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I'm curious what my fellow Jen(nifer)s are doing when it comes to naming their own kids? A lot of friends I know who are Jen/Jenny/Jennifers or other popular names run screaming from popular names for their own kids. Add to the mix that my partner and I are both teachers and end up with a fair number of Matthew B. and Hannah S. variants in our classes, so a lot of our friends were really surprised that we'd even consider names anyone else might possibly use.
However, it's never been a big issue for me so when we were considering names for our baby, our top boy name pick was in the top 5 and all of our front runners for girls were in the top 25, many in the top 10. In the end we went with a family name (Natalie) but it too is in the top 20.
Well, my mom felt she had such a terrible name, she named me Jennifer Ann so I could fit in. Her name is Arlene Frances. Unfortunatly, as you all know, Jennifer in 1977, was VERY popular. So when it came to naming my daughters, I didn't want the same old or anything too outrageous. I went with Carolynn Angelica and Catherine Arlene.
Yep growing up with a name of Jenni I sure did not want "common" names for my children - the first cavet was that the name could not be in the top 50 names in the previous 5 years....
I have twin girls and their names are
Nora Rose (named after my great - grandmother and grandma)
Julia Ann (the only name Dh and I could agree upon in the baby book)
Now Nora is fine - I have only met one other Nora that is anywhere around my daughters age - the rest of them seem to be in their 50-60's
but Julia...let's just say 2001 was the beginning of a Julia explosion...I know of 5 other sets of twins with a "Julia" that are about the same age as my two - Luckly at least in her school there doesn't seem to be another Julia in her grade...unlike when I was growing up and you could account for at least 3-4 of the girls being named some form of Jennifer (and 2-3 of them named Michelle)
I think I am probably a traditionalist at heart I must be
My childrens names are named after ancestors or deviates of them
I actually have an estranged daughter her name is in the top 10s for 2005
My eldest son is in the top 20s for 2005
My Little Man whose birthday it is TODAY top 30s for 2005
all this is based on http://www.babycenter.com
My son is William Alexander (we call him Bill), and my daughter is Sarah Grace (she goes by Grace). William is his great-grandfather's name, and Sarah and Grace are both of her great-grandmothers. We thought it was a nice way to pass along family names and not be "trendy" at the same time. :)
I thought I was going decently unique with the first two kids, naming them Ian and Emma, but (at least while we were stateside) those names have ended up being increasingly popular and both have had classmates and contemporaries aplenty with the same names.
10 years down the road from naming them, I gave in and went with what I knew was a highly popular name when we named the youngest Andrew. At the gym nursery when he was a tiny baby, I checked him in one day and there were already 3 other baby Andrew's in the group!
So, there you have it. I guess I have saddled them with the same plague I grew up in: being one of many!
I'm late on replying to this.. not sue where I have been. LOL
Anyway... I never minded being a "Jennifer". But, I didn't want over popular names for my kids just because I didn't. I'm married to a Bryan... and he was the pickiest person with names I have ever meet in my life. Whatever I LOVED he hated, and whatever I sort of liked... he could deal with. LOL ~ My son is Trevor Griffin... I wanted his first name to be Griffin, but his dad didn't like it and didn't think that any little kid would like being called that. Poop on him!! Then we had the girls... that was hard.. four girl names at one time... but we sort of made it through. My husband picked the name Lauren Ashley... yes, like Laura Ashley.. but he has no clue who she is... and then there is Brooke Madison. I love their names now and wouldn't change them for anything... they fit them perfect...but I was shooting for Natalie, Olivia, Payten, Arianna, Sofia, Lexie, Madison, Julianna, Alexandria... and for Trevor, besides Griffin I had the names, Preston, Griffin, Xavier, Xander and a few others picked out... they were vetoed right away though. LOL
so we are Jennifer & Bryan parents to Trevor ~ which I never hear any where and Lauren and Brooke that I hear every where. But they are originals, and that is all that matters. ;o)
