Oh Noooooo! Which names do you hate to see getting popular?

Oh Noooooo!  Which names do you hate to see getting popular?

It’s the scourge of every self-respecting berry: A name you love, a name you’ve treasured forever and maybe hoped to keep as your own special gem, hits the Top 100….the Top 10….or even, nooooooooooo!, Number 1.

What name does it most pain you to see leaping up the popularity list right now?

Did your heart sink, for instance, when the lovely Sophia hit Number 1?  Did you groan when Kourtney Kardashian named her new baby Penelope, surely lighting a rocket under that classic name which was already getting more popular?  Or maybe you_‘_ve always planned to name your first son after Great-Grandpa Aidan, only to see that Irish classic swamped in the sea of Aidens and Aydyns.

For many of us, a name getting too popular ruins it as a viable choice.  We’ve had friends and colleagues email us asking us to back off from recommending their children’s names — Eliza or Milo or Finn — because they’re getting too popular.  A little bit of style confirmation can be nice; too much and a name gets lost in the glare of attention.

Tell us which wonderful names and longtime favorites you most hate to see getting more popular — which have already been “wrecked,” which are in danger of overexposure now, and which you’re afraid might trend in that direction.

We’d also love to hear about why you hate to see these names cross over from stylish to wildly popular.  A child’s name you were hoping would remain distinctive?  A favorite you’ve planned to use for years and now feel you have to cross off your list?  A family name like Rose or Grace you’d always planned to use in the middle that now feels like filler?

Share with the class!

About the Author

Pamela Redmond

Pamela Redmond

Pamela Redmond is the cocreator and CEO of Nameberry and Baby Name DNA. The coauthor of ten groundbreaking books on names, Redmond is an internationally-recognized baby name expert, quoted and published widely in such media outlets as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, The Today Show, CNN, and the BBC. She has written about baby names for The Daily Beast, The Huffington Post, and People.

Redmond is also a New York Times bestselling novelist whose books include Younger, the basis for the hit television show, and its sequel, Older. She has three new books in the works.