The celeb kids will be okay because they'll grow up with other wealthy kids with like names. But if they weren't kids of celebs, then I think they'd get ribbed a lot.

Both of my son's had unusual names when they were born. Now a lot of boys are being named those two names. They're classic names, but weren't popular at the time.

What I hate with a passion are tradional names that have been changed in a "cutesy" way. It may be cute when they're 5 years old, but not as an adult.

But everyone seems to be doing it. Guess I'm old fashioned!

I like traditional names and usually cringe at the some of the celebrity baby names. For some reason though, Bingham doesn't bother me as much as some of the others.

We went to my nephew's 5th birthday party last month and on the way home in the car we started laughing because there were 20 kids at the party and I swear every one had what we call Soap Opera names....Jasmine, Tiffany, Hunter, Colby, Griffin, Ryland, Kieran, Madison, Aidan, Hunter.

There's nothing wrong with any of those names but when you find yourself in a room full of them it did make me laugh. Plus we were in a very tony part of Georgetown.

Not a single Mike, no Bobby's, not even a Katie or a Melissa.

But for some reason I do like the name the Beckhams gave their new daughter - Harper Seven.

I think some of it has to do with what age a person is, whether or not they like certain names.

I don't know anyone that watches soap operas. DD2 was at work one day when a client asked what she was naming the baby (a boy). The client told her it was a name on General Hospital (I think). DD2 would never have known this, and is attached to the name - she's due in a month and it has been on her list from the start.

Harper was on her list for a girl. Maybe next time.

Bingham doesn't strike me as that odd, and Bing's a great nickname. HL Mencken wrote about poor people having nothing else to give their kids but a memorable name--I guess when you can give you child anything and everything material, a name is at least creative and personal.

My kids have family names, so what do I know?

I loathe Kr8tive names, and don't get me started on Nevaeh, etc.

My DD is named for her maternal and paternal great grandmothers. I liked many of the less "biblical" names. DH and I couldn't settle on something a bit different at that time, so she isn't Deirdre, although she wishes she were. DD dislikes her very "normal" name. lol

About 2 years ago we had a very young waitress who said "Hi I'm Kaitlyn (I'm guessing here at the spelling since there are so many ways to spell it)and I'll be your waitress". My DH said "I think every young waitress we have for the next 5 years will be a Kaitlyn". Surprisingly astute of him. The wave of Kaitlyn's were just turning 16 or so. And it has proved true, there have been many Kaitlyn/Catelyn/Katelyns. We wondered what most of the waiters will be named - Jordan maybe? - but we don't have nearly as many male waiters so we haven't discovered the male common name.

I used to think that if I had kids, I'd call a preschool teacher and ask what names are most popular so that I could avoid those. Recently, a p-s teacher friend told me that the -aden names are big: Caden, Aiden, Jaden.

It must be so disheartening to find out a name you plan/planned on using is overly popular. So what's worse - being one of many Katelyn's in kindergarten or being Apple?

Allison, isn't Harper more a unisex name? I always think of Harper Lee, but the name just sounds like it would work for either sex.

It is interesting how names become "trendy." Maire, your post made me LOL! My 14-yr. old kitty, Jasmine, is a soap queen! I swear I named her after the flower...and I like the tea and the rice too. I do now meet a lot of young girls with the name, but never did 14 years ago!

Hhireno, I see a lot of Aidens around here too. That's a great name, but we are seeing it a lot. It's a shame that Kaityln is going the way of the trendy. It is very pretty. I think Annette Bening and Warren Beatty have a daughter in her late teens with that name.

I'd rather be one of many Kaitlyns than the only Apple, as I do think a name like that invites ribbing. As Oakley said though, living in a celebrity culture surrounded by "creative types" probably makes it easier. It might be hard to pull off at a run of the mill kindergarten. Children can be cruel.

Of course, a name like Apple creates a "teachable moment" for children..."Now class, there are all kinds of names in the world....one is not better than another." Do we really want to have a name that needs such an explanation though? Life is hard enough!

I am always fascinated by trends in baby names. My XH had an awful first name. It was a last name in his family. Fortunately it had a shortened version that wasn't too bad, but he was teased a lot when he was a kid. His family called him by his full name, not the short version.

When my kids were born it seemed like every baby was named either Jason or Jennifer. Now when I meet someone with that name, I know they are in their late 30's or early 40's.

The Hayden, Jayden, Aiden, Braden, Kaden, etc trend drives me nuts. It's as if there is a competition to see who can come up with another name that has the "aiden" ending.

Susan was the wildly popular girls name when I was a kid. I never meet any babies named Susan now. Linda was a close follow up.

Here are the young kids on my street: Nathan, Elizabeth, Georgia, Evan, Ross, Riley, Taylor, Dylan, Nina, Avery, Tyler, Jordan, Sam, Luke, Holiday (!), Leela, Anita, Bobby, Carolyn, Grace, Matthew,Nicholas, Brendan, Landon and Emerson (a girl).

I guess every generation has its trendy names, but I think you do your kid a disservice by giving him/her a strange name. It's possible to have a distinctive name without being wacky.

When my kids were born it seemed like every baby was named either Jason or Jennifer.

There is actually a baby name book that came out some time ago -Beyond Jennifer and Jason which has been updated.

The current most popular names are:
Boys - Jacob, Ethan and Michael
Girls - Isabella (often with Bella as the nickname - think Twilight), Sophia and Emma.

Here is a link that might be useful: Popular baby names

When I was little I always said that I would name my daughter Olivia - because of Olivia Newton John. At the time, there weren't any "Olivia's". Now, I think it is the number one or two name for baby girls. I still love the name, but I wouldn't want my kid to be one of 5 in the same class with the same name. I was the only Angela growing up. It is not a weird name by any means, but it was just different enough (there were always 2-3 Jennifer's and Carrie's in my classes).

The link that I posted above lets you track the popularity of any name since 1879. For example Olivia is currently #4, down from #3 last year, but was #529 in 1969. By far the most popular name over time seems to be Mary or Maria.

Terriks, that's a cool link! My sister, brother, and I were in the top 20 for our respective birth years in the '40s & '50s.

I have a 14 yr old nephew named Kaden. I remember when he was born it seemed like such an odd name. Most of us had never heard it before, lol.

I wonder if Catherine/Kate will surge in popularity following the Royal Wedding.

Terriks, cool site! My name is rare for my generation, but in my 20's I started seeing little girls with my name. According to the site it was in the top 50 from 1990-2004, which matches with the time frame when I would hear mothers calling their little girls in a store!

My poor sons ended up with very common/popular names!

I hit #3 for my birth year thanks to Debbie Reynolds or Deborah Kerr - not sure which ! My parents picked biblical names for all of us, not based on celebs of the day but in my case you'd never know.

Mine was #256 in my birth year---peaked at #32 in 1973 --- and now is #856.

If we had a boy his name was going to be Thor. Since a baby wasn't in the cards, it will be our next male dog's name. Probably a little more appropriate . . .

Great - My name was 3# in my birth year (so much for originality), but has since plummeted to almost 800!... Looks like my name will be a joke for old ladies in a few years...

My kids' names were #13 and #26 in their respective birth years, though my older son's name raced up the charts a few years after and has also now became popular for girls...

Hubby's name was fairly unusual when he was born (425), then raced up to top five for a decade. People who don't know us well frequently mix up Hubby's and younger DS's names because they were each much more popular with the other person's generation.

Yeah, it would be nice to come up with a name that's distinctive without being cutesy, hard to pronounce, impossible to spell, have any nasty double meanings or make the parent sound illiterate. But that's a tall order since everyone seems to be trying that! IMO, Harper and Bingham pass that test -- Suri too. Apple and Seven, like most other 'unique' names, fail.

terricks, that link was rather addicting! And kellyeng, Thor is growing on me. Are you a meteorologist or maybe a storm chaser?

My mom wanted to name me Lanette which was not even in the top 1000's when I was born in the 50's. She thought it was so pretty but Grammy talked her out of it. "It sounds like a piece of fabric" she told mom. Phew! Thank you Grammy!

If a celebrity designer married a geologist here's what they could name their children :)

Suede & Rock
Ramie & Silver
Silk & Coal
Quartz & Linen

I like the SS site. Will send to DD2.

I was way ahead of the curve on baby names. They were not popular the year any of mine were born, but became somewhat so within 5 years.

I always laugh at the reason my mother chose my name. She said that she didn't want all of the children on the block running to our house when she called me for dinner!

30 years later when I'm at the mall I can never figure out why people shout my name at me. And in such angry and stern tones like I'm ignoring them or something. When I finally turn around to acknowledge them w/ an exasperated 'WHAT?!' I'm always embarassed because it's always a parent that is fed up w/ the behavior of their toddler who shares the same name as me. Kills me that my mother spelled it cutesy w/ an 'i' at the end.

DS1 has an unusual name too but it's actually one of the oldest Celtic names on record. Of course we also had to spell it the original way. I didn't give it a second thought at the time because the pronunciation is clear as day to us but we've resigned ourselves to the fact that it is not clear as day to the general masses.

DS2 also has a traditional Celtic name but a million kids in Ireland and Britain have the same name too so it's easy.

I wanted to name DD Ruby Rose but DH said no. So I said September Rose but Nicole Kidman named her daughter Sunday Rose 1/2 way through my pregnancy w/ DD. DH said not to Harper Rose too. We couldn't find a tradtional Celtic girls name that we both liked and was able to be pronounced almost upon site. Right up to me being wheeled into the room we weren't 100% on a name. It was between Bronwyn (fair of skin w/ dark hair) Rose or Eleri Rose. We decided on Eleri. Then when she came it DH looked at me and said 'She has fair skin and dark hair. Do you want to name her Bronwyn?' I almost killed him. I said 'Fine' and he said 'No - I like Eleri'. I thought at that point someone would kill him for me.

My only regret is that we chose her name so hastily (didn't know sex) that we just automatically gave her the feminine version of Eleri and it's so cutesy. Looking back I would much rather have spelled it Ellory. Oh well!

I always wished my name was Brooke. Not too common, not too unusual or unpronounceable.

My name is #9 on terrik's link for when I was born. Very popular- I've known several! I don't really like it because it sounds a bit little girlish to me. Hope I haven't offended anyone! A few people call me Nan and I like that a lot better.

I work in a nursery- at one point every baby in the unit was Jada, Jayden, Jade Jalen, or some sort of take on that name. Five years ago every other baby was named Isabella. I had loved the name Isabella since I was in college when I heard the name on some show on TV that was cancelled very quickly. At the time no one named their child Isabella, and much to my dismay when I was preggers with DD1, it seemed it became wildly popular. Decided to shorten it to Ella- and then changed my mind at the last minute. Two years later while prego with DD2, planned on calling her Ella, and on our way to the hospital for a c-section changed my mind again. Three years later when pregnant a 3rd time, I said I will definitely name this baby Ella as I still loved the name. And baby number 3 was a little boy, and now I hear Ella all the time, and I'm glad I never used it. I don't care for unusual names, just I like the ones that aren't wildly popular. Growing up, everyone was Jennifer, Melissa and Christine, and I loved being the only one with my name.

I always look at the rankings before I pick a name for our girls (we have 4). Anything more popular than the 300s is out-- even then, I prefer much less common.

DD#3 has a super-common nickname that most people use as a name. Her nn is Callie, but her full name is Calista. We wanted a name that would grow with her.

My poor 4th DD . . .I do love her name and I cannot imagine spelling it any other way (it is actually the traditional spelling in Ireland and very common there, inc. the spelling). But, given that online communication is so prevalent, she might have problems. No one ever mispronounces her name in person-- her name is easy to say, and when we go to the dr. I have her phonetic pronunciation written in ( ), so they always say it right. Her name is Niamh (Neeve).

Not true for my poor Moira. No one EVER says her name right: Mora, Mariah, Mayra. If a person knows how to read, there is really only ONE way to say the name-- but even those not reading it (only hearing it) mess it up all the time.

My oldest is Fiona. More common than the other names, but it still has its problems! I loved that name since I was in HS and read it in a story. I was horrified when PG with her and Shrek came out. People ALWAYS ask her if it's from Shrek. Very annoying to her. She has not even seen the movie.

What is funny is that there have always been "out there" or unusual names. I showed my mom the SS popular names link from her birth year (1932). If you look at the ones in the 800s-1000, you will see some very unusual names and spellings. Every generation has its weird names. Someone has to be #1000!

If we have another girl, I will have no idea what to name her. Completely out of names. We are set for a boy-- he's going to be James William, after our dads. For some reason, popularity does not matter at all to me with a boy's name. I always think girls want to be unique to a degree and boys want to blend in. Of course, I think #5 will be a girl . . .will find out early August. Maybe we will just call her Quinta!

I find the meaning of names interesting too and, in addition, while I like unusual names it dismays me that my favorite names for the past twenty years have always been the most popular which is not right! I LOVE Isabella, Olivia, Ava, Rose,.....

I also love Linnet. Dh said Lynnette?!! No!

I have a fairly uncommon name and have always liked it because while not common, everyone knows how to pronounce and spell it: Holly

And those who think it might be Hollie are just wrong!
No interesting meaning: a specific shrub or small tree.

My husband, a traditionalist to the core, has a very unusual name and shortened it to a common name when he was in high school. It distressed his mother, who still calls him by the birth name as do the rest of the family, but I understand. He was made fun of all through adolescence.

bumble, DH wants to name this baby Holly if a girl . . .due date is Christmas. I have never made it to my due date but I think 12/25 would be a neat birthday!

My name, May, was #902 in 1960, my birth year. It then dropped off the list beginning in 1963, made a brief reappearance as #963 in 1982 and has not made the list since.

It's never made it lower than #57 which it did in 1883 & 1880.

How's that for a name no one else has?

Son #1, Nathan, was #45 in the year of his birth and seems to have steadily gotten more popular over the years. It was #27 in 2010.

Son #2, Benjamin, was #27 in the year of his birth, and has been hovering in the 20s & 30s since 1975.

As far as celebrities giving their kids unusual names, I think it's probably no more prevalent than the general population. It's just that we hear about it more. There are some celebs who name their kids more common names, and many non-celebs who use more unusual names, and certainly more unusual spellings!

anele,
My DD2 was born on 12/26. People always comment what a lousy birthday it is. So don't be surprised if you get a lot of comments like that. Very much to the contrary my daughter thinks it's the very best day for a birthday. Anyhow, as I said in my previous post her name was supposed to be Ella. In the car on the way to the hospital, DH and I were discussing it, and since the drive in the dark with all the Christmas lights led our way there we decided to change it to Noella. DH wasn't wild about it. My doc was late to the hospital and we discussed it even more and compromised with Mia Noelle. DH is Italian, and Mia means mine, Noelle is French, and I have loved everything French since learning the language in high school, and that was how her name was born. To us she was Our Christmas that year. Mia is popular, but her whole name Mia Noelle, is simply beautiful and the popularity didn't matter to me. I wish you the best on a very healthy baby, no matter what the sex. Either is a blessing.

Another Christmas time baby here... our first was due on 12/15 and eventually arrived on 12/30. We didn't know the gender, and were seriously considering Holly for the same reason you are, if it was a girl. Our last name also begins with H, and I really liked the alliteration. Of course it was a boy, and we named him Harry after my husband's father. Not very popular then, and still hasn't become so, even with all the Harry Potter hoopla...

My name was #20 in my birth year. Five years later it hit #1 and stayed there for more than TEN YEARS!!!!! I don't run into many folks older than me with my name. I consider myself on the cutting edge of commonality.

My sweet little new stepgrandfaughter is named Metyl (what happens when you have a hippie mama and an emo/geeky papa). I thought it was actually pretty cool, and they could have done a lot worse (she does have a more traditional middle name)! Running it through the SS website it clearly is not popular. It hasn't registered in the top 1,000 ever in the last 60 years.

I was born in April so Holly wasn't related to the season. I'm also grateful for the name: one grandmother was pushing for Opal, the other Hazel.

Okay, this is a new one to me. I read that Jim Shore's (the scupture) daughters name is "Jynifer."

If I pronouce it the way it looks, well, I bet she took a lot of ribbing in school! Or maybe my head's in the gutter this morning. lol

I managed to name my first two kids names that I didn't realize were pretty popular. Our 3rd child is Spencer, which is both not weird and not too common. I don't think that there was ever another Spencer in his grade all through school.
My nephew has a different name that I like - Yarrow. His parents lived on a commune when he was born ;)

I used to work at a major children's hospital in an urban area back east. We used to shake our heads at some of the kids names we'd come across. These are the 3 that still stand out in my mind all these years later. First & middle names:
Precious Little (a very big boy with Down's Syndrome; we all thought this was an awful thing for his mother to do to him)
Tilly Tillie (who had a short, one syllable last name starting with "T" also)
Vagina Happy (and yes, "Vagina" was pronounced just like the body part)

I feel for all the kids everywhere (celebrity and regular) who have to grow up with goofy names their loving parents saddle them with.
Lynn

Funny, Terriks. We have a baby boy due in our family come November. His name will be Spencer. My niece named her one year old daughter Yarrow.

I love Spencer. It's my maiden name. lol. My son was thinking about naming his son Spencer but I talked him out of it.

Golddust, a nickname that I was called at times in school was "Spence." Nobody was making fun of me or anything, but I hated it. You might pass that on.

When I was pregnant the first time I wanted to name the baby, if it was a girl, "Oakley." My mom called me and BEGGED me not to do it. LOL. So I decided on Olivia, but I ended up with all boys!

We often call our Spencer "Spence", and it doesn't bother him at all. Golddust, that is so funny that we both have a Spencer and a Yarrow in our lives.

I don't mind Spence either. It is funny, Terriks, because I had never heard of anyone else using the name 'Yarrow' outside the garden.

DH and I found the name 'Sawyer' and passed it on to DD when she was pregnant. Our Sawyer is 15 years old now. I read it's more popular now but at the time it was unusual. Course I nick named him 'Soy Bean' and to this day his sister calls him 'Bean'.

Then again, I didn't think it was possible to do anything strange with 'Max' until his friends started calling him 'Maxi Pad'. Recently I ran into a newborn named Max. I told her we have a son named Max. She said she liked the name because no one could turn it into anything strange. I reluctantly told her of Max's nick name. She was horrified. Luckily our Max has a great sense of humor.

Our other two kids actually nicknamed our Spencer "Bean". It came about because they would call him "Beansker", then shortened it to Bean. It's true that there is no such thing as a nick name proof name!

When I named my daughter Katelyn many years ago, there were none around...I had never heard of the name until then and loved it. A few years later it became popular and various spellings popped up. There's just no way to predict what will happen~~

My DD's have pretty unusual names. The eldest was going to be Amanda as I was in love with that name, it was unusual and I thought it so romantic. Then Bea Arthur was in a short lived TV show called Amanda and since I couldn't stand her, there was no way we could call our baby that name. Her father came home from work one day and asked what I thought of the name Tara (rhymes with Car) and I loved it, so that is what we named her. She's only run into a very few with the name pronounced the same, most are pronounced like the plantation in GWTW. Ironically, Amanda was a very popular name in the early 80's, and she went to school with 3 girls with that name!

The next DD is named Dayna Elaine. I just LOVE her name but it's forever pronounced Diana or Dinah. How can you mess it up?

My poor DS got a very common name, Jonathan, but I always loved the spelling Jon. He's got only one friend with the name Jon, but tons of Jared's, Justin's, Joel's and Jeremiah's!

terriks and golddust, that is quite the coincidence that Spencer and Sawyer both were nicknamed Bean!

My dad's name was Ronald and none of my db's were going to name their boys Ron, so we (I!) picked Veronica for our dd's name and call her Ronnie.

It makes me smile to think how my dad would feign confusion when someone said the name Ronnie and he pretended we were talking to him instead of dd. It would always make her giggle.

She now uses "Vero" quite a bit. Which I think is pretty cool.