Popularity of a name,...

[mamasammy.livejournal.com]

l've been thinking alot lately about the popularity of names and how much it affects the way we name our children. Especially in this community I have noticed what a big deal popularity is and what a massive turn off it can be even with a name that you loved before its rise to the top (or close to the top). I know for me personally, in naming my daughter, I think I must've considered every name in every book,... The first thing I'd check was the name's popularity and the closer it was to number one, the more it turned me away from the name.

Anyway, I was looking over the SSA Popular Baby Names List for 2009 and I was really amazed at the numbers I saw. For example, the name Isabella, while it was the most popular female name in the United States in 2009--only 22,067 babies were named Isabella last year. Which turns out to be 1.1023%, doesn't seem so popular when you look at it that way. A measly 1.1%? As for boys, the number one male name in 2009 was Jacob,...  20,858 boys were given the name Jacob. Which means--.9952%. Not even 1%!

I won't bore you with all the numbers, because you can go to the SSA website and see for yourself, but its just food for thought I guess. Even now that I know this information, I still feel the same way about names. When I have another baby, I'll still like a less popular name over a more popular name, only based on its rank in the SSA. I love the name Owen and I think it sounds good with my last name and all, but if I have a son, I won't use that name because its too popular in my opinion. Silly, but true.

If you have children--how much did you let the popularity of a name affect your decision to name your baby?
If you don't have children--how important is the popularity of a name you would like to use for future children?

Thoughts?

Comments

[duckduckcaboose.livejournal.com]

The popularity of a name does not turn me off. A lot of names I like are popular, and have been for over 100 years, like James (which has never been out of the Top 20) and Michael. The names that I don't like are the trendy ones like Braedyn or Myckinzee. Names with ridiculous spellings or no meaning/historical significance.

The other thing to consider with the more popular names is spelling. The total for Isabella/Isabelle/Isabel/Izabelle/Isabela/Isabell/Izabella is 28,026.

[makeitstopjamie.livejournal.com]

Just a thought. I had five Michaels in my English class my sophomore year of high school, two had the same last name. I think that's some of the dangers you get with the very classic boy names.

[duckduckcaboose.livejournal.com]

Well, as I said, I still don't find that to be a complete turn off. I mean, sure it is something to consider, but for me popularity alone is not enough to make me rule out a name. Plus, that could honestly happen with any name. The year I was born (1988) there were only 574 Annettes. The name was ranked 410. I still had a class with 2 Annettes in it, though one went by "Annie".

[mamasammy.livejournal.com]

I see your point, I should've included in my original post that I was born in 1988 and at the time, my name (Samantha) was the 8th most popular name according to the SSA and I'm now 22 and have only met/known of 3 other Samantha's, all at different times in my life.

One was the same age as me.
Two and three were both a couple years older than me.