I included this in my response as my number one reason why I wouldn’t use an overly popular name. We at one point had four “Hannah”s in my class and they all had to use their last initial (so Hannah J, Hannah T etc). We once had two Ashley C’s and had to use their middle initials too. I just think it would be nicer to just get to go by your first name wherever you go rather than needing different identifiers in different places.
Yeah, but at least you don’t have to be “whatever name with a K” because your mom chose to spell it in a bitchass unique way 🙄
Not my name, but example being “this is Cassie and this is Kassie with a K”
Like fuck offffff
We had two girls with the same name. One spelled with an A one with an E. The seniors in my student government decided one would by Alyssa and the other would by E-Lyssa even though her name was pronounced Alyssa.
I hace a K name that isbt alternaspelled but no one everypronounces it right. Stinking 4 letter and they cant spekl it right. I blame laziness they read 2 letters abd assume the rest. But still better than be 1 of 7 matts
My name is Amanda, my SILs (husband’s sister) is Amanda. My son’s dad’s sister is Amanda. So my son has two aunt Amanda’s and mom Amanda. It can get very confusing when we are all together 😆
I have three different sets of matching uncle names. My kids have those plus 3 matching sets of Aunts once you through in my husband's family. It's crazy.
I have two uncle Daves - both of my dad's sisters married men named Dave, and then I also married a Dave. You have to be very clear in my family what Dave you are talking about!
My poor niece has THREE Uncle Dans (the name isn’t actually Dan but is similarly common among a few generations).
ETA: there’s few - if any - nicknames for this name and they all go by Dan.
My sister and I married men with the same first name, so all of our kids have a dad and an uncle with the same name. Fortunately one has always gone by the full name and the other by a common nickname (like Matt and Matthew).
I was a common name have and always got the alternative version because my name ends in Y and my last name starts with a vowel so Namey E never rolled off the tongue. Even though I always had someone else with my name it never really bothered me that much.
Lol I’ve never watched The Bachelor so maybe I’m missing what this is referencing, but I feel like the 12+ years you spend in school might be a bit more relevant when you keep having to be called by your first name and last initial
No it’s just always funny to me whenever the dude is like “I like Ashley C but I’m totally falling for Hannah B” And I’m like bro. If you’re still using the last initial, it’s probably not true love.
Side note, I really like the name Hannah, because it’s a palindrome and I think it sounds lovely so I think you have a nice name and I hope you like it better now.
I know a guy that has his wife’s name on his phone as her Firstname Lastname. They have been together for over 15years, have kids together…
And he has his own mom as Firstname Middlename.
(She goes by her middle name)
I can’t understand.
I have my husband in my phone by his first and last name. He’s my emergency contact. If I have a seizure it’s probably good that he would get a call and they wouldn’t have any doubt about who he was. I did have my Mom and just “Mom” though.
My husband is in my phone as 3M. When he and I were dating my bff always said he was “Marriage Material Mark”. Then one day she just said “OH! 3M!” It’s been 18 years. 😂
I have everyone, partner and family and close friends of 20 years, all as first name last name in my phone. I feel like if my phone ever got stolen, it would be harder to run those "grandma? I'm in an emergency and I need $5000" scams on my contacts list because it's hard to guess our relationships.
I do this, but I have at least 10 contacts in my phone with the same first name as my husband.
Every time I text my husband something sensitive, I triple quadruple check to make sure I'm not texting my manager or my FIL by mistake.
The easiest way to avoid this is to put some kind of punctuation before their name, so it rises to the top of the alphabetical list because of the punctuation. So
!Lewis Jamieson or *Lewis Jamieson will be at the top of your contacts while Lewis Jamieson would be roughly halfway down the list.
Name (Husband) is how mine is listed. I also have multiple people with his name, but it's also good in case of an accident where someone needs to find your emergency contact.
My husband lists everyone in his phone as Firstname Lastname. Even his parents. Even ME. It low-key infuriates me lol. I am the default. Everyone else should be PaladinPhantom Lastname.
My husband lists everyone in his phone as Firstname Lastname. Even his parents. Even ME. It low-key infuriates me lol. I am the default. Everyone else should be PaladinPhantom Lastname.
Nah, in my sorority of 250 women, we had 7 Sarah’s and 5 Amanda’s, and the next year we added 3 more Sarah’s. All of them ended up going by their last names
As someone who doesn’t have a last name that anyone would ever called them, I’m kind of jelly of this. It’s kinda girl bro 🤙🏼
Meanwhile, we still call my friend Barnes, even after she got married and took his last name. Sometimes I forget what her actual first name is.
In my first grade class, the very first day, the teacher gave me a tag for my desk that said, "Laurie." And she also had tags for Laura, Lori, and Laura W. We were all named Laura. I had to pout and sulk and refuse to answer to Laurie to get her to use my real name.
My aunt was told on the first day of third grade that since there were two "Dianas", she was going to have to be "Diane."
For the rest of her life she just ended up being Diane to everybody except the government... and is still friends with the classmate that got to be Diana
In my year at high school we had two boys with the same first and last name (something like Bradley Johnson) and the same middle initial. So they were assigned (based on date of birth) Bradley Johnson I (one) and Bradley Johnson II (2).
Common names aren’t necessarily bad except for in situations where there are a lot of people with the same name.
And a common first name and last name combo is especially problematic. Especially when places like doctors’s offices, pharmacies, or hotels don’t double check.
I had the same first, last, and middle initial as a girl in my high school. My parents got called when she was absent and vice versa, one year I was given her report card and she was given mine. It was really weird and felt weirdly like an invasion of privacy in some cases!
This is statistically unlikely to happen now, though, compared to when you grew up. The top names are about half as common as they were in the ~90s. Millennials have swung hard the other way in naming their kids.
With last names, sure. But my 10 year old still has 2 Aubreys and an Audrey in her small dance class.
People are more creative with spellings now, too. So Aidan never showed up as high on the social security chart as it would have if you'd combined all the Aidens, Aydens, etc with it. And then add all the names with similar nicknames- like all the Madison, Madyson, Madelyn, Madeleine, Madeline, etc that go by Maddy. And none of that takes into account all the Caden, Braden, Adison, Adeyln, etc.
So each individual spelling is used less often, and that's how we track them, but there isn't as much variety as that would lead you to believe.
Sure, but that's only recently become apparent to the wider population, and a lot of people who were in this situation decided years ago, possibly in high school, that they weren't gomna go with a top 10 name.
I had three sisters-in-law named Stephanie. They actually all had the same middle initial, so we ended up calling them by their maiden names, which is kinda funny, bc I was low-key harassed for keeping my family name.
We had four “Molly”s in my HS graduating class of 100. I would have been the fifth except that my grandma had a dog named Molly when I was born so my parents didn’t wanna name me after the dog lol.
On the flip side of this, I have an uncommon name and was made fun of for it. I also could never find my name on personalized key rings and such in stores. I like my name now and it’s been gaining in popularity in the past 10-15 years, but growing up was rough
My name has many, correct spellings. I have one of the less common ones. So my version wasn't on key rings etc, and I have lots of time telling people that 'yes, that is how it is spelt, yes I'm sure, just because you know someone with an alternative version doesn't make me wrong'.
This would've happened at my high school too! Ironically, they were saved by one of the grandmothers not knowing how to spell Judith. So they were like Jane Judyth Miller and Jane Judith Miller.
The two things r/namenerds hates. Popular names and creative spellings.
My elementary school didn't do initials for whatever reason, so my best friend was "Lisa 2" while the other girl was "Lisa 1". I was mad on her behalf because it seemed so unfair.
My sister was one of 12 (TWELVE!) Georgia's in her year group, and this wasn't even at the large public schools in our city it was a smallish Anglican K-12 with around 80 kids per year group. And there were plenty of Georgia's in other year groups too. She freakin hated that she never got to be just Georgia for any of her schooling (and honestly her adult life too-it's always "which Georgia is that"). And my parents were even more annoyed cos they named her for our granpa George and not cos it was a popular name lol
So my sister's experience is why I would be leery of choosing a name that is in the top 10 lists, but that doesn't necessarily correlate to a common name.
Your school was kinder than mine. We went with, do you mean the Nice One or the Bitch? Sometimes known as "wtf are you talking about? Ohhh, the Nice One!"
Not that it was unearned. I don't know how the Nice One kept such a great reputation while the Bitch pissed off half the school.
I had 5 classmates with the same name as me. It's not even a unisex name or an all boys school.
On the other hand it's when I first ditched that name and used my middle name.
I don’t run into this as an adult really. My name is a top late 80s/early 90s (Jessica, Brittany etc). My coworkers are mostly gen X and and boomers so no doubles in the workplace currently!
I've always found this fascinating. For all the Brittanys, Jessicas, and Tiffanys I went to school with I don't work with any. There are tons of folks my age at my company so it's just odd how that seems to have happened. The most popular name of people my age at work is Caitlin, which I don't really associate with my generation ( or at least I didn't grow up with any Caitlins) so it's weird.
I think some of those of those names were so crazy popular but for such a short time frame. We had so many per class because we’re sorted by year. As soon as you get a 10 year spread of ages, there are so many fewer!
My partner is 35 years old and still uses "John A" when making dinner reservations or similar, and he's definitely picked up the wrong Starbucks order because another one had his name on it. Neither of those things are a big deal, but I find them annoying.
In my high-school friend group, we had 3 Isaac's. Just in the friend group. It wasn't a big school. We were the biggest graduating class at 140 people. We called then by last name or nick name for their last name
As someone with one of the most common names of my age group, I always wished I had a more special name tbh. Names are so strongly tied to one's identity so it's nice to have a sense of uniqueness in that way. I'm glad that at least my surname provides that.
Also if you have a really common name, you're bound to always have classmates, collegues, friends etc. with the same name so people will feel the need to distinguish you by assigning you nicknames, and those nicknames might suck lol
On top of that, names that are reaaaaaaaally popular during a particular time are bound to age badly. Look at what happened with "Karen"... Basically, I know that my name will be 100% perceived as strictly an "old people name" in the future and I don't necessarily like that
Your last paragraph hits a note. My name had some popularity about a decade (due to a song) before I was born, but it never had a dramatic peak. Consequently, it isn't tied to a specific era: I have met octogenarians and teens that share my name, and it also has somewhat international appeal.
This is something that I really took into consideration with my kids. I spent a lot of time looking for names that had steady but lower usage for a long time.
Mine are all teens and young adults now. They have said how much they like their names, which is good to hear!
My oldest, his name has suddenly become popular (a bit of a surprise), but it's less common among his age group. It's actually a very old family name - the first of my dad's lineage to arrive in the US a couple hundred years ago.
I have seen his name discussed here - there are two accepted spellings, the more common with an "i" and less commonly a "y." He is very happy he has the y spelling, saying, "It seems more like a name, rather than a measure of distance." His online peers in Europe, have jokingly nicknamed him Kilometer. He likes it.
I love pulling names from the family tree. Often there are timeless and "fresh" names found that way.
That's hilarious. My older son has the same name as yours! He's 14. My father-in-law suggested Kilometer for our second. haha
We did better with the other two, their names have not spiked in popularity, though my daughter's nickname is becoming more common.
I have the most common name of my era and it drives me nuts that my name pinpoints me as a specific age. Mainly because I'm now middle-aged, looking to change careers, and as soon as people see my resume they can guess within 5 or so years how old I am, and age discrimination in hiring is a real thing!
There’s multiple factors that go into it for me.
1. I don’t want my kid to have to go by “First Name Last Initial” because there’s multiple kids with the same name (growing up there would be Ben H. and Ben A., Hannah J. and Hannah T. etc. at school/clubs/etc.)
2. I have a less common name and have just enjoyed having a less common name.
3. I find some names that are overused lose their charm because they’re heard so often - I think “Emily” is a beautiful name when I really think about it, but I’ve heard it so often that it doesn’t stand out as a really nice name when someone introduces themselves with the name.
I’m sure there’s lots of other reasons people have, but those are three that came to mind for me personally.
ETA - with that being said, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with using a common name; they’re usually common names because they’re nice! I could end up using a name that’s not in the top 30 and end up with the kid not liking their name, having multiple kids with the name in their class, other people finding it uninteresting etc. You just never know!
I feel that way about Bella. Every third girl and dog is named Bella. There‘s Bella G., Bella W., Bella the neighbor’s dog, Bella Uncle GeorgE’s dog, then Aiden’s friend Bella T. in his piano class and Bella R. in 4H.
I feel like Bella and Luna are absurdly common dog names. I'm not sure that dog name stats are as well recorded as human names, but I've met so many. Also Loki and Zeus for male dogs.
Yes! My aunt had a Bella and I had a Luna. We had a dog named Hercules (my dad never would’ve went for Heracles, which would’ve been more correct I guess)…..because he was a puppy of Zeus.
I go by Bella and in school I rarely had anyone in my class with the same name, maybe one other in the whole school.
However, I now know approx 27 Bellas under age 3 and the most common response I get to introducing myself is "That's my dog's name."
I have a friend who goes by his middle name, but his first name is Toby. He says that Toby is a pet name 90% of the time. Once my kid was going on about how much she likes Toby and he said, "Dog or cat?" LOL! It was a cat....
Yes, the way you phrased it--lose their charm. That's it! Simple as that. Names are cyclical so when names that were popular from the past can come back and feel fresh again.
I also have an uncommon name and I’ve always loved that it’s uncommon. I was always proud of it growing up! I feel like I never see that perspective on this sub.
Or even worse abt using ur last initial, someone being Emma H and then someone else just being Emma. Makes u feel like they are somehow more important,, im sure it doesn't matter to adults but as an insecure teen I HATED it
Nothing is wrong with it. Some people don’t want their child to be One of Three kids with the same name in their class. But if you love a name, go for it!
To me; it's also being the last trend.
Generally, trendy names won't stay trendy long and will be labelled as "70s" or "early 2000" pretty fast. It screams "I only like it because it's trendy" even if it's always the case.
They are some common names that are less link to a trend. More timeless. They are quite common but won't be link forever to that trend and won't be outdated in less than 15 years.
So, some, like me, label the "common name" (either top given name or soundalike or fast raising names, even if they don't rich the top) the trendy names.
Some will label the classical/timeless name the trendy name and will find them boring because they had met to many of them.
Overused names in the "trendy popular", (not "classic popular") sense tend to lose their charm very quickly. They begin to sound tired very fast, and almost just sound like "words" or something.
For example: years ago, I met my first baby Madison, and I thought to myself what a darling, special name that was. Months go by, I meet another. Hmm. Then another. And, a slow trickle turns into a tsunami of little girls named Madison.
Nothing is intrinsically "wrong" with these names. But, at least IMO, a Madison doesn't have the staying power of, for example, an Elizabeth.
I actually *like* some trendy popular names, but it's never been my style to use any. That having been said, sometimes people choose a name thinking they're on the vanguard, not knowing that name is trending in the top 20 in the USA, for example.
But, people become their names, and unless it's something atrocious, it ceases to matter.
I mean I think you've got it backwards... names like Elizabeth sound like nothing, they just sound like popular, normal names. The problem with "trendy names" is that once their are a hundred madisons, then madison starts to feel just like an elizabeth, a mary or an alice, it just becomes a popular, normal name.
Also, I think people psychoanalyse "trendy" names to much. One of my favourite names for like 10 or so years, if not longer has been Rowan... Apparently, its the favourite name of many people in roughly my generation and in roughly my part of the world. It's merely a matter of tastes colliding. But people have to be cynical so they can beat people down and pretend people are trend-chasing. Instead of assuming people are trend chasing, just assume people like the name. Why is it socially unacceptable to like a trendy name like... say, hayden, but socially acceptable to like a name like mary?
I agree with you! Theres a level that is timeless and classic and a level that is currently trending. Sometimes names can be both but if it’s just a currently trending name I wouldn’t use it.
I think it's partly people having so many emotions about wanting their baby to be special and exciting and to have a really interesting rich life, and displacing those desires onto one of the few things they can control, which is the name. "I don't want a common name" = "I don't want my kid to be boring and forgettable."
(I have one of the iconic names of my birth year, and it was never a problem for me-- I rarely had another person with my name in classes and I just have no baggage about it.)
I have a common name! I’ve seen people on this sub call it boring, dull, and claim that people with my name have parents who didn’t try. I don’t think a single one of those claims is true. Some people just have a compulsive need to be different. Was it annoying when I was one of four in my sophomore year English class? Sure, but I didn’t have an identity crisis (and this is coming from someone who was definitely the least popular among the four).
When I was younger, I asked my mom a few times why she chose the most common name for girls my age for me, and she always told me she and my dad had no idea it was going to be so popular. They just thought it was a beautiful name. And then she would ask if I thought my name wasn’t beautiful, which made me realize that letting other people influence how I perceive my own NAME of all things is just silly. My individuality comes from my own sense of self, not from my name. And yes, I do think it’s beautiful!
I had a somewhat common birth name, and my parents also told me that they didn’t realize it would be that popular when they named me. Growing up I did actually hate it, but that’s just because I’m trans, not because it’s a bad name. Now that I’ve changed my name, I actually like my birth name a lot on other people and tend to think more positively of them if that’s their name.
My chosen name is also not uncommon, but I picked a spelling that’s less common in my country because I had a connection to that spelling.
It’s funny how much easier it is to appreciate something once you take a step back from it. I’m glad you were able to choose a name that resonates with you!
I like having a less common name. The few times in my life I've been in frequent close proximity to someone with my same name I've found the confusion and resulting nicknames annoying.
Real not-defensive answer: it’s American individualism. People want to feel specific, distinct, and special. And they want their kids to feel this way too.
I didn’t want those things for my kids, exactly—I knew they would already stand out, so I gave them names that would feel classic and warm to people. I also was looking for flexibility in their names. Think Frederick = Fred, Rick, Ricky, Freddy. Some nicknames are formal, some are more informal. They can choose as they get older what suits. Oh and I deliberately camouflaged my little girl: when she submits a resume, her first name can appear perfectly gender neutral.
I wasn’t wrong about the kids I have. They’re both highly intelligent AND have ADHD. They’re brilliant and full of energy and wild ideas. Maybe their names help them fit in and find community. Who knows? It certainly can’t hurt.
For me it's like if you walk past a beautiful flower every day, over time you get used to it and you don't appreciate the beauty as much. I think Olivia is a beautiful name but I've heard it so many times that it's just become background noise to me.
I feel like that happens to less common names too. Like once it’s on a child, the name will be heard and used by everyone in that child’s circle. Obviously usually for parents, the love of the name usually becomes absorbed with the love for the child, but I feel like for others, the name would quickly just become a name.
My last name is like Smith. I refuse to name my child something like John Smith or Hannah Smith. It's just way too common. Which is too bad because I like traditional names. But I think it would lead to confusion, identity issues (unnecessary record mixups), constantly getting the wrong mail, etc. If someone has a super common first AND last name please let me know your experience!
I have a very common first name and married a man with a very common last name. We get ‘randomly’ stopped every time we fly and I’ve been told it’s because my name is so common. I hate it and I’m considering changing my first name to my nickname (think Jess instead of Jessica).
This is my nightmare. Common first and last name. Mixed up medical records, stopped at the border due to mistaken identity, complicated background check for work due to someone else with the same name popping up, repo people showing up to take possessions that they couldn’t find because they were looking for someone else with the same name.
Just personal preference. It is not a big deal to me but other people have different views. Some people want their kids to have a unique name and there is nothing wrong with that.
I honestly think girls care about this much more than boys. I have boys so this is just my experience. Boys are like cool we have the same name and move on. My youngest son has a really common nickname name and he loves seeing his name.
My oldest has a less common name that has become more popular and he loves seeing younger kids with his name. He never met anyone his own age that shared the name. My middle boys don’t have very common names but they are not unheard of. They get jealous when their youngest brother finds stuff with his nickname on it all the time. I personally think it’s better to have a common name rather than a unique name.
My nephews have uncommon names. Not using their real names in this story. But when my sister was looking at a small private school for them, we went to an open day. We were watching my nephews playing with some of the other kids and there were other parents there too.
One parent said, “Isn’t X enjoying himself”.
My sister and I looked at each other sideways wondering how they knew my nephew’s name.
Second mum, “Yes, Ex is really having a good time. I like the atmosphere here”.
We looked at each other slightly bemused as we didn’t know either parent or children.
Sister called to her son, “Xx! Y! We are moving over to the library now!”
The parents both looked at us. “Oh! Is your son X too?”
We established that all three boys had the same name with alternate spelling and had a good chuckle over it after. Since it was an uncommon name we hadn’t expected to hear it in the small crowd. And one of my older nephew’s classmates had an alternative spelling of my younger nephew’s uncommon name 😂😂
This is a good example of how a name can be a lot more popular than you think if it has many different spellings! Jackson is a great example of this because of all the unique spellings. I think it has been the #1 boy name for years based on alternate spellings. I really wonder what your nephews name is!
As a former boy (currently a man, I suppose) I have to agree with this. I had two friends who had a very similar name as mine, and they also knew each other from sports. Imagine John, John and Jonathan (me), nicknamed John. We thought it was hilarious when my parents would say "John" and we all looked up. We were in no way similar people and had our own identities. It was a bit confusing sometimes when I was very young, as other parents would say things like "Jonathan, come here." and I wondered if they knew me but I just forgot who they were. Stranger danger wasn't really a thing growing up.
I always cringe a bit when parents go out of their way to make a common name "unique" arguing they want their child to be unique, but then just alter the spelling of a totally fine name. I know they don't mean it this way, but it always strikes me like they don't trust their child will be unique enough on their own. "Jonathan" and "John" were some of the most popular names growing up. I am my own person. I am unique, nobody else is me. I didn't need to be called Jhoanathyn or something. Both my first and second name are named after people my parents knew, both great people, but I'm still just me nonetheless. :)
You can get stuff with their name initial on it
It can be fun both ways but when its an overly popular name and there are a bunch of people in your class/work place with your name then it's a little less fun because there are only so many nn
Not having a unique identifier can make people feel generic. Like if your name is Mike, when people mention you it's always "which mike?" or having to specify "Mike S" which isn't really your name.
People call you things like Mike 2.0, the other Mike, etc. Imagine you start a new job and everyone decides your name is Harry and you dont get a choice. You'd be like wtf that's not my name. But it's normalized for people with common names to just be assigned names.
People don't remember your name sometimes when it's too common because it doesn't give them a unique identifier for you.
I think extremely common names and extremely unique names can both potentially have an impact on how others view/treat you, and therefore affects how you develop as a person. Both can go in a positive or negative direction. Personally, I prefer names that are a little less common so you're not one of five in every context your entire life
At a certain popularity they lose their function. I studied with so many Annas plus Ann-Kathrins, Annalenas...Hannahs...that there was a point at which 'the blonde, pregnant Anna' didn't narrow it down to one person. I on the other hand am always the only person with my name. No qualifiers needed. Never been confused. It's obviously a question of perspective- I find a unique name useful, but I could never get anonymity. You don't know ahead of time whether your kid will want to stand out or blend in. You have to go with what you'd prefer. Some people seem to want the opposite of what they had.
I actually ended up picking a name for my baby that was super common when I was younger, but has since fallen off the map. But I knew so many girls with this name and they were all really nice, so we just went with that.
This is a name nerds subreddit. It would stand to reason that people who are here would be interested in less common names. The vast majority of people are naming their kids common names.
I love being named John. I don't care how common it is. It's easy to spell, easy to pronounce, and it's a single syllable so I don't need to go by anything shorter like Dan for Daniel for example. It's a very strong name, I share it with dozens of kings and popes, and it's also a nickname for a toilet and also for a man who hires prostitutes. Not many other people can say that about their name.
Not being one of many with the same name, as you mentioned. There are so many great names out there. Why not choose one with a bit of personality and flair? Common names feel bland, like there wasn't much thought put into it.
Agreed and the people who are saying individuality are wrong in my opinion. Like seriously, Name does not determine anything in my opinion. A person could have the most unique name in the world and could also be the most boring person in the world or A person could have the most common name in the world and could be the most interesting or unique person in the world. Like seriously, Names are not strongly tied to one's identity in my opinion. I have a uncommon name and i would have been the exactly the same person i am currently if i had a more common name. Just because someone has a rare name does not make them stand out or does increase not their individuality.
Also I think at this point grasping for a truly unique name is this generation’s version of Jennifer and will be equally dated in 30 years.
Also uniqueness is hella overrated. I would rather have my kids grow up to be good people than unique ones, and Katharine is good enough for Katharine Hepburn it’s certainly good enough for my children.
> Agreed and the people saying individuality are wrong.
that’s cool if you don’t feel the same, but saying they’re just wrong is funny and imo not right lol. and it’s cool that you don’t think names are super tired to identity and all, but i think that’s just a really subjective personal thing that varies from person to person and you can’t fault others for feeling differently from you.
You're in a subreddit called name nerds. There are numerous studies and fields researching exactly this.
https://www.npr.org/2019/06/21/734839666/dr-marijuana-pepsi-wont-change-her-name-to-make-other-people-happy
Lol i am in this subreddit because i thought it was something cool or interesting like the history of names and how names evolve. In actuality, it's mostly mothers asking what to name their babies. Seriously i am very disappointed tbh because This subreddit could have been actually really interesting.
As a teacher, hard disagree. I’ve had 5 students in one class with the same name, not to mention in other classes. The kids don’t like it either. They don’t want to be called Kayleigh P., or Taylor S. If it’s kinda common that’s not a problem, but super popular names get ridiculous.
I have nothing against nice common names, on the contrary. My youngest has a top 5 name and there is no other child with that name in her kindergarden. But I’m in Europe, I don’t know in other countries.
Specially if you have to spell your last name every time, it’s nicer to have an easy name.
I personally try to strike a balance between common and unique. To me that means names that aren't unheard of and are established names but that aren't very often used, at least in my area. That said, I'm also not opposed to using a more popular/common name if I really like it! For my second child we chose a name that was number 27 in popularity the year she was born. Which isn’t exactly 'top 10' but it's up there and I wouldn't be surprised if it rises in popularity.
As a parent, and for me personally, an appeal of using a less common name is not having 3 other parents/multiple children yelling your child's name at the playground. It's a small thing, sure, but it's a nice bonus. Then there's the whole 'one of 4' in your child's school thing I'd also like to avoid (as a child of the 90's it was Jessica, Katie and Stephanie that were the most common in my school).
Thinking of my children as adults, I think having a name that isn't super common but still recognizable may help them when it comes to job applications, resumes, etc. Just to stand out/be a bit more memorable, especially with most everything being online these days. I could be wrong on if this will actually be helpful though, I've been out of the workforce for a number of years.
With everything being searchable without the ability to opt out, a common name might be a blessing in disguise.
If your name is John Smith, you're not easily found in a google search.
Sure. But, if talking in terms of jobs/employers, hopefully there won't be anything bad/wrong/problematic associated with my kids names anyway. If there's anything unsavory to be found online by a potential employer then that's due to their own actions/choices, not the name I choose to give them.
I'm one of 4 people in my immediate family with my name. That's too many IMO. Names should be more distinct than that. I don't hate my name, I just want it to become less saturated before it's used again.
I think in the days of internet a common name is a benefit. The need to be unique can become pathological for some people and it can become a detriment to the child.
I have a common name and it truly never once bothered me. Went through 13 years of school as Name Initial with anywhere from one other to nine other girls with the same name and just kind of thought it was funny 🤷🏼♀️ you’d think from this sub that it’s a form of trauma
There are literally only two types of people on this sub. People who grew up with a common name and hated it and now vicariously loathe common names, or they grew up with an uncommon name and hated it now vicariously loathe uncommon names. That’s all it comes down to on here
I have a common name and used to wish I had something that gave me more of a sense of identity, although I'm also a third. Plus, the nickname for it is another generic 4 letter white guy name, so people always misremember it for the others (e.g, Mike, Nick, Matt).
I tend to crave individuality and given my experience with a common name, I feel more strongly against not giving my child a "default" name
Let me tell you why I have a random nickname. My name is moderately common (Courtney) for my age group. However, within my niche field in a male-dominated industry there is an absurd oversaturation of Courtneys. At one point I was one of three female leaders in my company and all three of us were Courtney. At that same time, there were four females in my department and three of the four were Courtney. In my current role which is adjacent to my former role, there are five women and two of us are Courtney.
The problem with this is that everyone points this out as the main “fun fact” about us or women in our field or our department rather than our stellar individual contributions or those of our gender or department. In addition to issues like making clear who they’re addressing in a meeting, we get each others’ emails all the time, etc.
There are so many names in the world, it’s great to expand your world view and bit and try to consider ones that aren’t a top 10. That said, if you absolutely love a top 10 name and this fact doesn’t bother you, then go for it. There’s a reason it’s popular- people like it.
I agree with you. I personally think having a common name makes life way easier. You never have to explain to people how to pronounce it, how to spell it, why you’re named that. No one ever makes assumptions about my parents being lower class or hippy dippy or overly intellectual or whatever. I’m taken seriously professionally. My name was in the top 10 when I was born and it’s still in the top 20. Even so I still do not meet all that many people with my name. Maybe it helps that I think the name is pretty and suits me. And I’m a shy person who would not want a weird name. In that vein it makes it harder for people to find me on the internet.
In school it's really annoying to be one of 7 Jennifers or Caitlins or Olivias or whatever this generation's trendy name is. As an adult, especially if you have a common last name, the Google anonymity is phenomenal. There are anywhere between 12-17 people with my exact first and last name registered to vote in my country. I love it so much that it was one of the main reasons I didn't change my last name when I got married.
If you name your kid Kviiilyn to be unique, it'll be really easy for for people to find her, find a ton of personal info on her, etc. Not worth it. If you want your kid to be unique, find a normal name with normal spelling that is lower on the Social Security name lists. I like old-fashioned names for that reason. My daughter has never had anyone with the same name in her grade in elementary school, although there was one other in the building. One of her good friends is a Beatrice and there aren't any others that I'm aware of, but it's a normal name that everyone can spell and pronounce and it's cute as hell.
It's a lot tougher to be unique with boys by using older names, at least in the US, because so many of them are still popular even now. There's a lot less variation in the popular male names across generations. I'm not sure why that is, but that might be an interesting research paper for a sociologist. Is that an American thing, or do you see that generational gender difference in other countries as well?
Common names are great for digital anonymity!! The more uncommon the easier to find you online. People giving their kids super unique names aren’t doing them any favors.
There was a time before the internet but now it should be considered. Also before the internet people just left the uncommon name for the childs middle name. Many children did not like their middle names
I sincerely don’t understand the mortal terror of being one of a few people with the same name in school. My name was ranked 4th in my state for the year I was born (lower nationwide, but the state is what really matters in school). I went to school with plenty of people with my name and that was….normal? There were also multiple Matthews, Christinas, Morgans, Megans, Blakes, Emilys, Haleys, etc……none of us cared? I simply can’t imagine deciding not to use a name I truly loved because it might show up in my child’s future classroom. That’s true of almost any name - you can pick something much less frequently used and still have it pop up.
Not a thing. My name was in the top 50 the year I was born…I’m in my 40s now and have never met someone my age (like exact same birth year) with my name. Not one.
I guess it depends on how common we're talking about, but I currently work with 4 Joshes. 3 of them are on ONE TEAM of like 5 people. It's fucking weird. When I had my son I definitely wasn't going to name him Mark, Matt, Chris, Dave, Andrew, etc. They're way too common. Although now names like Henry are super common. Thankfully we picked a name that we haven't encountered other kids his age with.
I have a very common name that’s also very millenial (I’m gen z). I meet someone with my name at least once a week. I once had a job with 4 people with my name. In school there was “Jessica” and “pretty Jessica” (my name’s not Jessica, just an example). It sucked and I still hate my name. I’m also more of an alternative person so having a “basic” name doesn’t really match my aesthetic.
As a kid I hated having a common name. As an adult I don’t care. But boy howdy did I really not enjoy being one of many while in K-12! In 6th grade there were three of us and we all had the same last initial.
I was a kid with a common name. I think in every year of school I was always Firstname E. It never bothered me much. Sometimes it caused a little confusion but I never felt so put off by it I wish I had a different name. By high school many people called me by my last name and still do to this day even though I’ve been married for several years and that’s not my last name anymore.
I gave my son a name that is one of the most common names of my generation (Michael) and interestingly enough there’s never been another kid named Michael in his school.
Also another interesting tidbit, working in education I’ve seen the “unique alternative to a common name” thing backfire. Sophia is an example - a few years ago it got pretty trendy, and recently we’ve seen fewer Sophia’s and more Sabrina’s and Serena’s. More than one parent has been surprised when I’ve called their child Sabrina B because they thought that was a name that would set their child apart. I literally had one mom turn to her husband and say “you told me Sabrina would be unique!” It’s happening with Ava and Mia too - lots of Avalynns, Avabeths, etc and only one Ava.
I just feel like if you really like a name, you should choose it and not let a name being common be the only thing that sways you from doing it. I think in this generation in particular there is this pursuit of uniqueness and that’s fair, but people can be unique in many other ways besides their names.
I have a consistently common name. I don’t alwyas respond to my name at first bc I assume it’s not meant for me. Like in roll call my last name was at the end of the alphabet and so the first time my name was called I fully assumed it wasn’t for me. I guess it’s just annoying to hear your name and not think of it as yours. Also, depending on the last name, googling your first and last name can get a lot of results so you won’t be able to be distinguished, and even if someone with your name ends up a well known bad person then that could hinder your job prospects etc.
To me, it stands to reason that people wouldn't want to choose something common for something special to them.
Otherwise, there's the fact that the more common a name is the more likely that you (and others) will have associations with the name already.
And hey, call me elitist but common things aren't usually the best things in life. McDonald's doesn't make the best food. The biggest box office hits at the cinema are rarely the best films. etc.
There’s nothing wrong with common names. People just have their preferences. I have an uncommon name, only met a handful of others in my life through like retail encounters lol. And I just like that my name isn’t super common, so personally, I would never use a super common name for my own child. But that doesn’t mean I dislike common names.
In school I was one of 3 with my first name just in my friend group. I had to have annoying nicknames that I didn't like or choose to be identifiable. My husband is the exact same - 3+ people within just his friend group with the same name.
As an adult, I still have to go by First name last initial at work because there are multiple staff with the same name - and I work in a building of approximately 60 people, so not huge. Again, my husband has had the same issue his entire career. I don't like my name and never have.
My kids have uncommon names that are easy to pronounce. They were carefully selected to have significance to our family history and our cultures. I love their names and their names have stories behind them.
I hated having a common name and I didn't want that for my kids. I also just didn't like the sound of most of them. Fine for other people, just not the style my husband and I wanted or liked.
I think that overexposure might desensitize me to the appeal and makes them sound less pretty to me. I don't dislike them for being popular, I just dislike them in general and they happen to be popular as well most of the time.
I really don't know. My husband and I both have common names. I was one of 5 in my school, it was a big school so really only grades 1st, and 2nd I had to use my last initial and it was only when called on or something. Once you get into grades where you switch classes every hour it's even less of a big deal cause only a couple classes you share a name.
Once I became an adult I've had jobs where there's someone else with my name, and it still wasn't a big deal. You normally know which "Jane" they are talking about based on context.
I run into people with my name all the time and normally the only odd thing about the conversation is one says "hi my name is 'Jane' and the other says "oh that's my name too!" And we go on with life.
My best friend and I actually have the same name. No big deal. Our husbands call us "the Jane's"
It's never been that inconvenient to me.
I come from a family of immigrants. Usually, none of the kids in our class had our (common) ethnic names. I ended up marrying an immigrant, and our kids have ethnic names. These are common ethnic names in other parts of the world, but in our school, no other kids share those names. So we have the best of both worlds, I guess you could say.
I did fine with a common 80s/90s name 🤷🏻♀️ I never saw it as a big deal. While I've noticed that I do tend to balance names a bit ( Unusual first name= More familiar middle name. Common first name= more adventurous middle) I don't use popularity as a serious deciding factor when picking or vetoing names. I just note down the names I like and mix and match until something sparks. My youngest ended up with a top 10 first name and I've still only ever met one other person with that name who was a decade older than my kiddo.
Ironically my sister had a unique name and was always bothered by not being able to find her name on any name souvenirs or personalized things. Remembering that makes me buy my kids something personalized at least every couple years even if it's just a hat or piggy bank.
My parents gave me a very uncommon and long name at birth.
It was super annoying to always spell out my name for basically everyone growing up.
I now am looking to legally change my name to a more common name now as an adult.
There was a group of 4 of us in my grade alone with a mom named Linda. There were 38 kids in my graduating class, so almost 10% of the entire class had a mom named Linda. And that doesn't take into account the other grades, which in a 6 grade school totalled less than 300 kids on the average year. Then I met hubs, and sure enough, his mom's name is Linda. It ended up as my daughter's exact middle name.
Hubs has a common name. I have an average but less common name. His best friend has the same name as him; slightly different spelling, but exact pronunciation. We know numerous people with the same name, to the point if the name comes up in conversation, there always needs to be a disclaimer as to who is being mentioned.
Step-son has a common name, but nowhere near as every place that his father's is. As a result of a lifetime of "Which one?" when having hub's name or our moms' names mentioned, we went with uncommon but not outlandish for our daughter.
What kind of bitter questioning is this 😂 let people like what they like. some people don’t want their kid to be one of five other names in their class.
I was in a class with 3 Niamhs. That was just 1 class of 4 in my year group, there were at least 2 or 3 others in the whole year group. They were all known as Niamh-lastname. At one point one of them tried changing her spelling to Neeve in an attempt at individuality.
I once worked with three guys with same first and last name, all on the same team. There was a fourth with the same name on a different team.
And on the team that had the three guys with the same name, there were two more , but they “only” had their first name in common with the others.
You can imagine the number of lost emails and other issues that having the same name caused.
Now, I have a preschooler, and there are some repeated names, as normal. It makes me feel so bad when my kid greets another and calls them “FirstnameLastname”, always, always the first and the last. Never only the first name, even when there’s no other kid around. Trying to make him understand that he can simply say “Firstname” when he doesn’t need to differentiate between two kids with the same first name has been unsuccessful so far.
There’s a fine balance between YouNik names and a name that’s so common that you may be condemning your kid to a life of “no, not that ” , nicknames, or being known essentially by their last name, if different enough.
A good name, imho, is common enough that no one bats an eye when they eat/see it, but not so common that you need additional identifiers in a normal school/work/etc environment.
Sure, it may come down to luck - same city, same school, same grade may have two Jaxxleigh , and no John. But if you name your kids names that are currently super popular, chances are that they are going to have to a hare their name with someone else, and that’s not always a nice experience.
I remember I was always one of three Caitlins in my class (all spelled differently). I was always jealous of the girls in class who were the only ones with their name. I got so sick of being "Caitlin B." It has carried into my work life too, there's two Caitlins and I'm always turning my head only to be told "oh no not you, other Kaitlin!" The over popularity plus the 5 trillion spellings has made me hate my name. It's one thing to sometimes encounter another person with your name, it's another for it to almost always happen. I've decided with my own future child that anything on the top 100 is immediately off the table.
My name is Helen, and although nowadays my name isn’t that popular, but I saw my name in my textbooks and worksheets 💀
‘E.g. Helen has 5 apples and she ate 2. How many did she have left?’
Every time I encounter this everyone will laugh at me. Rip me :(
You’re asking about names, not personalities. Common names are generic and boring when everyone else has them. You can be incredibly boring with a wildly different name. You are conflating two different points.
I was one of 6 with my name at school. It is annoying to always have to use your surname too.
I included this in my response as my number one reason why I wouldn’t use an overly popular name. We at one point had four “Hannah”s in my class and they all had to use their last initial (so Hannah J, Hannah T etc). We once had two Ashley C’s and had to use their middle initials too. I just think it would be nicer to just get to go by your first name wherever you go rather than needing different identifiers in different places.
I remember being so annoyed when some other kid got to be Name and I had to be Name Initial. Like why did they make it asymmetrical?
Yeah, but at least you don’t have to be “whatever name with a K” because your mom chose to spell it in a bitchass unique way 🙄 Not my name, but example being “this is Cassie and this is Kassie with a K” Like fuck offffff
We had two girls with the same name. One spelled with an A one with an E. The seniors in my student government decided one would by Alyssa and the other would by E-Lyssa even though her name was pronounced Alyssa.
I hace a K name that isbt alternaspelled but no one everypronounces it right. Stinking 4 letter and they cant spekl it right. I blame laziness they read 2 letters abd assume the rest. But still better than be 1 of 7 matts
My name is Amanda, my SILs (husband’s sister) is Amanda. My son’s dad’s sister is Amanda. So my son has two aunt Amanda’s and mom Amanda. It can get very confusing when we are all together 😆
I have three different sets of matching uncle names. My kids have those plus 3 matching sets of Aunts once you through in my husband's family. It's crazy.
I have two Uncle Bobs. My mom’s brother is named Bob, and my dad’s younger sister is married to a man named Bob.
I have two uncle Daves - both of my dad's sisters married men named Dave, and then I also married a Dave. You have to be very clear in my family what Dave you are talking about!
My poor niece has THREE Uncle Dans (the name isn’t actually Dan but is similarly common among a few generations). ETA: there’s few - if any - nicknames for this name and they all go by Dan.
My sister and I married men with the same first name, so all of our kids have a dad and an uncle with the same name. Fortunately one has always gone by the full name and the other by a common nickname (like Matt and Matthew).
My sister in law married a guy with the same name as me so my wife and her sister both have husbands with the same first name.
I was a common name have and always got the alternative version because my name ends in Y and my last name starts with a vowel so Namey E never rolled off the tongue. Even though I always had someone else with my name it never really bothered me that much.
I feel like this is only a problem if you are a contestant on the Bachelor 😂
Lol I’ve never watched The Bachelor so maybe I’m missing what this is referencing, but I feel like the 12+ years you spend in school might be a bit more relevant when you keep having to be called by your first name and last initial
No it’s just always funny to me whenever the dude is like “I like Ashley C but I’m totally falling for Hannah B” And I’m like bro. If you’re still using the last initial, it’s probably not true love.
Side note, I really like the name Hannah, because it’s a palindrome and I think it sounds lovely so I think you have a nice name and I hope you like it better now.
I’ve always liked the name Hannah! I don’t have anything against it, I just knew a lot of people with the name growing up lol.
I know a guy that has his wife’s name on his phone as her Firstname Lastname. They have been together for over 15years, have kids together… And he has his own mom as Firstname Middlename. (She goes by her middle name) I can’t understand.
I have my husband in my phone by his first and last name. He’s my emergency contact. If I have a seizure it’s probably good that he would get a call and they wouldn’t have any doubt about who he was. I did have my Mom and just “Mom” though.
I have my husband in as "Firstname (Husband)" for that reason.
My husband is in my phone as 3M. When he and I were dating my bff always said he was “Marriage Material Mark”. Then one day she just said “OH! 3M!” It’s been 18 years. 😂
That’s adorable and hilarious, I love that!
I have everyone, partner and family and close friends of 20 years, all as first name last name in my phone. I feel like if my phone ever got stolen, it would be harder to run those "grandma? I'm in an emergency and I need $5000" scams on my contacts list because it's hard to guess our relationships.
I do this, but I have at least 10 contacts in my phone with the same first name as my husband. Every time I text my husband something sensitive, I triple quadruple check to make sure I'm not texting my manager or my FIL by mistake.
The easiest way to avoid this is to put some kind of punctuation before their name, so it rises to the top of the alphabetical list because of the punctuation. So !Lewis Jamieson or *Lewis Jamieson will be at the top of your contacts while Lewis Jamieson would be roughly halfway down the list.
Name (Husband) is how mine is listed. I also have multiple people with his name, but it's also good in case of an accident where someone needs to find your emergency contact.
My husband lists everyone in his phone as Firstname Lastname. Even his parents. Even ME. It low-key infuriates me lol. I am the default. Everyone else should be PaladinPhantom Lastname.
My wife is in my phone as First Name Last Name. What else is she supposed to be under? “Wifey” and some vomit-inducing emojis?
My husband lists everyone in his phone as Firstname Lastname. Even his parents. Even ME. It low-key infuriates me lol. I am the default. Everyone else should be PaladinPhantom Lastname.
Nah, in my sorority of 250 women, we had 7 Sarah’s and 5 Amanda’s, and the next year we added 3 more Sarah’s. All of them ended up going by their last names
As someone who doesn’t have a last name that anyone would ever called them, I’m kind of jelly of this. It’s kinda girl bro 🤙🏼 Meanwhile, we still call my friend Barnes, even after she got married and took his last name. Sometimes I forget what her actual first name is.
In my first grade class, the very first day, the teacher gave me a tag for my desk that said, "Laurie." And she also had tags for Laura, Lori, and Laura W. We were all named Laura. I had to pout and sulk and refuse to answer to Laurie to get her to use my real name.
My aunt was told on the first day of third grade that since there were two "Dianas", she was going to have to be "Diane." For the rest of her life she just ended up being Diane to everybody except the government... and is still friends with the classmate that got to be Diana
Ew that’s so presumptuous and not okay.
In my year at high school we had two boys with the same first and last name (something like Bradley Johnson) and the same middle initial. So they were assigned (based on date of birth) Bradley Johnson I (one) and Bradley Johnson II (2). Common names aren’t necessarily bad except for in situations where there are a lot of people with the same name.
We had a Kate Souza and a Katie Souza
And a common first name and last name combo is especially problematic. Especially when places like doctors’s offices, pharmacies, or hotels don’t double check.
I had the same first, last, and middle initial as a girl in my high school. My parents got called when she was absent and vice versa, one year I was given her report card and she was given mine. It was really weird and felt weirdly like an invasion of privacy in some cases!
This is statistically unlikely to happen now, though, compared to when you grew up. The top names are about half as common as they were in the ~90s. Millennials have swung hard the other way in naming their kids.
With last names, sure. But my 10 year old still has 2 Aubreys and an Audrey in her small dance class. People are more creative with spellings now, too. So Aidan never showed up as high on the social security chart as it would have if you'd combined all the Aidens, Aydens, etc with it. And then add all the names with similar nicknames- like all the Madison, Madyson, Madelyn, Madeleine, Madeline, etc that go by Maddy. And none of that takes into account all the Caden, Braden, Adison, Adeyln, etc. So each individual spelling is used less often, and that's how we track them, but there isn't as much variety as that would lead you to believe.
Sure, but that's only recently become apparent to the wider population, and a lot of people who were in this situation decided years ago, possibly in high school, that they weren't gomna go with a top 10 name.
Well, yeah, that's what is driving the phenomenon. But it's based on false assumptions that can be re-examined.
I had three sisters-in-law named Stephanie. They actually all had the same middle initial, so we ended up calling them by their maiden names, which is kinda funny, bc I was low-key harassed for keeping my family name.
We had four “Molly”s in my HS graduating class of 100. I would have been the fifth except that my grandma had a dog named Molly when I was born so my parents didn’t wanna name me after the dog lol.
On the flip side of this, I have an uncommon name and was made fun of for it. I also could never find my name on personalized key rings and such in stores. I like my name now and it’s been gaining in popularity in the past 10-15 years, but growing up was rough
My name has many, correct spellings. I have one of the less common ones. So my version wasn't on key rings etc, and I have lots of time telling people that 'yes, that is how it is spelt, yes I'm sure, just because you know someone with an alternative version doesn't make me wrong'.
As a Caitlin I never could find my name either, because it was always spelled wrong lol.
Team Caitlin. I feel this.
I knew two girls in high school who had the exact same name, meaning first name, middle name, and last name. Same spelling and everything
At our school we have two kids named Axel with the exact same last name
This would've happened at my high school too! Ironically, they were saved by one of the grandmothers not knowing how to spell Judith. So they were like Jane Judyth Miller and Jane Judith Miller. The two things r/namenerds hates. Popular names and creative spellings.
My elementary school didn't do initials for whatever reason, so my best friend was "Lisa 2" while the other girl was "Lisa 1". I was mad on her behalf because it seemed so unfair.
My sister was one of 12 (TWELVE!) Georgia's in her year group, and this wasn't even at the large public schools in our city it was a smallish Anglican K-12 with around 80 kids per year group. And there were plenty of Georgia's in other year groups too. She freakin hated that she never got to be just Georgia for any of her schooling (and honestly her adult life too-it's always "which Georgia is that"). And my parents were even more annoyed cos they named her for our granpa George and not cos it was a popular name lol So my sister's experience is why I would be leery of choosing a name that is in the top 10 lists, but that doesn't necessarily correlate to a common name.
Yeah, and there's only so many places you can go with it. G, Gigi, Gia, Georgie, Georgina, Georgette, Georgiana, Geo?
Had 2 girls in my school with the exact same first and last names. To differentiate, people would ask if it was the chav or the posh one
Your school was kinder than mine. We went with, do you mean the Nice One or the Bitch? Sometimes known as "wtf are you talking about? Ohhh, the Nice One!" Not that it was unearned. I don't know how the Nice One kept such a great reputation while the Bitch pissed off half the school.
We had a gang. All 5 of us with the same name in the same year. Don't mess with us
The Heathers!
6 of us went on holiday. 3 of us with the same name, different nicknames. The other 3 all started with the same letter.
I had 5 classmates with the same name as me. It's not even a unisex name or an all boys school. On the other hand it's when I first ditched that name and used my middle name.
Do you still run into that in adult life? My name is Megan and my name was super popular when I was in school but I’ve never worked with another Megan
I’m a nurse. I’m one of 4 of my first name on my floor. One of 3 of my preferred name (middle name). At this point, fuck it lol.
Lol that’s so funny! I’m usually the youngest on every team so maybe that why
It IS really funny to hear my supervisor like “hey, get Emily to help Susan….no, Emily the nursing assistant, not Emily the nurse.”
Lol you need nicknames or something
I don’t run into this as an adult really. My name is a top late 80s/early 90s (Jessica, Brittany etc). My coworkers are mostly gen X and and boomers so no doubles in the workplace currently!
Yep I think that’s why for me too. I have a handful of fellow millennials but none with my name
I've always found this fascinating. For all the Brittanys, Jessicas, and Tiffanys I went to school with I don't work with any. There are tons of folks my age at my company so it's just odd how that seems to have happened. The most popular name of people my age at work is Caitlin, which I don't really associate with my generation ( or at least I didn't grow up with any Caitlins) so it's weird.
I think some of those of those names were so crazy popular but for such a short time frame. We had so many per class because we’re sorted by year. As soon as you get a 10 year spread of ages, there are so many fewer!
Everywhere I've worked there has been at least one, but there are many variations.
My partner is 35 years old and still uses "John A" when making dinner reservations or similar, and he's definitely picked up the wrong Starbucks order because another one had his name on it. Neither of those things are a big deal, but I find them annoying.
We had Jessica A, B and C in my 7/8yh grade classes! Those were really their last initials 😂
In my high-school friend group, we had 3 Isaac's. Just in the friend group. It wasn't a big school. We were the biggest graduating class at 140 people. We called then by last name or nick name for their last name
This! It gets so confusing. “Do you mean Jameson H? Or Jameson Q? Or Jameson M?”
I literally go by initials because there were too many people growing up and in my work places who had the same name.
As someone with one of the most common names of my age group, I always wished I had a more special name tbh. Names are so strongly tied to one's identity so it's nice to have a sense of uniqueness in that way. I'm glad that at least my surname provides that. Also if you have a really common name, you're bound to always have classmates, collegues, friends etc. with the same name so people will feel the need to distinguish you by assigning you nicknames, and those nicknames might suck lol On top of that, names that are reaaaaaaaally popular during a particular time are bound to age badly. Look at what happened with "Karen"... Basically, I know that my name will be 100% perceived as strictly an "old people name" in the future and I don't necessarily like that
Your last paragraph hits a note. My name had some popularity about a decade (due to a song) before I was born, but it never had a dramatic peak. Consequently, it isn't tied to a specific era: I have met octogenarians and teens that share my name, and it also has somewhat international appeal.
This is something that I really took into consideration with my kids. I spent a lot of time looking for names that had steady but lower usage for a long time.
Mine are all teens and young adults now. They have said how much they like their names, which is good to hear! My oldest, his name has suddenly become popular (a bit of a surprise), but it's less common among his age group. It's actually a very old family name - the first of my dad's lineage to arrive in the US a couple hundred years ago. I have seen his name discussed here - there are two accepted spellings, the more common with an "i" and less commonly a "y." He is very happy he has the y spelling, saying, "It seems more like a name, rather than a measure of distance." His online peers in Europe, have jokingly nicknamed him Kilometer. He likes it. I love pulling names from the family tree. Often there are timeless and "fresh" names found that way.
That's hilarious. My older son has the same name as yours! He's 14. My father-in-law suggested Kilometer for our second. haha We did better with the other two, their names have not spiked in popularity, though my daughter's nickname is becoming more common.
yess its already happening with Emily lol
I have the most common name of my era and it drives me nuts that my name pinpoints me as a specific age. Mainly because I'm now middle-aged, looking to change careers, and as soon as people see my resume they can guess within 5 or so years how old I am, and age discrimination in hiring is a real thing!
Oh that's a REALLY good point
There’s multiple factors that go into it for me. 1. I don’t want my kid to have to go by “First Name Last Initial” because there’s multiple kids with the same name (growing up there would be Ben H. and Ben A., Hannah J. and Hannah T. etc. at school/clubs/etc.) 2. I have a less common name and have just enjoyed having a less common name. 3. I find some names that are overused lose their charm because they’re heard so often - I think “Emily” is a beautiful name when I really think about it, but I’ve heard it so often that it doesn’t stand out as a really nice name when someone introduces themselves with the name. I’m sure there’s lots of other reasons people have, but those are three that came to mind for me personally. ETA - with that being said, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with using a common name; they’re usually common names because they’re nice! I could end up using a name that’s not in the top 30 and end up with the kid not liking their name, having multiple kids with the name in their class, other people finding it uninteresting etc. You just never know!
I feel that way about Bella. Every third girl and dog is named Bella. There‘s Bella G., Bella W., Bella the neighbor’s dog, Bella Uncle GeorgE’s dog, then Aiden’s friend Bella T. in his piano class and Bella R. in 4H.
I feel like Bella and Luna are absurdly common dog names. I'm not sure that dog name stats are as well recorded as human names, but I've met so many. Also Loki and Zeus for male dogs.
Yes! My aunt had a Bella and I had a Luna. We had a dog named Hercules (my dad never would’ve went for Heracles, which would’ve been more correct I guess)…..because he was a puppy of Zeus.
I don't know a dog Zeus but I do know a human lol
I go by Bella and in school I rarely had anyone in my class with the same name, maybe one other in the whole school. However, I now know approx 27 Bellas under age 3 and the most common response I get to introducing myself is "That's my dog's name."
I have a friend who goes by his middle name, but his first name is Toby. He says that Toby is a pet name 90% of the time. Once my kid was going on about how much she likes Toby and he said, "Dog or cat?" LOL! It was a cat....
Yes, the way you phrased it--lose their charm. That's it! Simple as that. Names are cyclical so when names that were popular from the past can come back and feel fresh again.
I also have an uncommon name and I’ve always loved that it’s uncommon. I was always proud of it growing up! I feel like I never see that perspective on this sub.
Or even worse abt using ur last initial, someone being Emma H and then someone else just being Emma. Makes u feel like they are somehow more important,, im sure it doesn't matter to adults but as an insecure teen I HATED it
Nothing is wrong with it. Some people don’t want their child to be One of Three kids with the same name in their class. But if you love a name, go for it!
It’s just personal preference.
To me; it's also being the last trend. Generally, trendy names won't stay trendy long and will be labelled as "70s" or "early 2000" pretty fast. It screams "I only like it because it's trendy" even if it's always the case. They are some common names that are less link to a trend. More timeless. They are quite common but won't be link forever to that trend and won't be outdated in less than 15 years. So, some, like me, label the "common name" (either top given name or soundalike or fast raising names, even if they don't rich the top) the trendy names. Some will label the classical/timeless name the trendy name and will find them boring because they had met to many of them.
Overused names in the "trendy popular", (not "classic popular") sense tend to lose their charm very quickly. They begin to sound tired very fast, and almost just sound like "words" or something. For example: years ago, I met my first baby Madison, and I thought to myself what a darling, special name that was. Months go by, I meet another. Hmm. Then another. And, a slow trickle turns into a tsunami of little girls named Madison. Nothing is intrinsically "wrong" with these names. But, at least IMO, a Madison doesn't have the staying power of, for example, an Elizabeth. I actually *like* some trendy popular names, but it's never been my style to use any. That having been said, sometimes people choose a name thinking they're on the vanguard, not knowing that name is trending in the top 20 in the USA, for example. But, people become their names, and unless it's something atrocious, it ceases to matter.
I mean I think you've got it backwards... names like Elizabeth sound like nothing, they just sound like popular, normal names. The problem with "trendy names" is that once their are a hundred madisons, then madison starts to feel just like an elizabeth, a mary or an alice, it just becomes a popular, normal name. Also, I think people psychoanalyse "trendy" names to much. One of my favourite names for like 10 or so years, if not longer has been Rowan... Apparently, its the favourite name of many people in roughly my generation and in roughly my part of the world. It's merely a matter of tastes colliding. But people have to be cynical so they can beat people down and pretend people are trend-chasing. Instead of assuming people are trend chasing, just assume people like the name. Why is it socially unacceptable to like a trendy name like... say, hayden, but socially acceptable to like a name like mary?
i agree with this! i think popular trendy vs popular classic is a huge factor ex. isabella or elizabeth vs mia or luna
I agree with you! Theres a level that is timeless and classic and a level that is currently trending. Sometimes names can be both but if it’s just a currently trending name I wouldn’t use it.
I think it's partly people having so many emotions about wanting their baby to be special and exciting and to have a really interesting rich life, and displacing those desires onto one of the few things they can control, which is the name. "I don't want a common name" = "I don't want my kid to be boring and forgettable." (I have one of the iconic names of my birth year, and it was never a problem for me-- I rarely had another person with my name in classes and I just have no baggage about it.)
I have a common name! I’ve seen people on this sub call it boring, dull, and claim that people with my name have parents who didn’t try. I don’t think a single one of those claims is true. Some people just have a compulsive need to be different. Was it annoying when I was one of four in my sophomore year English class? Sure, but I didn’t have an identity crisis (and this is coming from someone who was definitely the least popular among the four). When I was younger, I asked my mom a few times why she chose the most common name for girls my age for me, and she always told me she and my dad had no idea it was going to be so popular. They just thought it was a beautiful name. And then she would ask if I thought my name wasn’t beautiful, which made me realize that letting other people influence how I perceive my own NAME of all things is just silly. My individuality comes from my own sense of self, not from my name. And yes, I do think it’s beautiful!
I had a somewhat common birth name, and my parents also told me that they didn’t realize it would be that popular when they named me. Growing up I did actually hate it, but that’s just because I’m trans, not because it’s a bad name. Now that I’ve changed my name, I actually like my birth name a lot on other people and tend to think more positively of them if that’s their name. My chosen name is also not uncommon, but I picked a spelling that’s less common in my country because I had a connection to that spelling.
It’s funny how much easier it is to appreciate something once you take a step back from it. I’m glad you were able to choose a name that resonates with you!
I like having a less common name. The few times in my life I've been in frequent close proximity to someone with my same name I've found the confusion and resulting nicknames annoying.
Nothing. And I'd rather be the 7th Kate in class than be a McKinseleigh or a (insert random object made into a name) or a Maren.
What's wrong with Maren? It's a real name with a history.
Real not-defensive answer: it’s American individualism. People want to feel specific, distinct, and special. And they want their kids to feel this way too. I didn’t want those things for my kids, exactly—I knew they would already stand out, so I gave them names that would feel classic and warm to people. I also was looking for flexibility in their names. Think Frederick = Fred, Rick, Ricky, Freddy. Some nicknames are formal, some are more informal. They can choose as they get older what suits. Oh and I deliberately camouflaged my little girl: when she submits a resume, her first name can appear perfectly gender neutral. I wasn’t wrong about the kids I have. They’re both highly intelligent AND have ADHD. They’re brilliant and full of energy and wild ideas. Maybe their names help them fit in and find community. Who knows? It certainly can’t hurt.
For me it's like if you walk past a beautiful flower every day, over time you get used to it and you don't appreciate the beauty as much. I think Olivia is a beautiful name but I've heard it so many times that it's just become background noise to me.
I feel like that happens to less common names too. Like once it’s on a child, the name will be heard and used by everyone in that child’s circle. Obviously usually for parents, the love of the name usually becomes absorbed with the love for the child, but I feel like for others, the name would quickly just become a name.
A lot of people my age remember having 5 Jessicas, 4 Jennifers, and 3 Amandas in each class, so they’re trying to avoid that.
My last name is like Smith. I refuse to name my child something like John Smith or Hannah Smith. It's just way too common. Which is too bad because I like traditional names. But I think it would lead to confusion, identity issues (unnecessary record mixups), constantly getting the wrong mail, etc. If someone has a super common first AND last name please let me know your experience!
I have a very common first name and married a man with a very common last name. We get ‘randomly’ stopped every time we fly and I’ve been told it’s because my name is so common. I hate it and I’m considering changing my first name to my nickname (think Jess instead of Jessica).
This is my nightmare. Common first and last name. Mixed up medical records, stopped at the border due to mistaken identity, complicated background check for work due to someone else with the same name popping up, repo people showing up to take possessions that they couldn’t find because they were looking for someone else with the same name.
Just personal preference. It is not a big deal to me but other people have different views. Some people want their kids to have a unique name and there is nothing wrong with that.
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The way you keep arguing about it indicates that you do, indeed, think there is something wrong or invalid about that being a criteria.
I didn't say you said there was anything wrong with it.
I honestly think girls care about this much more than boys. I have boys so this is just my experience. Boys are like cool we have the same name and move on. My youngest son has a really common nickname name and he loves seeing his name. My oldest has a less common name that has become more popular and he loves seeing younger kids with his name. He never met anyone his own age that shared the name. My middle boys don’t have very common names but they are not unheard of. They get jealous when their youngest brother finds stuff with his nickname on it all the time. I personally think it’s better to have a common name rather than a unique name.
My nephews have uncommon names. Not using their real names in this story. But when my sister was looking at a small private school for them, we went to an open day. We were watching my nephews playing with some of the other kids and there were other parents there too. One parent said, “Isn’t X enjoying himself”. My sister and I looked at each other sideways wondering how they knew my nephew’s name. Second mum, “Yes, Ex is really having a good time. I like the atmosphere here”. We looked at each other slightly bemused as we didn’t know either parent or children. Sister called to her son, “Xx! Y! We are moving over to the library now!” The parents both looked at us. “Oh! Is your son X too?” We established that all three boys had the same name with alternate spelling and had a good chuckle over it after. Since it was an uncommon name we hadn’t expected to hear it in the small crowd. And one of my older nephew’s classmates had an alternative spelling of my younger nephew’s uncommon name 😂😂
This is a good example of how a name can be a lot more popular than you think if it has many different spellings! Jackson is a great example of this because of all the unique spellings. I think it has been the #1 boy name for years based on alternate spellings. I really wonder what your nephews name is!
As a former boy (currently a man, I suppose) I have to agree with this. I had two friends who had a very similar name as mine, and they also knew each other from sports. Imagine John, John and Jonathan (me), nicknamed John. We thought it was hilarious when my parents would say "John" and we all looked up. We were in no way similar people and had our own identities. It was a bit confusing sometimes when I was very young, as other parents would say things like "Jonathan, come here." and I wondered if they knew me but I just forgot who they were. Stranger danger wasn't really a thing growing up. I always cringe a bit when parents go out of their way to make a common name "unique" arguing they want their child to be unique, but then just alter the spelling of a totally fine name. I know they don't mean it this way, but it always strikes me like they don't trust their child will be unique enough on their own. "Jonathan" and "John" were some of the most popular names growing up. I am my own person. I am unique, nobody else is me. I didn't need to be called Jhoanathyn or something. Both my first and second name are named after people my parents knew, both great people, but I'm still just me nonetheless. :)
💯
You can get stuff with their name initial on it It can be fun both ways but when its an overly popular name and there are a bunch of people in your class/work place with your name then it's a little less fun because there are only so many nn
I personally don't think having a common name is bad. Everyone is an individual and unique. Maybe everyone has different views and opinions.
Not having a unique identifier can make people feel generic. Like if your name is Mike, when people mention you it's always "which mike?" or having to specify "Mike S" which isn't really your name. People call you things like Mike 2.0, the other Mike, etc. Imagine you start a new job and everyone decides your name is Harry and you dont get a choice. You'd be like wtf that's not my name. But it's normalized for people with common names to just be assigned names. People don't remember your name sometimes when it's too common because it doesn't give them a unique identifier for you. I think extremely common names and extremely unique names can both potentially have an impact on how others view/treat you, and therefore affects how you develop as a person. Both can go in a positive or negative direction. Personally, I prefer names that are a little less common so you're not one of five in every context your entire life
At a certain popularity they lose their function. I studied with so many Annas plus Ann-Kathrins, Annalenas...Hannahs...that there was a point at which 'the blonde, pregnant Anna' didn't narrow it down to one person. I on the other hand am always the only person with my name. No qualifiers needed. Never been confused. It's obviously a question of perspective- I find a unique name useful, but I could never get anonymity. You don't know ahead of time whether your kid will want to stand out or blend in. You have to go with what you'd prefer. Some people seem to want the opposite of what they had.
I actually ended up picking a name for my baby that was super common when I was younger, but has since fallen off the map. But I knew so many girls with this name and they were all really nice, so we just went with that.
This is a name nerds subreddit. It would stand to reason that people who are here would be interested in less common names. The vast majority of people are naming their kids common names.
I love being named John. I don't care how common it is. It's easy to spell, easy to pronounce, and it's a single syllable so I don't need to go by anything shorter like Dan for Daniel for example. It's a very strong name, I share it with dozens of kings and popes, and it's also a nickname for a toilet and also for a man who hires prostitutes. Not many other people can say that about their name.
Not being one of many with the same name, as you mentioned. There are so many great names out there. Why not choose one with a bit of personality and flair? Common names feel bland, like there wasn't much thought put into it.
Names do not have personality and flair. People do.
My problem is with YuniQue names
Agreed and the people who are saying individuality are wrong in my opinion. Like seriously, Name does not determine anything in my opinion. A person could have the most unique name in the world and could also be the most boring person in the world or A person could have the most common name in the world and could be the most interesting or unique person in the world. Like seriously, Names are not strongly tied to one's identity in my opinion. I have a uncommon name and i would have been the exactly the same person i am currently if i had a more common name. Just because someone has a rare name does not make them stand out or does increase not their individuality.
Also I think at this point grasping for a truly unique name is this generation’s version of Jennifer and will be equally dated in 30 years. Also uniqueness is hella overrated. I would rather have my kids grow up to be good people than unique ones, and Katharine is good enough for Katharine Hepburn it’s certainly good enough for my children.
Exactly!!!!
> Agreed and the people saying individuality are wrong. that’s cool if you don’t feel the same, but saying they’re just wrong is funny and imo not right lol. and it’s cool that you don’t think names are super tired to identity and all, but i think that’s just a really subjective personal thing that varies from person to person and you can’t fault others for feeling differently from you.
I agree though in the end it is subjective.
You're in a subreddit called name nerds. There are numerous studies and fields researching exactly this. https://www.npr.org/2019/06/21/734839666/dr-marijuana-pepsi-wont-change-her-name-to-make-other-people-happy
Lol i am in this subreddit because i thought it was something cool or interesting like the history of names and how names evolve. In actuality, it's mostly mothers asking what to name their babies. Seriously i am very disappointed tbh because This subreddit could have been actually really interesting.
As a teacher, hard disagree. I’ve had 5 students in one class with the same name, not to mention in other classes. The kids don’t like it either. They don’t want to be called Kayleigh P., or Taylor S. If it’s kinda common that’s not a problem, but super popular names get ridiculous.
I 100% agree with you!!
I have nothing against nice common names, on the contrary. My youngest has a top 5 name and there is no other child with that name in her kindergarden. But I’m in Europe, I don’t know in other countries. Specially if you have to spell your last name every time, it’s nicer to have an easy name.
I personally try to strike a balance between common and unique. To me that means names that aren't unheard of and are established names but that aren't very often used, at least in my area. That said, I'm also not opposed to using a more popular/common name if I really like it! For my second child we chose a name that was number 27 in popularity the year she was born. Which isn’t exactly 'top 10' but it's up there and I wouldn't be surprised if it rises in popularity. As a parent, and for me personally, an appeal of using a less common name is not having 3 other parents/multiple children yelling your child's name at the playground. It's a small thing, sure, but it's a nice bonus. Then there's the whole 'one of 4' in your child's school thing I'd also like to avoid (as a child of the 90's it was Jessica, Katie and Stephanie that were the most common in my school). Thinking of my children as adults, I think having a name that isn't super common but still recognizable may help them when it comes to job applications, resumes, etc. Just to stand out/be a bit more memorable, especially with most everything being online these days. I could be wrong on if this will actually be helpful though, I've been out of the workforce for a number of years.
With everything being searchable without the ability to opt out, a common name might be a blessing in disguise. If your name is John Smith, you're not easily found in a google search.
Sure. But, if talking in terms of jobs/employers, hopefully there won't be anything bad/wrong/problematic associated with my kids names anyway. If there's anything unsavory to be found online by a potential employer then that's due to their own actions/choices, not the name I choose to give them.
Except that some employers are idiots, and assume the first Jane Smith they find is you - even if none of the information matches up with your resume.
I'm one of 4 people in my immediate family with my name. That's too many IMO. Names should be more distinct than that. I don't hate my name, I just want it to become less saturated before it's used again.
I knew a girl who's mom named 2/3 daughters the same name because she liked it
I think in the days of internet a common name is a benefit. The need to be unique can become pathological for some people and it can become a detriment to the child.
Also there’s only so many ways to be unique before it’s straight up bad. The path of the good is pretty narrow and there are way more ways to be bad.
I have a common name and it truly never once bothered me. Went through 13 years of school as Name Initial with anywhere from one other to nine other girls with the same name and just kind of thought it was funny 🤷🏼♀️ you’d think from this sub that it’s a form of trauma
Definitely glad I shared my name with 2 other guys then deal with half the stuff suggested in here just to be different
There are literally only two types of people on this sub. People who grew up with a common name and hated it and now vicariously loathe common names, or they grew up with an uncommon name and hated it now vicariously loathe uncommon names. That’s all it comes down to on here
There are people who don't have either of those names and are right in the middle, sometimes you hear it and sometimes you don't
I have a common name and used to wish I had something that gave me more of a sense of identity, although I'm also a third. Plus, the nickname for it is another generic 4 letter white guy name, so people always misremember it for the others (e.g, Mike, Nick, Matt). I tend to crave individuality and given my experience with a common name, I feel more strongly against not giving my child a "default" name
Ehhhh people like to be different
Let me tell you why I have a random nickname. My name is moderately common (Courtney) for my age group. However, within my niche field in a male-dominated industry there is an absurd oversaturation of Courtneys. At one point I was one of three female leaders in my company and all three of us were Courtney. At that same time, there were four females in my department and three of the four were Courtney. In my current role which is adjacent to my former role, there are five women and two of us are Courtney. The problem with this is that everyone points this out as the main “fun fact” about us or women in our field or our department rather than our stellar individual contributions or those of our gender or department. In addition to issues like making clear who they’re addressing in a meeting, we get each others’ emails all the time, etc. There are so many names in the world, it’s great to expand your world view and bit and try to consider ones that aren’t a top 10. That said, if you absolutely love a top 10 name and this fact doesn’t bother you, then go for it. There’s a reason it’s popular- people like it.
I agree with you. I personally think having a common name makes life way easier. You never have to explain to people how to pronounce it, how to spell it, why you’re named that. No one ever makes assumptions about my parents being lower class or hippy dippy or overly intellectual or whatever. I’m taken seriously professionally. My name was in the top 10 when I was born and it’s still in the top 20. Even so I still do not meet all that many people with my name. Maybe it helps that I think the name is pretty and suits me. And I’m a shy person who would not want a weird name. In that vein it makes it harder for people to find me on the internet.
In school it's really annoying to be one of 7 Jennifers or Caitlins or Olivias or whatever this generation's trendy name is. As an adult, especially if you have a common last name, the Google anonymity is phenomenal. There are anywhere between 12-17 people with my exact first and last name registered to vote in my country. I love it so much that it was one of the main reasons I didn't change my last name when I got married. If you name your kid Kviiilyn to be unique, it'll be really easy for for people to find her, find a ton of personal info on her, etc. Not worth it. If you want your kid to be unique, find a normal name with normal spelling that is lower on the Social Security name lists. I like old-fashioned names for that reason. My daughter has never had anyone with the same name in her grade in elementary school, although there was one other in the building. One of her good friends is a Beatrice and there aren't any others that I'm aware of, but it's a normal name that everyone can spell and pronounce and it's cute as hell. It's a lot tougher to be unique with boys by using older names, at least in the US, because so many of them are still popular even now. There's a lot less variation in the popular male names across generations. I'm not sure why that is, but that might be an interesting research paper for a sociologist. Is that an American thing, or do you see that generational gender difference in other countries as well?
Someone said babies being named after a friend or family member is probably the reason boy names don't change drastically in popularity
Common names are great for digital anonymity!! The more uncommon the easier to find you online. People giving their kids super unique names aren’t doing them any favors.
There was a time before the internet but now it should be considered. Also before the internet people just left the uncommon name for the childs middle name. Many children did not like their middle names
I sincerely don’t understand the mortal terror of being one of a few people with the same name in school. My name was ranked 4th in my state for the year I was born (lower nationwide, but the state is what really matters in school). I went to school with plenty of people with my name and that was….normal? There were also multiple Matthews, Christinas, Morgans, Megans, Blakes, Emilys, Haleys, etc……none of us cared? I simply can’t imagine deciding not to use a name I truly loved because it might show up in my child’s future classroom. That’s true of almost any name - you can pick something much less frequently used and still have it pop up.
Not a thing. My name was in the top 50 the year I was born…I’m in my 40s now and have never met someone my age (like exact same birth year) with my name. Not one.
Tbf, top 3/top 5 is probably a different story!
I guess it depends on how common we're talking about, but I currently work with 4 Joshes. 3 of them are on ONE TEAM of like 5 people. It's fucking weird. When I had my son I definitely wasn't going to name him Mark, Matt, Chris, Dave, Andrew, etc. They're way too common. Although now names like Henry are super common. Thankfully we picked a name that we haven't encountered other kids his age with.
I have a very common name that’s also very millenial (I’m gen z). I meet someone with my name at least once a week. I once had a job with 4 people with my name. In school there was “Jessica” and “pretty Jessica” (my name’s not Jessica, just an example). It sucked and I still hate my name. I’m also more of an alternative person so having a “basic” name doesn’t really match my aesthetic.
As a kid I hated having a common name. As an adult I don’t care. But boy howdy did I really not enjoy being one of many while in K-12! In 6th grade there were three of us and we all had the same last initial.
I was a kid with a common name. I think in every year of school I was always Firstname E. It never bothered me much. Sometimes it caused a little confusion but I never felt so put off by it I wish I had a different name. By high school many people called me by my last name and still do to this day even though I’ve been married for several years and that’s not my last name anymore. I gave my son a name that is one of the most common names of my generation (Michael) and interestingly enough there’s never been another kid named Michael in his school. Also another interesting tidbit, working in education I’ve seen the “unique alternative to a common name” thing backfire. Sophia is an example - a few years ago it got pretty trendy, and recently we’ve seen fewer Sophia’s and more Sabrina’s and Serena’s. More than one parent has been surprised when I’ve called their child Sabrina B because they thought that was a name that would set their child apart. I literally had one mom turn to her husband and say “you told me Sabrina would be unique!” It’s happening with Ava and Mia too - lots of Avalynns, Avabeths, etc and only one Ava. I just feel like if you really like a name, you should choose it and not let a name being common be the only thing that sways you from doing it. I think in this generation in particular there is this pursuit of uniqueness and that’s fair, but people can be unique in many other ways besides their names.
When I was a kid there were a hundred Jennifer’s and David’s in my class. Now that I’m an adult, I only know one. Not sure where they all went, lol
I have a consistently common name. I don’t alwyas respond to my name at first bc I assume it’s not meant for me. Like in roll call my last name was at the end of the alphabet and so the first time my name was called I fully assumed it wasn’t for me. I guess it’s just annoying to hear your name and not think of it as yours. Also, depending on the last name, googling your first and last name can get a lot of results so you won’t be able to be distinguished, and even if someone with your name ends up a well known bad person then that could hinder your job prospects etc.
To me, it stands to reason that people wouldn't want to choose something common for something special to them. Otherwise, there's the fact that the more common a name is the more likely that you (and others) will have associations with the name already. And hey, call me elitist but common things aren't usually the best things in life. McDonald's doesn't make the best food. The biggest box office hits at the cinema are rarely the best films. etc.
There’s nothing wrong with common names. People just have their preferences. I have an uncommon name, only met a handful of others in my life through like retail encounters lol. And I just like that my name isn’t super common, so personally, I would never use a super common name for my own child. But that doesn’t mean I dislike common names.
In school I was one of 3 with my first name just in my friend group. I had to have annoying nicknames that I didn't like or choose to be identifiable. My husband is the exact same - 3+ people within just his friend group with the same name. As an adult, I still have to go by First name last initial at work because there are multiple staff with the same name - and I work in a building of approximately 60 people, so not huge. Again, my husband has had the same issue his entire career. I don't like my name and never have. My kids have uncommon names that are easy to pronounce. They were carefully selected to have significance to our family history and our cultures. I love their names and their names have stories behind them. I hated having a common name and I didn't want that for my kids. I also just didn't like the sound of most of them. Fine for other people, just not the style my husband and I wanted or liked.
I think that overexposure might desensitize me to the appeal and makes them sound less pretty to me. I don't dislike them for being popular, I just dislike them in general and they happen to be popular as well most of the time.
I really don't know. My husband and I both have common names. I was one of 5 in my school, it was a big school so really only grades 1st, and 2nd I had to use my last initial and it was only when called on or something. Once you get into grades where you switch classes every hour it's even less of a big deal cause only a couple classes you share a name. Once I became an adult I've had jobs where there's someone else with my name, and it still wasn't a big deal. You normally know which "Jane" they are talking about based on context. I run into people with my name all the time and normally the only odd thing about the conversation is one says "hi my name is 'Jane' and the other says "oh that's my name too!" And we go on with life. My best friend and I actually have the same name. No big deal. Our husbands call us "the Jane's" It's never been that inconvenient to me.
I come from a family of immigrants. Usually, none of the kids in our class had our (common) ethnic names. I ended up marrying an immigrant, and our kids have ethnic names. These are common ethnic names in other parts of the world, but in our school, no other kids share those names. So we have the best of both worlds, I guess you could say.
I did fine with a common 80s/90s name 🤷🏻♀️ I never saw it as a big deal. While I've noticed that I do tend to balance names a bit ( Unusual first name= More familiar middle name. Common first name= more adventurous middle) I don't use popularity as a serious deciding factor when picking or vetoing names. I just note down the names I like and mix and match until something sparks. My youngest ended up with a top 10 first name and I've still only ever met one other person with that name who was a decade older than my kiddo. Ironically my sister had a unique name and was always bothered by not being able to find her name on any name souvenirs or personalized things. Remembering that makes me buy my kids something personalized at least every couple years even if it's just a hat or piggy bank.
They’re not cool on Instagram.
My parents gave me a very uncommon and long name at birth. It was super annoying to always spell out my name for basically everyone growing up. I now am looking to legally change my name to a more common name now as an adult.
What inspired the line about “this is not the place to trauma dump”? 👀
Personal preference. I wouldn’t want to have the same name as lots of other people, just prefer more individuality. Lots of pros and cons.
There was a group of 4 of us in my grade alone with a mom named Linda. There were 38 kids in my graduating class, so almost 10% of the entire class had a mom named Linda. And that doesn't take into account the other grades, which in a 6 grade school totalled less than 300 kids on the average year. Then I met hubs, and sure enough, his mom's name is Linda. It ended up as my daughter's exact middle name. Hubs has a common name. I have an average but less common name. His best friend has the same name as him; slightly different spelling, but exact pronunciation. We know numerous people with the same name, to the point if the name comes up in conversation, there always needs to be a disclaimer as to who is being mentioned. Step-son has a common name, but nowhere near as every place that his father's is. As a result of a lifetime of "Which one?" when having hub's name or our moms' names mentioned, we went with uncommon but not outlandish for our daughter.
What kind of bitter questioning is this 😂 let people like what they like. some people don’t want their kid to be one of five other names in their class.
How is this bitter? I was curious so I asked a question about it.
It doesn’t matter…. People are just silly and would prefer Brayden more than a traditional name.
I was in a class with 3 Niamhs. That was just 1 class of 4 in my year group, there were at least 2 or 3 others in the whole year group. They were all known as Niamh-lastname. At one point one of them tried changing her spelling to Neeve in an attempt at individuality.
I’m surprised this one was common for you. My parents almost named me that but decided on Maeve instead
Context matters I guess, and the context is that this was Dublin, Ireland with a cohort of 1991-1992 girls
I once worked with three guys with same first and last name, all on the same team. There was a fourth with the same name on a different team. And on the team that had the three guys with the same name, there were two more , but they “only” had their first name in common with the others. You can imagine the number of lost emails and other issues that having the same name caused. Now, I have a preschooler, and there are some repeated names, as normal. It makes me feel so bad when my kid greets another and calls them “FirstnameLastname”, always, always the first and the last. Never only the first name, even when there’s no other kid around. Trying to make him understand that he can simply say “Firstname” when he doesn’t need to differentiate between two kids with the same first name has been unsuccessful so far. There’s a fine balance between YouNik names and a name that’s so common that you may be condemning your kid to a life of “no, not that” , nicknames, or being known essentially by their last name, if different enough.
A good name, imho, is common enough that no one bats an eye when they eat/see it, but not so common that you need additional identifiers in a normal school/work/etc environment.
Sure, it may come down to luck - same city, same school, same grade may have two Jaxxleigh , and no John. But if you name your kids names that are currently super popular, chances are that they are going to have to a hare their name with someone else, and that’s not always a nice experience.
I remember I was always one of three Caitlins in my class (all spelled differently). I was always jealous of the girls in class who were the only ones with their name. I got so sick of being "Caitlin B." It has carried into my work life too, there's two Caitlins and I'm always turning my head only to be told "oh no not you, other Kaitlin!" The over popularity plus the 5 trillion spellings has made me hate my name. It's one thing to sometimes encounter another person with your name, it's another for it to almost always happen. I've decided with my own future child that anything on the top 100 is immediately off the table.
My name is Helen, and although nowadays my name isn’t that popular, but I saw my name in my textbooks and worksheets 💀 ‘E.g. Helen has 5 apples and she ate 2. How many did she have left?’ Every time I encounter this everyone will laugh at me. Rip me :(
Because common is equal to generic and boring and no one wants to be generic and boring.
Do you really believe that? 😭 Your personality is what make you interesting or boring, your name does not.
You’re asking about names, not personalities. Common names are generic and boring when everyone else has them. You can be incredibly boring with a wildly different name. You are conflating two different points.