A useful thread for figuring out if a name is "too popular"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just stay away from the top 200 names and keep your ear to the ground for what your friends are naming their babies. You primarily want to avoid names that are prevalent/popular in their generation.

And it’s not hard. There are a lot of beautiful names out there.

The idea of crossing off the top 200 NAMES for being too popular is absolutely crazy to me. Yes, there are a lot of beautiful names out there, but that's severe.

Example: one of the names we considered but didn't use was Lucia. It's ranked #163, which mean that 1,724 girls were given that name. Out of 3.6 million babies born in 2020. It's a great name! We found one that was a better fit for us, but I think anyone could choose this name and not worry about their kid sharing a name with many, if any, other kids/people in their lives. Some other great names in the top 200 that really do not pose a big risk of what people seem to be referring to as "the Jennifer Problem":

Julian (#34)
Anthony (#41)
Micah (#107)
Kingston (#118)
Vincent (#121)
Calvin (#143) ---> I really love this one someone use it!
Ivan (#153)
Atlas (#189)
Victor (#200)

Riley (#33)
Anna (#68)
Samantha(#90)
Jade (#97)
Iris (#127)
Esther (#153)
Sienna (#166)
Catalina (#178)
River (#186)

None of these are spelling variants. They don't have common nicknames. They are mostly familiar names, but not hyper-trendy (though they all fit into naming conventions that will sound good to modern ears, which does matter! you usually need two people to agree to a name, and it's nice to have some acceptance of it in your family and friend group for most people). And all in the top 200.

Nothing wrong with going lower on the list, but the idea that you HAVE to in order to avoid the Jennifer Problem is crazy. Of course not. You're talking about, at most, a few thousand babies with this name in any given year. Meaning your kid may meet a few people with that name in their life but is extremely unlikely to be in a class with three of them at any point in their life. There is not some scourge of Kingstons or Irises in America's preschools. Come on, folks.

True but that’s today and doesn’t take into consideration upward trends. A generation is 20 years. If it’s important to you, I think staying away from the top 200 names is generally a good bet. If it’s not important to you, then don’t.

If that's your metric, almost no name is safe unless you are literally making one up or choosing something unpronounceable (or as a PP suggested, intentionally choosing something that sounds bad to modern ears, like Bertha). Because lots of names have gone from deep in the list to top 200 in the course of just a few years.

You have to decide what matters more to you: your child having an uncommon name or your child having a name that sounds good to people. There is a balance to be struck, but you can't guarantee both. Appealling names WILL climb the list. If the name you pick doesn't, it's not because you are a genius. It's because you have hyper-specific (or just bad) taste. And your kid might resent that a lot more than they would have ever resented sharing a name with some kid on their soccer team for a year or two.

NP here. Again, what is appealing is just fashion. Again Susan is not less beautiful than Sophia.

But yes names will climb and fall on the list. I think those of us who chose and search for less popular names were looking for a metric and “out of the top 200” is as good as most can do.

[Anonymous]

NP here. Again, what is appealing is just fashion. Again Susan is not less beautiful than Sophia.

But yes names will climb and fall on the list. I think those of us who chose and search for less popular names were looking for a metric and “out of the top 200” is as good as most can do.

OMG we get it. You've posted this like 12 times in several threads. We know. No one is arguing that any name is inherently more beautiful than any other name. It's always subjective. That subjectivity is "fashion" or "trend" or whatever. Some of them are very long-lasting (Elizabeth is not a short trend) some are much more brief. We all understand. No one is confused.

But you are assuming everyone else thinks this is just the worst thing, because you think it is. You think naming your kid Susan instead of Sophia is some amazing end-run around naming conventions and makes you smarter because you "figured out" that names follow fashions and trends. But you didn't figure anything out. You just care A LOT more about this than most people.

So yes, for the three of you who will just shrivel up and die if you encounter another child with the same name as your child, please steer clear of names in the top 200, for your own sake (I worry about you!). For everyone else, it's more a question of avoiding local trends, being aware of what the tippy-top most popular names are, and then learning not to care too much about it.

[Anonymous]

Also the name Susan will never not remind me of my Aunt Suzy, who was a chain smoker and also kind of mean. I think it's a perfectly lovely name but would never use it because of that association. This is why names come in and out of fashion -- it's easier to have a kind of romantic view of what a name represents when you haven't encountered a lot of people with that name. And this is especially true of names that people associate with their parents generation, because those names will always sound like your parents (and most people don't want to be their parents).

It's psychology. It's not people rejecting Susan because of a false belief Sophia is a more beautiful name. It's that Sophia more easily captures their forward-looking dreams for their child than Susan, thanks to prior experiences with both names.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

NP here. Again, what is appealing is just fashion. Again Susan is not less beautiful than Sophia.

But yes names will climb and fall on the list. I think those of us who chose and search for less popular names were looking for a metric and “out of the top 200” is as good as most can do.

OMG we get it. You've posted this like 12 times in several threads. We know. No one is arguing that any name is inherently more beautiful than any other name. It's always subjective. That subjectivity is "fashion" or "trend" or whatever. Some of them are very long-lasting (Elizabeth is not a short trend) some are much more brief. We all understand. No one is confused.

But you are assuming everyone else thinks this is just the worst thing, because you think it is. You think naming your kid Susan instead of Sophia is some amazing end-run around naming conventions and makes you smarter because you "figured out" that names follow fashions and trends. But you didn't figure anything out. You just care A LOT more about this than most people.

So yes, for the three of you who will just shrivel up and die if you encounter another child with the same name as your child, please steer clear of names in the top 200, for your own sake (I worry about you!). For everyone else, it's more a question of avoiding local trends, being aware of what the tippy-top most popular names are, and then learning not to care too much about it.

Calm down, PP. I am not suggesting any of your nonsense response. I stated clearly IF choosing a less popular name is important to you then stay out of the top 200.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just stay away from the top 200 names and keep your ear to the ground for what your friends are naming their babies. You primarily want to avoid names that are prevalent/popular in their generation.

And it’s not hard. There are a lot of beautiful names out there.

The idea of crossing off the top 200 NAMES for being too popular is absolutely crazy to me. Yes, there are a lot of beautiful names out there, but that's severe.

Example: one of the names we considered but didn't use was Lucia. It's ranked #163, which mean that 1,724 girls were given that name. Out of 3.6 million babies born in 2020. It's a great name! We found one that was a better fit for us, but I think anyone could choose this name and not worry about their kid sharing a name with many, if any, other kids/people in their lives. Some other great names in the top 200 that really do not pose a big risk of what people seem to be referring to as "the Jennifer Problem":

Julian (#34)
Anthony (#41)
Micah (#107)
Kingston (#118)
Vincent (#121)
Calvin (#143) ---> I really love this one someone use it!
Ivan (#153)
Atlas (#189)
Victor (#200)

Riley (#33)
Anna (#68)
Samantha(#90)
Jade (#97)
Iris (#127)
Esther (#153)
Sienna (#166)
Catalina (#178)
River (#186)

None of these are spelling variants. They don't have common nicknames. They are mostly familiar names, but not hyper-trendy (though they all fit into naming conventions that will sound good to modern ears, which does matter! you usually need two people to agree to a name, and it's nice to have some acceptance of it in your family and friend group for most people). And all in the top 200.

Nothing wrong with going lower on the list, but the idea that you HAVE to in order to avoid the Jennifer Problem is crazy. Of course not. You're talking about, at most, a few thousand babies with this name in any given year. Meaning your kid may meet a few people with that name in their life but is extremely unlikely to be in a class with three of them at any point in their life. There is not some scourge of Kingstons or Irises in America's preschools. Come on, folks.

True but that’s today and doesn’t take into consideration upward trends. A generation is 20 years. If it’s important to you, I think staying away from the top 200 names is generally a good bet. If it’s not important to you, then don’t.

If that's your metric, almost no name is safe unless you are literally making one up or choosing something unpronounceable (or as a PP suggested, intentionally choosing something that sounds bad to modern ears, like Bertha). Because lots of names have gone from deep in the list to top 200 in the course of just a few years.

You have to decide what matters more to you: your child having an uncommon name or your child having a name that sounds good to people. There is a balance to be struck, but you can't guarantee both. Appealling names WILL climb the list. If the name you pick doesn't, it's not because you are a genius. It's because you have hyper-specific (or just bad) taste. And your kid might resent that a lot more than they would have ever resented sharing a name with some kid on their soccer team for a year or two.

Ok, dummy.

[Anonymous]

I’m the weirdo who stayed below #500. There are names out there if one is willing to do that deep dive that are not bad taste or very specific.

I don’t suggest everybody do this, though. It was my choice based on my own experience with a super trendy top 20 (not Jennifer) name. I considered it a bit of a research project. it was fun for me.

[Anonymous]

To add - the name highest on the list we considered was Veronica. It is somewhere in the 3 or 400s right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m the weirdo who stayed below #500. There are names out there if one is willing to do that deep dive that are not bad taste or very specific.

I don’t suggest everybody do this, though. It was my choice based on my own experience with a super trendy top 20 (not Jennifer) name. I considered it a bit of a research project. it was fun for me.

Can you share the name you picked?

[Anonymous]

I wish I could, but I have some privacy issues on this board

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish I could, but I have some privacy issues on this board

[Anonymous]

Here’s the best I can do so as not to attract my detractor

Both my children’s names are in the top 200 names in the year 1991:
https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/popularnames.cgi