If you had a magical power to control the names in the top 1000...

[amberdaydream]

...what would you do?

One of the coolest things about the naming world is the diversity, but sometimes a name's position (or lack thereof) in the top 1000 will influence whether you'd use it or not. And there are some names that people just dislike. So if you could control the top 1000, are there any names you would put in? Any you would take out? Make more or less popular? Names you would replace with other names?

For example, I would:
-Put Aveline, Ivah, Sabina, Winter, Sabella, Sabelina, Avelina, Avalon, Azalea, Sayer, Kainan and Raphaela somewhere in the 400s or 500s, so they would feel more familiar
-Make Ava slightly less popular, say in the top 200
-Take Nevaeh out; nobody seems like respect this name much
-Bring back Ida!
-Replace Jayden with the more sensible spellings Jaden/Jadon.
-Replace Kaitlyn with the original Caitlin.
-Replace Makayla/Mikayla with Michaela or Micaela.
-Ensure Renesmee stayed out of it.
-Make Addison, Emerson, Emery, Avery etc as popular for boys as they are for girls.

What would you do?

[ashthedreamer]

For example, I would:
-Make Ava slightly less popular, say in the top 200
-Take Nevaeh out; nobody seems like respect this name much
-Replace Jayden with the more sensible spellings Jaden/Jadon.
-Ensure Renesmee stayed out of it.
-Make Addison, Emerson, Emery, Avery etc as popular for boys as they are for girls.

What would you do?

here, here!

First of all, I would swap the popularity of most unisex names. Bailey for a boy? Yeah, it would totally be in the top 100 instead of almost falling off the top 1000. Same for Avery, Emerson, Finley, Aubrey, etc. The only unisex name that can stay how it is would be Hadley... I know I'm such a hypocrite but I love Hadley for a girl right now! Which is so weird, but I have loved Hadley on a girl for a really long time.

I would move Sophia/Sophie, Olivia, Isabella, and even Isabelle to around the 200 mark, so people didn't always freak out about how rabidly popular they are, and I would move Charlotte to the 100 mark or so. I would get rid of all trendy spellings (here's to looking at you, Mikayla, Jayden, Natalee, and Alivia!) and all made-up name (hellooo, Jayden, Nevaeh, Braelyn, Jaelyn, Jalen, etc.!), not to mention the stripperish gem-type names (Emerald, Amethyst, etc.).

And Zenobia would definitely have her day in the sun!

[amberdaydream]

And Zenobia would definitely have her day in the sun!

I second that; I would love to meet a little Zenobia!

[ashthedreamer]

I take the whole Isabelle comment back. I'm very happy with it ranking at 105, haha. Well known, but nowhere near as rabid as Isabella. If Isabella ranked at 200 or 300 or even 400, Isabelle would probably be fresh and sweet and I'm sure it would be viewed by others as something along the lines of Charlotte, Ruby, or Lydia.

[frustratedauthor]

Oh, goodness. Lots of things!

1) Move Sophia, Sophie, Charlotte Gabriel, Olivia, Blake, Wyatt, and Nicholas down are the 200-300 mark, so I could use them without worrying about the popularity.
2) I would jettison all the creative spellings (multiple spellings of Jadon, Madison, etc.). Accepted variant spellings I can handle, but yooneek spellings make me cry inside.
3) Make sure that names like Quinn, Avery, and Gale are higher up on the popularity charts for boys than they are for girls. Also, Elliot would be only a boys name and would consistently stay around the 300 mark in all its variant spellings.
4) I agree with OP on cutting Nevaeh and banning Renesmee. I would add Katniss to the banned list, as well.
5) Jethro and Jemima would be in around the 400 mark.

[amberdaydream]

@ashthedreamer - true; some people would discard Isabelle with 'Oh, they wanted Isabella but it got too popular.' But Isabelle and Isabella feel like two different names to me. Isabelle is quite sweet and light while Isabella is more elaborate and dramatic. And I agree with the thing about stripperish gem names. Amethyst, Diamond, Sapphire and Emerald feel more like bling jewellery than names. Well, my name's Amber so maybe I'm one to talk, lol.

@frustratedauthor - yes, I think Katniss should keep off the top 1000, and Elliott (in any spelling) has never felt like a girl's name to me, even though I used to watch Scrubs where there was a female Elliot. And I think Jethro and Jemima deserve more recognition!

The common denominators so far seem to be:
-you both want to get rid of the tryn'deeighe spelyngz (me, too!)
-you both want unisex names to be more popular for boys than girls. (I won't lie: I want the unisex names to be more popular for boys, too! Probably just a bias of mine since I love the names Emerson, Addison, Peyton and Emery on a boy. But more ideally for me, they would be used on boys and girls in equal proportion.)
-invented names like Renesmee, Katniss, Jaelyn, Braelyn, etc, are to stay out completely. (Agreed!)

[rowanasabe]

You all are so selfless!

I would just be selfish and ensure that all my favorites stayed out of the top 1000.

Although I think all the spelling suggestions would be nice to maintain, as well.

[hayley88]

@rownasabe I'm with you on the keeping my favourites out of the top 1000 lol

And also fully behind correct spellings being adhered to.

[amberdaydream]

@rowanasabe and hayley88 - I think that if you love a name specifically because it's rare (as in something like Affinity, Sevillah, Roxelana, etc) then it's not so unreasonable to want it to stay out of the top 1000.

[valkyrie]

-Creative and yooneek type names that spellings... GONE!
- Nevaeh, Precious, Princess, Unique, among other names that sound more like My Little Ponies? GONE!
- Isabella (and other variants), Olivia, Chloe, Mia, and the like... moved down to about 150, 200 or so. (seriously, they need a break)
- Lily, Charlotte, Sophia, Autumn, and Lillian... knocked down to somewhere in the 200 or 300 range, so I don't get the "too popular" dismissal.
- Renesmee, Katniss, and other teenybopper gems... GONE! In addition to being ensured they don't weasel their way on the top 1000.
- Names like Avery, Morgan, Madison, Taylor, Alexis, London, and Cassidy would be far more acceptable as boy's names. They wouldn't be higher than say 700 or so for girls.
- Nonsensical variants of Michaela/Micaela... GONE!
- Made up Aidan/Aiden variants and the like... GONE! I don't mind if legit type names like Aidan and Hayden stick around though. Just please, no more Brayden, Zayden etc. -- !
- Blake, Luca, Quinn, Elliot and other truly male names? Not on the girl's top 1000!