New Post
Search
Help[Opinions] Re: Popularity
in reply to a message by Lilac Wine
I have a popular name for my age group and it never bothered me, but my name wasn't as popular as Jennifer. If my name was Jennifer, I would probably be a little disappointed.
With that said, I like to avoid popular names for my own personal satisfaction, but I doubt my kids would really care one way or another.
I also tend to base my decision on how popular a name "feels" to me or state/local stats more than the national (US) statistics. For example, Emma may be #1 and Ava may be #5, but Ava feels more popular to me. I checked the stats for my state and found out Ava was #1 for my state and several other bordering states. Zoe "feels" more popular to me than its 58 ranking suggests (and it is actually ranked lower in my state).
I used to be more stringent about my popularity requirements, going out of my way to avoid a name in the top 200. Now, I will only eliminate a name based on stats if it is in the top 25 or climbing drastically. For example, Adelaide may seem very rare with its 700 ranking, however 2-3 years ago Adelaide wasn't even in the top 1000 and I hear about it all the time on name sites. To me, Adelaide "feels" popular. Mary, on the other hand, is in the top 100 still, but falling and doesn't "feel" all that popular to me.
There are some exceptions. I just love Owen even though it "feels" popular to me. But the name gives me a warm fuzzy feeling and seems very wearable to me, plus it would make a good brother for Fiona. However, I didn't even consider it for my son expected in like 3 weeks (eek!) because I know my husband hates it and it may seem strange with my Italian last name.
With that said, I like to avoid popular names for my own personal satisfaction, but I doubt my kids would really care one way or another.
I also tend to base my decision on how popular a name "feels" to me or state/local stats more than the national (US) statistics. For example, Emma may be #1 and Ava may be #5, but Ava feels more popular to me. I checked the stats for my state and found out Ava was #1 for my state and several other bordering states. Zoe "feels" more popular to me than its 58 ranking suggests (and it is actually ranked lower in my state).
I used to be more stringent about my popularity requirements, going out of my way to avoid a name in the top 200. Now, I will only eliminate a name based on stats if it is in the top 25 or climbing drastically. For example, Adelaide may seem very rare with its 700 ranking, however 2-3 years ago Adelaide wasn't even in the top 1000 and I hear about it all the time on name sites. To me, Adelaide "feels" popular. Mary, on the other hand, is in the top 100 still, but falling and doesn't "feel" all that popular to me.
There are some exceptions. I just love Owen even though it "feels" popular to me. But the name gives me a warm fuzzy feeling and seems very wearable to me, plus it would make a good brother for Fiona. However, I didn't even consider it for my son expected in like 3 weeks (eek!) because I know my husband hates it and it may seem strange with my Italian last name.
This message was edited 2/22/2010, 5:05 AM
Archived Thread - replies disabled
1