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[Opinions] Heather
I rarely hear of little girls named Heather these days and almost never see it on the boards. I was curious to see how much it has dropped in popularity these days and discovered that it's now #558 in the U.S. Given its popularity in the 1970's-early 1990's, I was expecting it to be at least a bit more common these days. WDYTO Heather? Does it still seem too dated to you?
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I knew many Heather's growing up (I was born in 1978), but all were mean, so I really don't like the name. I have one Heather in my classes this year, she's 14 or 15. I'm not a big fan of her's either (her dad tries to sue the teachers for everything). But otherwise, it's a perfectly nice name. I've just never liked the people who have it.It also reminds me of the movie "Heathers", which is one of my favorite movies, but is all about bitchy, popular girls who run the high school.

This message was edited 5/21/2010, 9:59 AM

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I like it.I know I'm the oddball here, but I think it's pretty. It's a floral name, just like Rose, Violet, or Juniper.I'm surprised to see it's dropped more than 100 spots since the last time I checked on it. Apparently, it's fallen WAY out of favor, probably due to overuse in the 70's/80's. Oh, well...at least it won't be popular in case you ever want to use it.
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This is making me think of this:My sister's name is Linda and she was born in 1952. What was the name Linda in 1952? It was the number one name for girls that year. It had zoomed out of nowhere and taken the number one spot and remained in the top ten for all of that decade and part of the one after it.And then what happened? What was bound to happen. People became aware of how popular Linda was (I think it takes the general population longer to become aware of that than namenerds), and it sank like a stone. Then Linda became dated and nobody liked it anymore. And my sister has always said that she hates her name because it was too popular and it dates her.So what did Linda do? She named her daughter Heather in 1974. What was Heather in 1974? It was the number four name for girls in that year and it stayed in the top ten for all of that decade and part of the one after it. And then what happened to Heather? See above as to what happened to Linda. And now....my niece Heather says she hates her name because it was too popular and it dates her.So my sister who hates her name gave her daughter a name that SHE hates for the exact same reason! This is why I think that people should pay attention to popularity when they choose a name.In my family there's a Linda born in 1952 who has a daughter named Heather born in 1974. How how typical.They should have learned the lesson from our grandmother Hazel born in 1906.
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Oh, man...It sucks that they both hate their names. I've considered myself lucky that my name wasn't #1 the year I was born.I can see why Heather dropped so far out of favor, but I'm sure it will make a comeback eventually. It just needs to be forgotten for a while in order to become fresh again.
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Dated, hah - it's almost retro chic ;-)I'm in the generation that took the first onslaught of the Heather fad. I went to school with many of them. I didn't think about it until fairly recently, when I decided I really like it. I even put it on my list. Where it is sitting at 1.5 stars. Oh well ... I'd use it.

This message was edited 5/20/2010, 11:26 PM

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We never had a great spasm of Heathers where I live, so I can't comment. I've always liked it and, given enough daughters and a ln that didn't start with H, I might have considered it. It's one of the better flower names, and sounds nicer than Erica to me.
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It seems very dated and I never understood its popularity to begin with. The initial H sound, the harsh TH sound in the middle, and the final ER are not attractive to me. I hate that ER sound at the end of names. It's what keeps me from giving full approval to the once-even-more-popular-than-Heather Jennifer.My sister named her daughter Heather, and whenever she would say what a beautiful name it is, I would inwardly roll my eyes and think, "What?"So you see I am not a Heather fan. And it doesn't help that, with the exception of Sara\Sarah, I have known more people named Heather than any other one name in my life. Even if I liked it, I'd be sick of it.The young couple who up until a year ago lived next door to us had a three-year-old named Heather. The mom had *no idea* that Heather was mega-popular in the seventies and eighties until I told her. And she had no idea that by the time she used the name in 2006 it had fallen far from grace. (I put it more nicely than that.) It always amazes me when people don't know things like that. I have to remind myself that not everybody is interested in names. Then again, this young woman also had no idea that heather is a flowering shrub, so I guess in this case we can just chalk it all up to stupidity.
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I never really knew that many and it's a name from my generation. I think it's a pretty name and a baby Heather would definitely not have to worry about being Heather J. or whatever.
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Yeah, it's a bit dated and has a certain mean girl connotation, but I like it anyway and find it to be pretty.
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Good, I'm not the only one who associates it with mean girls.
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I don't think Heather sounds dated. I also think it is pretty.
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I guess it seems sort of dated since there were a ton my age (40-ish) and none now. BUT...I could care less really about "dated" names, think people should use what they love. Also...I think Heather is a beautiful name and I would love to hear it on a baby/little girl!
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