My name was not common at all when I was born, in 1972, but became more popular when Dynasty was on tv in the 80s. The male form is much much more common.
My parents thought I would be a boy so they didn't have a girl name picked out when I was born. My dad wanted to call me Constance, my mom wanted to call me Abigail, my Grandpa suggested Alexandra. Thanks, Grandpa!
I graduated high school with two other Jamie Middlenames. I also get the Mr. Lastname in emails from people who don’t know me personally. I’ve always liked my name.
I’m Amy. It was the 2nd most common name the year I was born. It’s never bothered me, I like my name.
Another one checking in. I had 2-3 others in my grade growing up. All the same spelling and not a nickname. Most strangers try to spell the proper way (Aimee). I feel like I’ve met a lot of kids named Amelia with the nickname of Amy recently too.
Add another Amy here. In my grade 9 gym class there were 5 or 6 of us, mostly alphabetical by last name. I still remember the first time a substitute took attendance and said “this is a joke, right?”
My husband’s name is Chris. We know many couples around our age with the same names, including one where the wife is a close friend of mine.
We purposefully chose names for our boys that were not in the top 25 the years leading up to their births.
No matter how you spell it, nothing about my name is unique anymore. I did not know anyone with my name when I was little, but then the 90s hit and everyone was naming their baby Caitlin and giving it Ks or that special Y specialness.
The spelling of my name is unique (Erinn), but Erin was the 30th most common name the year I was born. I will say growing up in California I never met another Erin, but when I moved to Kansas, I’ve now met several.
Post by timorousbeastie on May 9, 2021 12:50:01 GMT -5
My first and middle were both very common Irish Catholic names when I was growing up. I have always gone by my middle name. At my Catholic high school, in a class of 40 girls, I would have been 1 of 5 if I went by my first name, or 1 of 5 or 6 going by my middle name. Now my middle name isn’t even on the top 1000 list (although there are several similar names that use the same nickname that are still relatively high on the list).
My brothers name is one you've heard of, but it's not common at all. (I'm not sure I've ever met anyone else with his name, now that I'm thinking about it)
His middle name is unusual and has family significance.
Then when it came time to name me, my parents came up with... Jen. In the late 70s...
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
"Why would you ruin perfectly good peanuts by adding candy corn? That's like saying hey, I have these awesome nachos, guess I better add some dryer lint." - Nonny
My name, Michele, ranked #6 in 1976. Surprisingly, there was only a handful of others through school, but I was the only one who spelled it with one “L”.
Post by kittenponypony on May 9, 2021 13:16:37 GMT -5
Not in this country, and it always makes people think I can speak another language and have a different heritage. My name is so popular in that country that it’s the default name for sex workers — like “John” is here in the US. I asked my parents why they named me that on their recent visit here, they said “it sounded exotic”, lol.
The spelling of my name is unique (Erinn), but Erin was the 30th most common name the year I was born. I will say growing up in California I never met another Erin, but when I moved to Kansas, I’ve now met several.
This is DD2s name (with one n), a name I always loved (and knew at least 7 of them growing up!) I figured it would be not too common yet easy to spell! Well there’s another Erin her age here, and everyone still asks how to spell it! Still love it though.
Post by snapoutofit on May 9, 2021 13:22:02 GMT -5
Yes. Jennifer. I don’t like nicknames and will always introduce myself as Jennifer, but people insist therefore I’m annoying and it is Jen “with one “N”. If someone takes it upon themselves to write Jenn on a name tag after I’ve told them my name is Jennifer I’ll ask them to make a new one lol.
Post by staceymcgill on May 9, 2021 13:28:58 GMT -5
I was born in the early 80s and my name is pretty popular although I didn’t really know any growing up (Kelly). Once I went to college I met a ton more and I know a lot now as an adult.
Yes, and my mom friend group at DD’s preschool was multiple people with similar names. It was funny when we met new people. “Hi, this Katie, Katie, Kate, Kathryn, and Katherine. Oh, and Amanda.”
I was originally going to be named Amy, but they changed it to Melanie. I love the name Amy, but it is definitely not "Me". When I was younger I wanted 3 kids.. Amy, Scott, and Stephen. I still love those names, and I find they are pretty common in my age group.
I now have changed my mind on boys names, but want Scott as a middle name.
Yes, and my mom friend group at DD’s preschool was multiple people with similar names. It was funny when we met new people. “Hi, this Katie, Katie, Kate, Kathryn, and Katherine. Oh, and Amanda.”
Post by mustardseed2007 on May 9, 2021 14:07:41 GMT -5
My name is common but not popular if that makes sense.
My daughter's name is very uncommon and people mess it up all the time. She's named after my mother and it's an old welsh family name. I have met literally one other person in real life who also has that name and it was a choir member at our church who introduced herself after my daughter's baptism. Three people in one place with that name - my mom, my daughter, and this lady. No one has ever seen the like! At least not in this country.
ETA: My sister actually has the same name as my cousin but we always referred to my sister by a nickname - their first name is my grandmother's name. Turns out my SIL has the same first and middle name as my sister and they both go by the same nick name too. It's apparently a catholic type thing but my family isn't catholic.
Post by lilypad1126 on May 9, 2021 14:31:44 GMT -5
I’m a Bethany. When I was a kid, I wanted to be Elizabeth so my nickname could be Liz, instead of Beth, LOL. I don’t know that my name is common, growing up I was the only one in my school with it, but at my last there job there were 3 of us in my semi-small division.