s/o Baby names so common now you don't know why people use them

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have an Evelyn. Her name was barely in the top ten the year she was born but it was ranked 24th last year. I also have four friends that have daughters named Evelyn.
We were definitely ahead of the pack but when she gets into the work place I can see her going by Evelyn Jones or Evelyn J. In the 90s I worked in a store with about 10 female employees. 3 of them were named Michelle and they all worked in the same department.

Me too! My Evelyn has no one in her age group with her name, but now I hear her name quite often. I have even found those premade key chains with her name recently and up until now, they never existed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I'm not a PP, but my daughter's name is between 75 and 100 and I can't believe (because I hear it fairly regularly) it is still not as common right now as Serenity, Aaliyah, Nevaeh, and Jocelyn. Wow.

A lot of this depends on where you live. I bet there are a LOT more Nevaehs in Kentucky or Nebraska, for instance, than there are in DC.

As it happens, Nevaeh is #20 in Kentucky (and #21 in Tennessee), versus #28 in DC. Nebraska has it at #64.

[Anonymous]

This thread is really interesting to me because it is judgmental about people who use conventional baby names. Before someone tells me that I am mistaken, look at the title of the thread. The question is literally why would anyone ever use a common name.

I have a very common name. I went through a period when I was 12 when I wanted a more exotic name. But now I love my name; it is classic and pretty and I am glad my parents gave it to me.

When my husband and I were looking at names for our kids, we found this interesting article (with quoted excerpt): http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118247444843644288.html

Academics say there's been a demonstrable shift in the way people name children. In 1880, Social Security Administration data show that the 10 most popular baby names were given to 41% of boys and 23% of girls. But in 2006, just 9.5% of boys and roughly 8% of girls were given one of the year's 10 most popular names -- a combined decline of about 33% from the averages in the 1990s, says Cleveland Kent Evans, an associate psychology professor at Bellevue University in Bellevue, Neb. and a past president of the American Name Society. So while a once-ubiquitous name like Mary has fallen from No. 1 during most of the 1950s to No. 84 last year, many new names are taking off. Nevaeh (heaven spelled backward) ranked No. 43 among the 1,000 most popular names in the U.S. in 2006 and Zayden, another recent creation, was given to 224 boys.

"Names have become a matter of fashion and taste," says Harvard sociologist Stanley Lieberson.

Not everyone is happy about this development. Albert Mehrabian, a professor emeritus of psychology at UCLA and author of "The Baby Name Report Card," has conducted surveys of how people react to different names. He found that more common names elicited positive reactions, while unusual names typically brought negative responses. To him, giving children names that stand out may ultimately be no different than sending them to school with their hair dyed blue. "Yes, you can have someone stand out by being bizarre, but that doesn't mean it's going to be good," he says.

Essentially, the article says that the real "trend" lately is finding a unique and different name for your kid so that they can have their own identity and do not have to "share" their name. So really, all of you trendsetters who think you are being original are actually just following the crowd.

But really, a number 1 ranked name today is NOT EVEN NEARLY as common as a number 1 ranked name 20 years ago. So, in terms of naming your kids something "common", I say go right ahead.

[Anonymous]

My 10 year old has a fairly uncommon Irish name that is rarely heard around here. Actually we've never met another and hear that from others too. However in my niece's school in another city there are apparently 8 girls out of 150 with that name!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's more tragic when parents pick the fugliest name they can think of in an effort to be different. I'll take Emma over Hortense any day.

Yes! This. If you love the name, use it. Who cares how popular the name is? I know several Jennifer's my age and each one is unique as a person. I love the names Emma or Sophia or Hannah. Original name ... So what?

Yes!! +1. I think there is a resurgence of "classic" names that people seem to like because they are "different" but are actually totally ugly. Matilda? Gertude? Horrible.

You are such jerk! Now I am going to have to tell my DD Gertrilda that her name is ugly. I combined two classics to be unique! Grr.

LOL!

[Anonymous]

My DS has 3 Benjamin's in his class.

[Anonymous]

Both of our popular-of-late boy's names are family names--grandparents, etc. They are traditional. We love them. I was surprised one of them is popular---but I found it is not popular nationwide. Our friends on the West Coast haven't even heard it in use.

[Anonymous]

Caroline.

Audrey.

Benjamin.

Mason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have an Evelyn. Her name was barely in the top ten the year she was born but it was ranked 24th last year. I also have four friends that have daughters named Evelyn.
We were definitely ahead of the pack but when she gets into the work place I can see her going by Evelyn Jones or Evelyn J. In the 90s I worked in a store with about 10 female employees. 3 of them were named Michelle and they all worked in the same department.

Me too! My Evelyn has no one in her age group with her name, but now I hear her name quite often. I have even found those premade key chains with her name recently and up until now, they never existed.

I found Evelyn souvenirs at old people destinations. Now I can find them anywhere. I won't ever find DS's name though. He's down at around 400 or so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's more tragic when parents pick the fugliest name they can think of in an effort to be different. I'll take Emma over Hortense any day.

+1, but then my DD's name has been mentioned here.

[Anonymous]

The only thing I really hate is when parents do something like; we didn't want the popular Kaylee so we picked Kayleigh
Poor Kayleigh.

[Anonymous]

Wow, I guess there are no more Jennifers. When I was growing up we had at least 3 per class most years and I have 4 friends named Jen, Jenny or Jennifer today (two from childhood).

I think the names are also showing the whole melting pot thing which is nice. When I was growing up anyone named Josh or Sarah was Jewish where I lived. Sophia or Isabella were Greek or Italian. Maria was of Mediterranian decent. Katherines and any Last Names used as first names were WASPs. Now the name doesn't tell you much about the child's ethnicity-not that it should, just interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh my God, Matthew. How completely unoriginal. As are Mark, Luke, and John. Where in heaven did so many people get the insane idea that this is the name they should pick? Just because a famous celebrity hangs out with someone by that name, people shouldn't take his preferences as gospel.

Love this post, PP!

+1. I wonder how many people will "get" what you're talking about. You've already confused at least one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh my God, Matthew. How completely unoriginal. As are Mark, Luke, and John. Where in heaven did so many people get the insane idea that this is the name they should pick? Just because a famous celebrity hangs out with someone by that name, people shouldn't take his preferences as gospel.

What in Sam's hill are you talking about?

Please. Get a clue. Learn something:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Evangelists

You don't have to be a believer to learn something about Christianity.

[Anonymous]

Wow, I just looked it up and Jayden is 9 on the list for DC. I really tend to think any -ayden derivatives come from trailer parks so I was surprised to see it here.

I don't have huge beef with using popular names. My name was ranked no. 2 and my son's is in the 30s- I certainly didn't choose it to be popular and ditto with my parents.

That said, there are a few names that I am really sick of hearing to be perfectly honest.

Henry, Noah, Owen, Eli, Jack, Luke, Max, Oliver

Madison, Olivia, Charlotte, Sophia, Zoe, Mia, Ava, Gabriella (and Julia is edging up there)

It's not that I don't like the names, because I do, but I am starting to cringe when I hear them because pretty much everyone at my son's preschool, at our church, in my son's playgroup, and living in our neighborhood has one of these names. Very few exceptions and that does get a little bizarre. We know a Henry and a Noah at EACH of these (school, church, hood, playgroup). Really??