Popularity and likes

[velkoria.livejournal.com]

I've noticed it seems to be a trend here to really dislike popular names and it's not the typical 'well, I like it but since it's so popular I would avoid using it at this time' but, with the exception of made up/misspelled names I just don't get it when people go 'Madison/Sarah/Emma sucks! It's in the top 10 HELLO! I'd pick any name but that' or something along those lines but more sugar coated or something. So what say you, do you honestly rule out a name on the hate list because it's popular or simply sigh and hope by the time you have a child the trend dies down?

I for example will admit I love Aidan as a name, the meaning is really sweet and I just like it. Not to mention that spelling it Aidán it is perfectly easy for my hispanic family to pronounce. And whenever I mention my like of the name it's like OMG EW -AYDEN TREND FOLLOWER!! When really... it's a name that's been around for centuries!

Another name I really like is Madison... this one I wouldn't use so much and it's not as high up as Aidan but it's nice enough but OMG EW MAD- TREND FOLLOWER gets so tiring to hear...

Comments

[laminy.livejournal.com]

I would definitely rule out names based on how popular they are. And they may not still be in the Top 10 by the time I have kids, but there will still be all those other ones running around out there. I really like Braeden until the trend started, and now I would never use it.

The most popular name I like is Abigail, but I would only use it as a middle name anyway.

[arbus.livejournal.com]

first of all, i feel the need to point out that madison and sarah/emma are two COMPLETELY different cases. sarah and emma are classic, timeless names. madison is just plain horrid and trendy. not to mention, trashy, imo.

noah vacillates between being our #1 and our #2 name, and that hasnt changed despite the popularity of it.

i personally love emma and isabel, those are two long time favorites of mine, but yes, i am less likely to use them because of the popularity issue.

i used to love the name madeline/madeleine but because of the recent surge of "maddies" (see madison, above) i will absolutely never name my daughter that now.

i was born carrie and my husband (legally, john jr. but has gone exclusively by jack since birth) both have not popular names. i was the only carrie in my class all through school until i met a kerry in college. its still very rare that i meet another carrie, in any form. and growing up, my husband knew many johns/jonathans his age, but no jacks. now, the majority of the jacks that he meets are the children he teaches.

maybe this all has something to do with it, i dont know.

[snappedapple.livejournal.com]

My son is named Aidan and I do not care one bit that he might be the 34th Aidan in his kindergarten class. I've always loved the name, I love the meaning and history and all of that.

Our girl name was Emma Jane which is also pretty popular, I think. But Emma was a name back in his family, and Jane is my grandma, so it meant something to us. And Aidan's middle name is also a family name for my husband.

[florallove.livejournal.com]

I suppose I might not like a name just because it's in the top 10, but most of them I genuinely dislike, or there might be other reasons. I think Sarah is very pretty, but it's just a tad too plain (maybe it seems plain because it's used a lot? it just doesn't seem unique at all). I'm also one of those people who doesn't want to do anything if lots of people are. I like to be classic, but not common. I even dislike it when I like names that aren't terribly popular everywhere, but popular in this community, like Josephine and Silas.

I think if you like a name, unless it's something ridiculous like Moldy Bread, then what other people say isn't really important. if it's a legit name, then it's really just a matter of taste. like other people have said, there's a difference between classic and trendy, but even that is open for interpretation. Emma has been popular for a very long time, so someone might say it's classic, but to me it's trendy. it's a matter of taste and the only taste that really matters is yours.

[qtshorty1625.livejournal.com]

I think it's interesting that you see Emma as being trendy, because it always makes me think of Louisa May Alcott's book.

[qtshorty1625.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I meant to say Jane Austen. I'm watching something on Alcott right now, so I had her name in my head.

Although I guess it too means on how the term trendy is being interpreted. I tend to think of trendy names as a name that's like "No one uses it. . .Oh look at everyone using it. . .no one's heard of the name."

I don't know, just a random thought.

[qtshorty1625.livejournal.com]

I don't consider popularity too much in my consideration. The way I see it, a name will either end up as "I'm 1 of 5 Jessicas in the class" or "What, who names their child Nancy these days?" (my mom's reaction when my aunt announced her youngest daughter's name).

The only time I really let popularity factor into my consideration of a name is when it has to do with how many people I personally know with the name. For example, whenever I'm telling a story and I use the name Eric, I get asked "Wait, which one?"

[falls2climb.livejournal.com]

I don't think that giving your child a common name automatically dooms them to being "Name B." or "Name X." for the rest of their life. I'm a Lauren from the early 1980s, and I'm sure I'm one of MANY Laurens of that time period, but I only encountered one other Lauren my age from kindergarten through high school graduation. My sister Sarah rarely had another Sarah in her class. They're common names, sure, but that doesn't mean they're going to be common in your particular child's experience.

The popularity of a name doesn't really influence me, but then again, I've yet to have children. I love Matthew, even though I have two cousins named Matthew and know plenty of them. I've always liked Aidan (and, after teaching for the past six years, I can honestly say I've only encountered one Aidan). I've always liked the name Kaitlyn too, but that's waned a bit - not because I've encountered so many Kaitlyns while teaching, but because I've taught a few Kaitlyns who were pretty awful and that tends to color my perception of the name after a while.

[nearlyalegume.livejournal.com]

My biggest reason for avoiding really popular names (i.e, the top ten) is because as a teacher, it makes things really difficult in the classroom.

The year before last, I had four Jacks in one class. FOUR. Out of twenty-five kids. I'd see one mucking around with a Bunsen burner and yell "Jack! Stop that!", and the other three would turn around and want to know why I was yelling at them!

I'm currently a day shy of 13 weeks pregnant with my first child, and my husband and I have chosen names already. Our boy name flirts with top 30 names (but no higher), and our girl name (the first one, the middle one matters less in this regard) doesn't even make the top 100. I'm glad of it, and pray that a celebrity doesn't use it anytime soon and starts a trend!