Baby name regret?

[Anonymous]

I don't think people necessarily know or research what is common. There were no Lilies, Sophies, Isabels, Ellas or Ethans in my grade school and I only know one grown-up named Isabel and one named Lily. And Ella Fitzgerald and Ethan Hawke. So when you hear the name mentioned you think, "That's cool. That's original." Until it's not anymore!

When I think of "common" names I think of the ones common when I was in school: Jennifer and Julie. But there were only 500 Julies last year in the US and about 1000 Jennifers. In contrast, there were 6000+ Isabel(le)s and Isabellas.

[Anonymous]

Is Lila a common name? My son isnt in daycare so I have no idea. My older son doesn't seem to have any unusually named girls in any of his classes. Argh. Baby Names. Such stress.

[Anonymous]

PP 10:42 again. I love the babynamewizard because it shows you the trend in a name but includes the various spellings. So, Isabel was only the 86th most common name last year, but using this site you see all the Isabellas and Isabelles, too and you know it's quite common.

Also, some of it is probably geographical. There were only 1200 Lilies last year, PP who is Lily's mom, so it's not that common, really. But if they're concentrated in the northeast, it would make a difference in perception. I really like the name Lily, by the way!

[Anonymous]

Just over 400 Lila's last year, but it's a spike. There were none in the 1980s! (per babynamewizard.com)

No, I don't work for them but I'm obsessed with the site and I'm not even pregnant again yet!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:there was an article on this several months ago in the nyt. apparently a lot of people regret names and change them legally. it seems that some people don't realize that they have picked common names and decide to change their kids' names very late, like when they go to school. that sounds extreme, but anyway. what would be really interesting to me would be an article on why people name their kids really common names thinking that they are just following their own personal tastes--like lily, sophie, isabel, ella ethan, etc. i don't really understand this phenomenon. people don't actually want to follow a trend, right? has anyone seen anything like that--i guess it would address the psychology of following the crowd, but all the while just thinking that you are picking the name because you like it. TIA

I'm the PP with a Lily. I honestly had no idea that it was such a common name. For that matter, I've only actually met one other Lily (who is younger than my DD), but I certainly have heard recently that it is a common name. Sure, I checked the SSA website when I was looking at names, but I really only focused on the top 30 names, and it wasn't there at the time. In fact, we went with Lily over another name I loved because I KNEW that one was really popular. I wasn't shooting for an UNcommon name (I really only like traditional names), but I didn't want one of the very most common names either. My DH and I had a really hard time agreeing on a girl's name; this was one of only two that we both liked.

I like the name, too. I was thinking, though, that it would be interesting to read about why these names become so popular when people like you aren't TRYING to follow a trend and then it turns out that, for example, Lily has skyrocketed in popularity in the last several years. I think it might be interesting to try to understand what subconcious factors are in play. I agree that Baby wizard on name voyager is fun. Basically, if you see the name you like starting to increase in popularity and you want to choose something less popular, stay away. The increse will probably continue for a few years.

[Anonymous]

sorry re typos -- i do know how to spell subconscious and increase, in case you were starting to think i was a moron.

[Anonymous]

Isn't there an actress on Lost named Lily Evangeline? I feel like these names always become popular when a celeb has the name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Isn't there an actress on Lost named Lily Evangeline? I feel like these names always become popular when a celeb has the name.

yeah, plug angelina into the name wizard, or any celebrity kids' names. can you imagine naming your kid kingston and then admitting you copied a popstar to the kid later?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Isn't there an actress on Lost named Lily Evangeline? I feel like these names always become popular when a celeb has the name.

Her name is Evangeline Lily. Right name, wrong order.

Anyway, my daughter is directly named after my grandmother. Her middle name is a variation of my husband's great-aunt's name. My sister wanted to have a girl with the same, now common (it wasn't common when we were kids) name, but she had no girls and she's done having children, so I named my daughter that. My husband's sister has a daughter with a very similar name and was annoyed that we chose to use ours anyway. Whatever. My grandmother was named before her daughter. She is a person who won't tell anyone the name before the baby is born, so because I told her I should feel bad? When I called her and told her I was pregnant she said "So, what are you going to name the baby?". I literally only knew I was pregnant for a few hours and she was asking me about the name then. She already knew the answer but I guess was hoping we'd changed. It's always all about her.

I have a few nephews with names I don't like but it doesn't mean anything about the kids. Anyway, I get used to their names and can't imagine them having anything different.

When she was first born it took me a while to connect the name to her, because she was named that before she was even an embryo, but we got used to it and we feel it suits her now. It's a very feminine name and she's a very girly girl!

[Anonymous]

Isn't there an actress on Lost named Lily Evangeline? I feel like these names always become popular when a celeb has the name.

Yes, but her name is Evageline Lily, nickname Evie. I actually considered the name Evie for my daughter - it was the runner up name that I went back and forth on for the first month or so of her life. I still like the name, and I probably never would have known about it if not for my TV show gossip obsession!

And yes, there are always spikes in people naming their kid's names that they either heard on a TV show (Addison from Grey's Anatomy, anyone?) or that they heard some celebrity named their kids (Ava after Reese Witherspoon named her daughter that).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn't there an actress on Lost named Lily Evangeline? I feel like these names always become popular when a celeb has the name.

Her name is Evangeline Lily. Right name, wrong order.

Anyway, my daughter is directly named after my grandmother. Her middle name is a variation of my husband's great-aunt's name. My sister wanted to have a girl with the same, now common (it wasn't common when we were kids) name, but she had no girls and she's done having children, so I named my daughter that. My husband's sister has a daughter with a very similar name and was annoyed that we chose to use ours anyway. Whatever. My grandmother was named before her daughter. She is a person who won't tell anyone the name before the baby is born, so because I told her I should feel bad? When I called her and told her I was pregnant she said "So, what are you going to name the baby?". I literally only knew I was pregnant for a few hours and she was asking me about the name then. She already knew the answer but I guess was hoping we'd changed. It's always all about her.

I have a few nephews with names I don't like but it doesn't mean anything about the kids. Anyway, I get used to their names and can't imagine them having anything different.

When she was first born it took me a while to connect the name to her, because she was named that before she was even an embryo, but we got used to it and we feel it suits her now. It's a very feminine name and she's a very girly girl!

That made no sense. At all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn't there an actress on Lost named Lily Evangeline? I feel like these names always become popular when a celeb has the name.

yeah, plug angelina into the name wizard, or any celebrity kids' names. can you imagine naming your kid kingston and then admitting you copied a popstar to the kid later?

Yeah, but there is a big difference between naming your kid Emma (Friends) or Ava (Reese Witherspoon) and naming your kid Zuma or Monday or Apple. I don't think you could plausibly deny it with the latter category! Kingston is somewhere in the middle...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn't there an actress on Lost named Lily Evangeline? I feel like these names always become popular when a celeb has the name.

yeah, plug angelina into the name wizard, or any celebrity kids' names. can you imagine naming your kid kingston and then admitting you copied a popstar to the kid later?

Yeah, but there is a big difference between naming your kid Emma (Friends) or Ava (Reese Witherspoon) and naming your kid Zuma or Monday or Apple. I don't think you could plausibly deny it with the latter category! Kingston is somewhere in the middle...

Agreed, but get a life if you are getting your child's name from TV or US Weekly. At a minimum that means it will probably be more common. I would be so pissed if I had been named Farrah just because I was born in the 70s when Charlie's Angels was on, and that's not a totally ridiculous name like Zuma.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, but there is a big difference between naming your kid Emma (Friends) or Ava (Reese Witherspoon) and naming your kid Zuma or Monday or Apple. I don't think you could plausibly deny it with the latter category! Kingston is somewhere in the middle...

I do agree with this, but I also have to say I like Kingston. However, Zuma Nesta Rock? THAT is ridiculous...

For the record, I actually just ran a name by my husband for a future boy that was a name I saw on TV - FOX News of all places. It was a great name, but he vetoed it because he didn't want to have to say "Yeah, my wife saw it on FOX News one day..." We are NOT fans of FOX News! Too bad, I never should have told him where I saw it!

I am one of those crazy people who checks name popularity of every name I consider. I check every name against the name popularity list and have a very high threshold for where a name can fall - it can't be above #500 and cannot be showing a spike at all. BUT, that doesn't mean that the names that were on my list were not normal - just not being used so much (I called it uncommon but not weird when explaining this to others). I also wanted a name with a great meaning, something that might in some way shape or define our child. I took 3 names to the hospital when my daughter was born, and at least 2 of them (including the one we chose) are names you all know well.

I wasn't sure what the one previous poster was trying to say with her post, but I most likely would annoy her because I wouldn't share names we liked with anyone because we really didn't care to hear comments before our child was born. Everyone has an opinion before the kid is born - MOST people keep their mouths shut after it is on the kid's birth certificate (except for OP parents - that stinks!)

It always chuckle when people say they didn't know the name was popular, but again, that is because I am a freak about that kind of thing.

[Anonymous]

I also named my baby Lily (though I'm not the PP). We chose it because we needed a name that would be pronouncable and meaningful in each of the three languages we speak at home. The only other names that would have worked for us were Sara or Leila, and neither of those felt right. We checked the SS name lists to make sure it wasn't too common (not in the top 25). Of course, those were the numbers for the year before her birth. For the year she was born, imagine my dismay. I still love the name, but I hate that she's going to have to go by first-name-last-initial all through school. It'll be like the Jessicas of my childhood.