Babynames.com has released their list of the 20 most popular names for 2010 and it is the list I view as my personal Do Not Name List.
It is not that the names are bad. They are perfectly fine, featuring the usual round-up of Aidan and Olivia. This year, Sophia is the new number one. It is a beautiful name, but it would not come within 10 feet of my child's birth certificate.
I like the idea of my children having unusual names. Not weird, mind you, but not the same one every other child has. Case in point: there are two Sophias in my daughter's preschool class alone. I really don't want her going through life known as "Big Sophia" because the other two are slightly smaller.
I say this from expereince having known two "Big Kristis" back in the day. Can you imagine?
So, while these names are perfectly lovely, I consider this the top 20 list of names I will never give to my child.
They include:
Girls:
- Sophia
- Charlotte
- Ava
- Addison
- Olivia
- Amelia
- Lilly
- Isabella
- Chloe
- Bailey
Boys:
- Aiden
- Liam
- Noah
- Jackson
- Ethan
- Caden
- Mason
- Logan
- Landon
- Oliver
Expect at least 10 of each in your baby's classes going forward!
Names are such a complicated things, but to pick a name off the most popular name list just strikes me as lazy. Think outside the box! You may get some flak for it, but hey, it is better than being called "Big" anything.
Did you use a top name for your baby?
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Comments 552
I'm with you, jalaz77, Liam was in the 50-60 range even two years ago when I named my son that. You can't win. If you name your kid anything that's spelled so people can actually pronounce it, it's going to eventually become more common.
my rule is nothing under 250! I check every name on the SSN baby names site.
i named my son off of a soap opera, loved it as soon as i heard it and i had never heard it before. i never realized how popular it was, but i have never actually met another child with the name. (i have heard other's saying it at the park though lol)
i did not use a top name. I have only ever met two other boys with my son's name so far and he is 11 now. :)
My son has a pretty unique name because it hasn't been popular in 100 years lol... it's Orrin. My daughter is a bit more common with Jordin (though we went with the different spelling to have the "in" at the end like her brother and myself). I think if you really love a name, use it... regardless of where it lands on the popular list.
I guess this just depends on where you live... my middle name is Amelia & I've never met anyone else with the name in my whole life!
not at all.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE all the girls name on the top ten list (Except Addison and Bailey and I MUCH prefer Amelie to Amelia) but I purposefully did not give any of them to my daughter as much as I really wanted too. My kids names are "easy" names as in everyone immediatly understands it and knows how to spell them but they are not popular - every Christmas I look at the ornaments that puts "generic" names on them and my kids names are never on them - I did see a Mikayla there which I remember my friend maning her daughter that and thinking it was so original but now I know at least 6 of them.
I checked the lists before we named our girls to make sure it wasn't on the lists. Both were on the list for the next year though. Both have run into multiple Jaiden's and Mackenzie's. We also took family names for middle names and they are supper popular. I tried to find unusual names, and I picked the popular ones. I was disappointed, but my kids better then yours :)