Is this name really that popular?

[Anonymous]

My husband has become fixated on the name Mia for our daughter. I like the name too, but it seems like it is very popular right now. Not that I'm completely against a name that is in the top 20, but growing up I was always the only person in my class with my name, so I guess I'm partial to finding a name where she won't have to go by her first name and last name initial.
However I don't know anyone that has a daughter named Mia, so I was wondering if all of you run into lots of little Mias at daycare, preschool or in your friend circles.

[Anonymous]

I don't know of any Mias. This for our day care, two playgroups, and two toddler classes. Other names do stand out as overused right now thought - Sophie is the first to mind.

[Anonymous]

though not an unusual name, I would not say it is overly popular. None in our K class of 80.

[Anonymous]

I think if you go to the social security website they list most common baby names by year.

[Anonymous]

I think Maya is very popular now, but I can't say I have heard of any Mias.

[Anonymous]

The only Mia I know is 22 years old.

[Anonymous]

It is popular--according to social security website it is #14 in 2008---but it's a beautiful name. why not?! husband and I loved both Mia and Sofia (which is also super popular these days) but since it looks like another boy, we are back to square one (and unable to agree on anything!!!!).

[Anonymous]

One thing to keep in mind, esp w/ girls names, is that there are tons and tons of names, so that even a popular name may not be super common. (Although I'd agree with Sophie, and a few years ago, Emma.) So outside of the top 5, even if a name is popular, I doubt you'll see many other kids w/ that name. OTOH, if you really want to avoid a duplicate in a class, I'd pick a very original name, since even if two kids in a million have the name, that second kid could be in your kindergarten.

[Anonymous]

The only Mia I know is 37. Neither of my two children have any Mia's in their classrooms so that's zero out of 48 kids in one school, at least!

I love the name and don't think that it's that popular.

[Anonymous]

I think the SSA list is for the entire country. zYou should try looking at the list for VA, MD & DC. A name that's very popular nationwide may be much further down the list in our area.

[Anonymous]

also you should keep in mind that the SS statistics are nationwide -- the same trends may not necessarily be prevalent in certain parts of the country, among your demographic, etc. A pediatrician in your neighborhood would probably have the best sense of whether that name is overused among your community! FWIW I think it's a lovely name.

[Anonymous]

I don't know any Mias either.

One thing that may help put this in perspective is if you go to the SSA website and look at all names, select the option to see "Percent of Total Births". If you do that you'll see that the 2008 # 1 baby girl name, Emma, represents just under 1% of girls born in 2008. Mia, which is # 14, is given to 0.49% of girls born in 2008.

One more useful tool that might interest you is the Baby Name Wizard's baby name mapper at http://namemapper.babynamewizard.com/namemapper/. If you type in Mia, you'll see what the name ranks state-by-state (this only works for names that are in the top 100 - names that are less common in all states aren't mapped). For 2007, Mia was # 2 in Texas, # 3 in Arizona, and # 6 in California. Unfortunately the name mapper doesn't show rankings for DC, although I think this may be available in the SSA site.

I also wanted to add that some of this is random and unpredictable. The name Zoe has been hovering around #45 - 60 for many years, so it's popular but not ranked as highly as say, Emma. I know maybe one Emma in this area, and I cannot count the preschool-age Zoes we know personally - maybe 10? You just never know what names are going to show up a lot in your child's school.

HTH!

[Anonymous]

11:18 again. I forgot to add that the namemapper link shows that Mia is # 38 in Maryland and #41 in Virginia, so its high national ranking has more to do with the Western states than here.

[Anonymous]

I know a couple of Mia's but they are closer to my age than my daughter's age. The American Girl doll for 2008 was a Mia - in case that means anything to anyone.

[Anonymous]

I've known one young Mia in recent years.

One thing to keep in mind is that Mia is traditionally a nickname--here in the U.S. often for Amelia (and, in some countries like Scandinavia, Germany, and the Netherlands, for Maria). The Social Security Administration's numbers would not count this nickname usage, so I'd expect to run into more little Mias on the playground than the SSA numbers suggest.

FWIW, Mia has had a big spurt in popularity in recent years (in the top 20 names since 2005) while Amelia is also on the rise (in the top 100 names since 2004 and also becoming steadily more popular, currently at #68).

If you're worried about there being too many young Mias, you could go with Amelia (or Maria!) and call her Mia--that way she has more options if one of the names ends up being more common in your particular circles. With Mia as a full name, there aren't too many nicknames to go to...