Thoughts Please

[h-hope.livejournal.com]

My husband and I are expecting a little boy (or so we've been told...) in March. We are leaning towards naming him Gavin Michael at the moment, we've still got a few months to be sure.
The middle name will probably be Michael for my husband's middle name, and his father's first name, regardless of our first name choice.

All that being said... I'm not a fan of overly trendy names so Aiden/Brayden/Cayden/Haydon/Jaden etc are out. Do you think Gavin is becoming more popular & trendy, enough that you wouldn't use it, or do you think it would be alright? I don't want my children to end up being known by their last initial because there ends up being so many Gavins (or insert name here) in their school classes.

Comments

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

Gavin is quite popular/trendy, but not obnoxiously so like Aidan/Brayden/etc. I just checked, it's currently ranked #32 in popularity, and it's been rising quite steadily. He would meet with other Gavins, and probably even have some in some of his classes, but not all his classes, like he would if he were a Jacob or an Ethan or something.

[arbus.livejournal.com]

i dont think gavin and super popular or uber trendy. you hear it around, but not much at all.

[invisiblepet.livejournal.com]

Here's my personal name chart. I worked in an elementary school in this town that has a huuuge military base, with folks coming and going all year long, so lots of different ethnicities and backgrounds. The school itself had 1000+ kids.

There was ONE Gavin. So to me, that's not an overly trendy name. I think it's a great name!

[kilobites.livejournal.com]

Having worked in a daycare with about 100 kids, there was only one Gavin. That's only my personal experience and there may be differences in area but I don't think the name is overly trendy. Yes, it's popular, but it's not as popular as the -ayden names.

[how-obscure.livejournal.com]

I am so in love with the name Gavin. I have been for years. I've been concerned about it's rise in popularity too, but I'm years away from having kids...barring anything really out of character happening. lol.

That said, while it is gaining popularity, I don't think it has reached the --ayden level. I also think it will always sound classier.

[lind-saay.livejournal.com]

I think Gavin is trendy in its own way, but it's definitely not like Jayden/Cayden/Hayden/etc.

Other ideas:
Patrick Michael
Colin Michael
Reid Michael
Evan Michael
Ian Michael
Owen Michael
Oliver Michael
Jesse Michael
Garrett Michael
Adrian Michael

[ifancylust.livejournal.com]

i think gavin would be okay. :]

[azelmaroark.livejournal.com]

I have terrible personal associations with Gavin -- it's always been the name of a really mean bully, although I admit that Gavin Newsom is starting to redeem the name for me a little. That said, I don't think it's trendy like Cayden/Jayden/etc are trendy, but it's definitely trendy. I wouldn't let that deter you if you love it, though.

[mrandmrschippy.livejournal.com]

If you check on http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/ which has government statistics, it shows that Gavin has been gaining steadily in popularity for the last couple of decades. That said, although it was 32nd most popular boy name in 2007, that equates to approx. 12,000 babies, which isn't that much in terms of the population of the US, though of course there'll be, say, another 13,000 next year, 14,000 in 2010, etc.

And to compare, in 2007 Aiden was 27th most popular = 13,000 babies, Jayden 18th/15,000, and Brayden/Cayden/Haydon weren't in the top 50 names.

You can also check name popularity by state. In Washington's 2007 statistics, Gavin is 26th most popular (265 babies), and Aiden is 20th (279 babies), Brayden 65th, Jayden 31st, Hayden 74th.

Either way, Gavin is as popular/more popular than names you perceive as being more 'trendy', so if that bothers you it might be best to pick another name (and I personally wouldn't choose such a popular name, however nice). There are plenty of great names which aren't even in the top 1000 most popular.

[hikerpoet.livejournal.com]

I actually really like it and would consider using it myself, if not for the fact my best friend had a psycho ex with that name. But I'm guessing you don't have that issue, so go for it!