Picking a name that’s popular has its pros and cons. The advantage is that it must be a good name, since all those parents that chose it must have done so for a reason. The disadvantage of a popular name is that there are, most likely, more children in your child’s circle of friends and acquaintances with whom he or she will have to share. That makes your child’s name less remarkable, but on the other hand, he will be more readily accepted if he has a popular name than a difficult or complicated one.
Our advice:
If you decide to choose a popular name, don’t pick one of the top ten names of recent years.
Choose one that’s slightly less popular. Find a happy medium and pick a name that’s not too
unusual, but not too popular. There are various web sites that list the names chosen most
often for each year. Avoid the top ten of the last five years and see if there are any names
you like within the top 100 or 1000.
Why Michael?
“We always thought Michael was a lovely name. It sounds rugged, but also made me think of the
archangel Michael. Once he went to daycare, and then later elementary school, it became evident
that it hadn’t been a very good choice. In his class, there were three other Michaels and he didn’t
like it at all.”
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