up strongly associated with only a certain decade or generation.
We live in urban Maryland, and we have had several people in the last 5 years say that their new grandchild, cousin, etc. has the name, or else that their grandfather or great grand-father had it. My son's school, an all boy's academy, as two August's, and a third child with August for a middle. That out of around 800 students K-12. So, that feels reasonable.
But for a girl our top names are a lot higher. We really like Alice, which has been rising quickly and is 76. We are still well outside "Sophia" territory (for now), but it does seem possible the name could migrate toward or into the top 20. So should we use our other favorite, Iris? It is closer to where "August" is today. But then again - I've actually bumped into children named Iris, but not Alice, in my local area. One is a teenager and one is in my son's swimming class. And "Iris" is moving up, too. We looked at Ada (which I still love, but my husband isn't as fond of) which is a lot lower -- but it has gotten from 838 to 345 since 2000 - which is a lot more mobility than our "popular" choices have had.
What does this mean? If only I knew...
We chose August, in 2012 when the name was in position 333. (It is now 193.) That felt like it ought to be familiar enough not to be weird, but not a name every other kid would have in school or a name that would wind up strongly associated with only a certain decade or generation.
We live in urban Maryland, and we have had several people in the last 5 years say that their new grandchild, cousin, etc. has the name, or else that their grandfather or great grand-father had it. My son's school, an all boy's academy, as two August's, and a third child with August for a middle. That out of around 800 students K-12. So, that feels reasonable.
But for a girl our top names are a lot higher. We really like Alice, which has been rising quickly and is 76. We are still well outside "Sophia" territory (for now), but it does seem possible the name could migrate toward or into the top 20. So should we use our other favorite, Iris? It is closer to where "August" is today. But then again - I've actually bumped into children named Iris, but not Alice, in my local area. One is a teenager and one is in my son's swimming class. And "Iris" is moving up, too. We looked at Ada (which I still love, but my husband isn't as fond of) which is a lot lower -- but it has gotten from 838 to 345 since 2000 - which is a lot more mobility than our "popular" choices have had.
What does this mean? If only I knew...
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