When your names catch on?

[sodallas3]

I remember six or so years ago I loved Arden and I got so many funny looks and yet now it's all over the message boards. Has a similar thing happen to you?

[ashthedreamer]

I guess. haha. All my favorites when I was a kid and a teenager (Abigail, Eliza, Claire, Noah, Micah, Landon, etc.) are very stylish and popular (with the exception of Eliza, but that's still very in-style) now, although I didn't have the SSA list to look at when I was 10, lol, so I had no idea how popular they really were. Noah was still top 100 about the time I started loving it, but it definitely wasn't top 5 material! And Abigail and Claire have always been pretty popular. It's just disappointing (especially with Eliza!) because I thought they were all obscure names, and now they're really not. Before I checked the SSA list but still knew about it, I didn't even think Eliza was listed, lol, and now it's what, top 300? That's more than a 700-spot jump.

[caroline147]

It happens more to me with boys' names, as in the UK, lots my favourites are becoming trendy and have already/will become too popular to use: Henry, Arthur, Albert, Wilfred, Otto, etc.

With girls, the main one for me is Juliet (which has been my favourite name as long as I can remember), which just seems to have exploded in popularity on the naming boards I visit. Luckily, its actual popularity in the UK hasn't started trending upwards yet. Also, Hazel has been on my list forever because it honours several members of my family, and that's really trendy now! I took Alice off my list a couple of years ago because it was too popular/trendy, although I do still love it.

[hsort]

Yes! My middle son is August John (he's 5 now). We call him Auggie. When we named him people weren't overly crazy about the name choice, and it was no where to be found on message boards. Now I see the name everywhere!

[gblondie]

My daughter Geneva, now 3, at first people hated her name...now I've seen other babies with it - and it's in the nameberry forums

[catloverd]

Yep, Luna, I thought it was super unique and uncommon now it's at #278. I've seen it on message boards and everywhere. I still plan on using it since I've never met one in person

[lilmzstardust]

Yes! Since high school i have loved the name "Harper" after being introduced to "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. I love strong, 20's names and used to get alot of crinkled noses when i mentioned it. ...Ten years later you can see how popular its gotten.

Ps- Arden is another of my 20's-likes

[auroradawn]

A question--did you love Arden for a boy or a girl? Four or five years ago, before my youngest sister was born, I was playing around with some combos for fun and thought Arden would be pretty for a little girl. Since then I've met an elderly gentleman, probably in his 70's, named Arden. It put a bit of a crimp in my love for Arden as a girl's name. I still like it, but I haven't gotten around to researching its usage yet. Was it once more popular for boys?
To answer your question, no, not really. It's worked more the other way around--since I've been on Nameberry I've become more open to names I used to dislike.

[auroradawn]

P.S. I should have stopped to think, before I posted this, "This thread is in the Girls' Names forum." Sorry! I assume you must have liked it for a girl.

[thetxbelle]

I've accepted that Josephine might move up the list but I hope not, I doubt Athénaïs would ever catch on here but even in France it was never popular and from 1920 something to mid 80s it wasn't used at all but now it's shot up the charts.