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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I admit to thinking “ANOTHER ONE?” In my head. I would never say anything, though.

It’s just a reaction. Nothing more.[/quote]

You sound really judgmental.

If I hear someone say their kid's name,[b] I just think either "that's a nice name" or "hmm don't like that name."[/b] I don't ever think "oh wow there are so many kids named that. How unoriginal." To me the main qualities that make a name good are:  it sounds good when you say it out loud, people can pronounce it and spell it correctly most of the time, it goes well with the middle and last names.

That's it. [/quote]

DP.  Pro tip: both of those are judgments.  You're not less judgmental for judging based on different criteria than the person you're judging for judging based on popularity.[/quote]

DDP. +1[/quote]

I mean you’re right that those are judgments and subjective but they’re not AS judgmental IMO as thinking someone’s unoriginal. It’s just a baseline reaction “I like that name” or “I don’t” there is no other judgment besides a gut reaction of if you like it or not. Thinking a name is too popular takes it a step farther. Then it’s “I don’t like that” AND “it’s unoriginal.” Anyway, none of this matters. OP should pick the name she loves and not worry about popularity.[/quote]

Privately thinking “oh I don’t like the way that name sounds and would not have picked it” is just an emotional reaction to the name. It’s also the sort of thing most people understand to be subjective, so it’s not that hurtful. People have different taste. It’s the same with any aesthetics. I love modern architecture and moule love a modern home. I know people who would come to that home and cal it ugly to my face. But it wouldn’t really bother me because we just have different taste. No big deal.

The “your baby name is to popular” criticism sucks because as the posts in this demonstrate, it is meant to be a personal attack not on your subjective taste, but on your objective judgment. The argument often comes off as “you are a bad parent because you failed to give your child a sufficiently unique name.” That’s an insane amount of pressure to put on parents and I’d argue it actually leads to worse baby names because it pushes people to choose names specifically for their uniqueness and not their aesthetic value or personal meaning.

It’s a social judgment that often has a class component, and it’s much nastier than simply thinking a name is unattractive. [/quote]

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