Now that the new baby name popularity data is out, I’m guessing some of us are experiencing one of two feelings:
My favorite name is rising – everyone stop using it! If everyone else is using it, I can’t possibly use it for a child of my own.
Oh, wow, my favorite name is falling. If no one else is using, maybe it’s going to be out by the time I have a child … and can’t possibly use it for my kid.
Talk about a lose-lose scenario!
But I definitely hear from parents who get stuck in one – or both – of these traps.
There’s one possible way to sidestep all of this angst. But it’s a route we’re often reluctant to take.
They’re names that aren’t catching anyone’s attention. They’re just sort of … there. Some of them feel like mom names. Others might scream great-uncle to you. But they’re definitely not the recent hits that you’ll hear in every high school graduating class, nor are they the chart-toppers of this moment.
Nancy’s list includes Wendy and Marianne, Willis and Lowell. But there’s no need to stick to her list. We know a school-aged Gloria, a gently fading name that still fits right in with Olivia and Amelia, but fits the contrarian mold, too. Corinne, Jillian, Cynthia for girls; Wallace, Curtis, Heath for boys. There are always options that fit right in, but still stand out.
It’s a little tough to pin down exactly what makes a contrarian name, but that’s part of the category’s charm. It’s broad and deep, and allows you to have your pick of a long list of possibilities while everyone else is frustrated that their college roommate just named her daughter Aurora, too.
ELSEWHERE ONLINE:
Laura Wattenberg picks up on some interesting trends in the new data. I’m especially curious about her ‘ii’ observation. After all, if you’re naming a baby today, it’s almost certain that you recognize Wii and read it “whee.” So maybe Harmonii isn’t a crazy bananas spelling.
I loved Sophie’s look at celebrity influence in the 2020 data. It’s worth noting that “celebrity” doesn’t necessarily mean Natalie Portman or Gal Gadot. A sweet YouTube family launched Avaya and a reality television star gave us Denisse.
These stories from LifeKit on how listeners chose their children’s names are great! Maybe my favorite part is the last one, where they had a long list of rules … and definitely broke some! It’s just real life, right?
And here’s the original LifeKit episode. Packed with good advice + very much worth a listen.
Love these names in the news from Nancy. Especially Ariana Valley.
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