It’s no secret that I love unusual names. Having grown up sharing my name with thousands of girls my age, I longed to be Hepzibah. Or Elodie.
And yet more popular picks can make for great choices, too. Friends of ours just called their darling daughter Emma, and it got me thinking.
So here are Ten Good Reasons to call your baby Ethan or Emma, Liam or Jack.
Popular names tend to be great names with universal appeal.
I might like her lots, but Hephzibah is probably never going to make the Top Ten. Read through any list of popular names, though, and surely you’ll find many that appeal. How often have you heard – or said – something like this: “I love the name Olivia. Too bad it’s so popular!”
They’re easy to spell.
Unless you decide to name your daughter Emmalie, one advantage of a common name is rarely having to correct others. Plenty of us wear cumbersome last names. If you’re constantly spelling Niedalkowski, maybe having a first name like Ava is a good idea. And if you’re crossing cultures, sticking with a simple pick might be wise, too.
Repetition is rarely necessary.
Try this exercise. Call your daughter Clio. Introduce her to someone new. Hear new person say, “Hi, Chloe.” Politely say, “Actually, she’s Clio.” Repeat a bajillion times.
This probably wouldn’t happen with Charlotte or Mason – we expect to meet children with those names. Yes, everyone will eventually remember that your son is called Eben, not Evan or Ethan or Benjamin. But be prepared to smile lots until that happens.
Even a #1 name is less popular than it ever was in prior generations.
There is not a single girl called Harper enrolled at my daughter’s elementary school. There are no boys named Noah.
In 1908, over 5% of boys were John and more than 5% of girls were Mary. In 1978, nearly 4% of boys were named Michael, and over 3.5% of girls were called Jennifer. Today, a mere 1% of all children born each year receive the most popular name, and the percentage will probably continue to drop.
Some of the most popular names might still sound novel.
Name your daughter Jennifer today, and odds are good she’ll be the only Jenny in her class. “But,” you protest, “I knew so many Jennys growing up! I want something unusual. Like Scarlett.”
As it happens, Scarlett is a chart-topper. But today’s parents certainly didn’t grow up with a Scarlett, and that might be all that matters.
Some of the most popular names might be truly enduring.
If you love the classics, why not use Elizabeth and James for your children? Sure, they’ll know others with their name. But they could hop in a time machine and probably meet another James or Elizabeth throughout much of history.
It’s hard to argue that Grace or Henry is trendy, even if they’ve recently been popular.
Some trendy names endure.
Madison will, inevitably, fade from use, and all of those Jaydens? Some day their names will scream thirty-something and, eventually, octogenarian.
But other names age gracefully. Amanda and Martin are far from their heyday, but remain perfectly reasonable – even sensible – picks for a child.
Some kids embrace being one of many.
I once met a Kate who grew up with a best friend called Katie. They loved having the same name, even mashing it together to call themselves the Katie-Kates. There must be similar stories on every playground in America.
Just because I hated growing up with a Top Ten name doesn’t mean your child would mind being Jack T.
There are no guarantees that an uncommon name will stay that way.
The year is 2007. You choose the stunning, unusual Aria for your daughter.
Fast forward to today, and every time you call your teenage daughter’s name at the mall, preschoolers’ heads turn. (Your teenager, of course, does not answer, because you’re embarrassing her.)
Today’s fashionable, but obscure choice – think Elora, Antonella, or Wren – could be just one celebrity birth announcement away from the Top 100.
Your favorite name might have meaning.
Maybe you’ve always wanted to name your daughter Emma, after your favorite book. Or maybe William was your beloved grandfather’s name. If that’s the case, their popularity doesn’t matter one bit. The name will always feel just right.
What do you think? Would – or did – a name’s ranking in the Top Ten stop you from using it?
Very interesting. My daughter is in kindergarten and there is not one Jacob or Emily in her class. We only know 2 Emily’s one is my age and the other is my daughters age. I wanted to name her Alyssa but didn’t want her to have a bunch of other girls with her name. I could have done it though. I have never met an Alyssa. Now my son has a popular name. There is not one in my daughters class, but in the other kindergarten class there is.
I really enjoyed this. I think the key to being happy with a name you chose is to choose it for the right reasons. If you truly love the name, then that’s all that matters. People are ALWAYS going to disagree about what is acceptable & unusueable, when themes being cheesy, FROM WHEN something is dated, what’s a cute, fresh name that’s romantic & dated or it’s and old lady with cats name, what’s creative & daring or just plain selfishness & preposterous etc ! People disagree constantly about names. In my male list, I’ve got a name that’s in the top 20 for about 7 countries & I’ve got a name that isn’t even in the top 1000 for any country. As long as you love the name for the right reasons, who cares if it’s popular or practically unheard of
1 Tim 4:12, I like your verse! Calliope will be NotD on April 8. I actually went to school with a Greek Kalliope, nn Kali. I can’t remember her sister’s name … I’ll have to see if I can find my yearbook.
LOL about Clio/Chloe! I guess you really can’t win. Glad you enjoyed the post – it is always nice to hear from a lurker. 🙂
Kylie, I’m dying to know what you plan to call Andrew? My mother wanted to name my brother Andrew. (But after three girls, my dad insisted on a junior.) She would’ve called him Drew – just like every other Andrew born in 1984!
What an awesome post! It gives me great peace of mind, since we’re dead set on the name Andrew for our first boy (based on reason #1 – favorite book). We intend to use a unique nickname, but it appeals to me that he has options when he gets older – he can go by Andrew, Drew, Andy, whatever strikes his fancy and fits in with his personality. Thanks for the great post!
I really like the name Kylie. What was your experience growing up with the name Kylie?
Thanks
Wow, what an interesting post!
Hi, I’m a bit of a lurker, and I really adore your site.
These are excellent, really thought out reasons to use popular names!
I just wanted to point out some irony:
Back before Chloe skyrocketed into the top 20, my best friend was christened that. To this day, people call her Clio all the time. Drives her nuts!
Keep up the good work, ’cause I really enjoyed this list!
PS:
I’d like to suggest Calliope for a future NotD.
Lyndsay, Congratulations on the birth of little Dashiell David!
My oldest son was named after his dad’s grandfather, Valente. Not only was it far from my ideal name, I feared people would call him Val. Thankfully it never happened!
When my youngest came along nine years later, even though I still liked Benjamin, I KNEW since the early days of my pregnancy that he was Andrew. Both dad and I liked the name and I have always thought of it as classic and timeless.
There was a soccer game once with Andre, Andres, Anders, and Andrew split up between both teams – hearing the parents and family and coaches screaming out the names was hilarious!
I am happy that we went with Andrew – easy to remember, easy to spell, and easy to pronounce.
Great post! I especially appreciate #6 and #7! I love the names Jennifer and Jessica, EVERYONE who hears it just gags! They complain how popular the name is, and how any future babies named these will be one of like 12 in their class, just like how it was growing up…I have to remind them that any Jennifer and Jessica of now would almost assuredly be the only one in their class. These names are pretty, they are well-known, and now almost novel.
You go to any random name board you hear “I don’t want my baby to be unique and not one of many in their class, thats why I’m naming her Emma/Madison/Addison/etc, and all I can think is that those are the most popular names right now, something classic or old-fashioned will be a lot more unique than those!
Number 7 is a good one to remember, I also love Emma, and I love Emily as a middle name (Beatrix Emily to me is full of rich history!), but you say you like those names on a name board, everyone screams “Too popular!” or “Too overused!”. I don’t really think so though. Not that many people are using them! But that said, most of my own favorite names are not on the top 1000 list, and most of the rest are not in the top 500…though if Erik was dead-set for it, I would happily use Elizabeth, Sophie, Emma, Ella, Hannah, Abigail, Jacob, William, Andrew, Alexander, David, James, Nathan, Samuel, or Benjamin!
Lyndsay Jenness-Dashiell David is LOVELY!
photoquilty-I adore David, and I actually think it makes a great brother to Ethan! I only know one Ethan (about 2 now), and actually know 2 little boys named David! (one about 2 and one about 3). And they are David, not Davey, I think just David is soo adorable!
Funny, Photoquilty, David is one of my favorite names. I can’t say why – I’ve always loved David, even when every other name on my list was far less common.
JNE, I still think Imogen Lily sounds perfect.
Emmy Jo, that’s a nice point. If you’re choosing Addison because it sounds different to you, that’s fine. But you should know going in that your daughter might be one in a crowd – and she might not like it. (Or hey, she might have a best friend called Madison and get a kick out of the rhyming thing.) Either way, it is best to KNOW that you’re choosing a common name, rather than floating along thinking that Hailey is the most creative pick ever.
Glad everyone enjoyed reading this – I’m going to unstick it from the top spot so the new stuff appears at the top now.
Case in point: I LOVE LOVE LOVE the name David, but immediately said “no” when my husband suggested it when I was pregnant (with Ethan). It was too familiar, not at all creative. Of course I wasn’t aware of the name rankings when I picked Ethan (he was number 4 the year he was born). David was everywhere – he ranged from my grandfather’s peers to my own. I couldn’t imagine giving this common name to my little boy. So we named him Ethan, which was a name of several of my peers, but not a name I’d heard recently. Then I found the SSA list. Oh well. What could I do? However, Ethan’s almost 2 1/2 and he has no friends named Ethan. As a matter of fact, in the three states we’ve lived in since he was born, we have met only two other Ethans of his generation. One was in utero 😉 and the other was just a touch younger than my Ethan. However, we know a Charles, a Charlie (boy) and a Charlie (girl, well she’s Charlotte, but will never be called that). We know a Sarah and a Sara. Ethan and his little friend Leo have the same middle name, James. We know one Cayden and his brother Quintyn. We have a friend Madison and her sister Madeline (yes, I know). There are a Christopher, a Joseph, and a Rylan in his group of friends. There’s also a Preston and a Parker. I know three Benjamins born in the last 6 years, two Emmas, and one Zoe. My point is that no matter what all the data show us, no matter how many times you see the same three names suggested on Y!A, the key to knowing how popular (or not) a name might be is to look around at all the little ones you know. I can’t choose Charles, clearly, nor Benjamin, Sara, or Emma. But Ethan was clearly not the popular choice, and there is room enough for David!
Congratulations, Lyndsay. Dashiell David is dashing!
Excellent post, Abby! There are sometimes VERY good reasons for using a top ten name. I personally would consider using William, Ethan, Elizabeth, or Abigail if my husband were ever to suggest them.
I’ve often thought about your point #7. I hear people say things like, “But there will be four Jacobs in every class!” Thinking about it mathematically, if only 1% of all babies of a certain gender are given the top name for that gender, that translates to only one out of every 200 babies (when you include both genders). If only one out of every 200 babies born the same year as your child is named Jacob, it is statistically very likely that he WILL be the only Jacob in his class, especially considering most lower elementary school classes are limited to 20 students. And there are always weird flukes — last year, there were two boys named Cade in the first grade class next door, and Cade isn’t even in the top 200.
The only point of yours that I disagree with is #6 (“Some of the most popular names might still sound novel”). I think it’s very shortsighted for parents who don’t want their child to be another Jennifer or Jessica to choose a name that is this generation’s equivalent. It’s fine to name your kid Addison or Isabella, PROVIDED YOU REALIZE that in 30 years, Addison and Isabella are going to have the same feel that Jennifer and Jessica do now. Parents who choose a trendy name for its novelty seem as if they are not thinking things through — does it not occur to them that Jennifer sounded novel to new parents of the 1980’s?
Congratulations Lyndsay Jenness!
Verity – fun post. I’ll admit to being swayed away from names due to popularity. Back when we first tried to get pregnant (nearly 8 years before it actually happened for us), we had talked about names and Isobel and Lily were tops for us then… they weren’t all that popular at the time (or didn’t seem to be). Fast forward 8 years or so and we knew a number of children with those names, as well as hearing them when we were ‘out and about’ and that’s really what put us off. And while all the reasons mentioned are absolutely valid, I would still have the same gut feeling to move toward a more unique name.
That said, I also agree with the many comments that there is no way to know if your new baby will love being a one of one or prefer blending in… I frequently have moments (especially when spelling, repeating, explaining her name) when I hope she won’t curse me for saddling her with her name. But I’m sure the concern would be valid with Emma, Emily, or Olivia…. or Lily or Isobel, just for different reasons.
And even though we went through, literally, tens of thousands of names (well I did), to find our daughter’s name, it isn’t that far from those first ones… an I-starting first name from the British Isles and Lily in the middle… Truthfully, she could have been Lily, even with the popularity of the name and variants, had we been able to agree on a “full” name that gave us that nickname.
Really, it seems just important to consider the implications of using a popular name (the possibility of being Emma S.) and those of using a unique name. And then cross your fingers that your little one doesn’t hate it.
Thanks again Verity! Lots of fun!