My middle name is
Anne. My given name is
Adelheid, but I go by
Heidi. My sister and I were both given
Anne as a mn because it's my mom's mn. My mom is
Polly and my sister is
Daisy.
I think it's still fairly common as a mn. I think it's also very much considered a filler.
But I think it's beautiful as a first name -- simple and pretty, familiar but not too common. I also like
Jane for these same reasons.
Ann or
Anne would have to contend with quite a few
Anna's, however. I don't like
Anna. And I much prefer
Anne to
Ann. It looks prettier.