No Fair, Sophia Was MY Baby Name Pick!
I think we "picked" the right name for this silly girl! Photo: Shannon Guyton
The most popular baby names of 2011 were announced today, and the name Sophia is number one. Number one! I’m not sure if I should celebrate being early on the trend (I carefully named my daughter Sophia in 2005 before it had made the top 10), or be annoyed my once unique-ish name is now so widely used. And to think she almost wasn’t a Sophia at all! Even after six years, I still wonder if I picked the right name for her. She came close to being a Sydney (after one of my favorite female characters, Jennifer Garner’s Sydney Bristow, who kicked a!*on the show Alias).
So how’d she end up a Sophia? Well, unlike Sydney Bristow’s kicks (which were all, hi-ya!), my daughter’s kicks in the womb were soft and gentle (pat-pat). Plus, whenever she’d nudge me with her foot, I’d immediately say to myself “Oh! Hey Sophie!” So I knew I had to go with it. (We still call her Sophie even though in school she uses her formal name).
Today, I see her running like me, sort of like a (really cute) duck and wildly flailing her light saber while playing Star Wars with her brother (maybe a clever distraction tactic?). And I can safely say that while she’s many amazing things, she’s no martial-arts-tough-girl as I imagined a Sydney would be. Sigh. I still pine for the name Sydney. (No, mom this doesn’t mean I’m going to try to get pregnant again!)
Is your baby name choice on the top 10 list? Is it important to you to pick a name not on the list? Did you have any baby naming regrets?
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Our daughter’s (due in Sept.) name is really unique (like, not even close to getting on any top name list), but there are similar names to it that are really popular. I like this because it’s not too out there because it’s similar to popular names, but it’s also not too popular so it’s more unique. My name is Ashley, and it’s nice a lot of times to have such a common name cause everyone knows how it’s spelled and everything, but I do hope our daughter’s name is not one of those names that becomes super popular anytime soon though (which is kinda why I don’t really wanna post it on places like this until she’s born lol – i know, it’s silly).
I felt the same way with names like Mason and Aidan that I have liked for several years now, but haven’t had the chance to name a boy yet.
I named DS Mason 4 years ago when it was like 127 on the SS list and now it’s almost top 10
It really makes me sad but nothing we can do about it.
This issue is so interesting to me. Especially as I work with so many new parents, I’m privy to how weighty a process naming a child can be. Personally, originality is important, but I get why the popular names are such. Pretty, classic and feminine are all of the current top 10 for girls, so, any of those would be beautiful. Plus, I think we moms of girls get away with a bit more, but maybe I’m biased. Can’t wait to see more comments on this one.
I always loved the nickname Bella, so I considered Isabella, Annabella, Bella Donna, etc. then Twilight happened and now everyones DOG is named Bella…. So that’s out. I’m SO glad we didn’t name a baby prior to the popularity.
My daughter’s first AND middle names are in the top ten list and I HATE IT!!! I had chosen Ava when I was about 10 years old after watching “Show Boat” with Ava Gardener (I’m a classic musical nut). So fast forward 11 years and poof, we’re having a baby girl. My husband was dead set on Madison (which I never liked–I grew up on a street called Madison so that’s all I can think of, lol!) so we ended up compromising with Ava Madison. This was in 2010. Much to my dismay, I realized both names were on the top 10! Blah! I never thought she’d be the kid with 6 other Avas in her class. Such a bummer! Ah well, wouldn’t change the name for anything–it fits her perfectly
I’m fairly certain that after january jones named her kid xander months after my boy was born and named xander (a name i’ve loved for years, and no, not bc of buffy) there’s going to be an uptick in that name. *shudder* and i’ve always always loved isabel but stupid twilight is ruining that. Plus a friend of mine named her daughter isabeau (yes the same as rachel ray’s dog) and she stole my isabel nickname. At least hers is now 4 and in another state so i may get away with it. My cousin swiped my other boy name Liam, but that is climbing up the charts too.
I named my daughter Eliana Sophia. I was going to name her Sophia, but then my mother named her cat Sophie. I had to switch it around. I wouldn’t mind naming my child a popular name, I rarely find another Kalie and it made me feel lonely in elementary and middle school.
When I was a kid I kind of disliked my name because I was the only one throughout most of my schooling. However, when I hit highschool I started to like the fact that if someone was calling my name it was definately at me. I’ve only ever met one other Corinna and strangely I felt a weird, territorial, ‘that’s my name’ feeling. lol I’m happy with my parents choice now.
The names I’ve picked out for my children are quite popular in the UK(where I’m originally from) but very rare here. I just hope Amelia and charlotte don’t get too popular here. (:xx
Amelia and Charlotte are beautiful names! Hopefully they won’t turn up on the top 10 next year.