Should I keep the popular baby name that i love?

Question

Hi, my name is Jessica and I am expecting my first child in January. I've been looking at tons of baby names ever since I found out the good news. I knew I didn't want the most popular name for my expecting child. Being that I hated the fact that in school I was always Jessica # 3. So after I finally found a boy and a girl name that I adore figured I would check out the popular list to see where they fell. Of course the girl name I fell in love with is the # one name. Should I go searching for other names or should i keep the popular one?

Fyi the name is Emma.

Answer 1

Pick the name you love most, as its your child and no one elses. Maybe pick a distinctive middle name to set them apart from others. But I think Emma is a lovely name and if it means that much to you, who cares if she has other Emma's in her class. She's the only one who is yours, right?

Answer 2

i would keep it. i love the new emma

and i only know one emma, i thought it wasnt very popular, then i check and saw it was number one and i was like wow

actually the girl i know is named Emilee and we just call her emma, you might wanna do that, but maybe not cause emily is popular too

Answer 3

If you love it, keep it.

My son's name, although it was not the most popular name the year he was born, it was in the top ten. We've met a handful of boys with the same name. My daughter has a name that has never come near the top of the list and we seem to meet a lot of little girls with that name. Go figure.

Answer 4

Keep it if you like it that much. These days it seems that no matter what name you pick you always come across it. It's like when you buy a new car. Before you bought you never noticed it but once you got it and your in it you see everywhere. I of course have heard of Emma but I have never met an Emma and I have kids in school.  

Answer 5

my little cousin named her daughter emma :)

I think it's a pretty name

Answer 6

when I named my first child i didn't know anotone with the name carter since we name him that we have come to know a TON of carters.  i still love the name and you cant help it if other people love it to.  I think alot of people at sometime or another wish they had another name.  My name is corrie and everyone always thinks i am a guy, when i go out with girlfriends (whos husbands dont know me) i can hear them talking on the phone saying "no hunny, corrie is a girl".  My sisters have hawaiian names and when they were growing up they hated them because no one could pronounce them now they love that they are the only ones with those names.  Go with what you love

Answer 7

i like emma

Answer 8

I'd probably keep it.  If you love it that much, it's meant to be.  I don't hear Emma very often, but there has to be something behind it being #1.  Go with your heart.  If your heart beats Em-ma, Em-ma, by all means name your daughter Emma.  :)

Answer 9

i really like that name! its not that common maybe you could just give her a really exotic middle name. keep it!

Answer 10

I'd say keep it. I work at a daycare and there is only one Emma in the whole school (off 100 kids). The names may be popular but there are so many people that you may not hear it often. I was the same way for my kids. My son whom I had in 2006, I named Logan and after I named him, I saw the name was on the top 20 list. I just had a daughter three weeks ago and decided to go against any popular lists though and named her Piper.

Go with a name you love, no matter what.

Answer 11

I adore the name Emma. I'd say keep it regardless of where it falls on some list. When you look back in 5 years will say say Man I wish I had named her Emma (if you don't?)

Answer 12

Keep it if you love it. I know a few Emma's but it doesn't really matter, as long as you love the name. Because I have a more non-popular name; when there was pronounciation issues, I'd always wish I had a more popular name. But Emma's a lovely name (:

Answer 13

honestly i only no one person named emma and she is my cousin and no one in my school is named emma and none of my friends are named emma and my parents dont know any one named emma (besides my cusin) so atleast were i live it isnt that popular and maybe that popularity site you looked on, well maybe it ws the #1 popular name in the world not the country so maybe most of the peple named ema live in ummm... ireland or somthing

hope his helpsx]

Answer 14

I would keep it. I'm tired of hearing people say "pick another that too used". If you like it use it.  

Answer 15

I think you should come up with a more unique name!

I mean think about it, whenever people are going to hear name, they'll be like omg that is so unique. It'll be something different from all other people. And I, personally, love uniqueness! I think it does the child more good than harm because it will give them a sense of individuality.

I'm sure you'll come across a really nice unique name that you'll fall in love with more than Emma. :) Keep searchin'

Answer 16

Since you have until January, I would keep searching for other names if I were you.

Emma is a gorgeous name.  It's very old-fashioned, and it makes me think of the intelligent, strong-willed girl in the Jane Austen novel of the name name.  However, in about 12 or 15 years, Emma won't seem like that to most people anymore.  It will probably strike most people as popular and rather boring, the way that Jennifer and Jessica do today.

Since you are a Jessica, you know what it's like to have a popular name.  Your name has lovely literary roots -- it was first used by Shakespeare in "The Merchant of Venice" for a beautiful young Jewish girl in love with a man of whom her father did not approve.  When most people hear the name Jessica, though, they no longer think of it as a Shakespearean name.  They think of it as an overused 80's name.  I'm afraid Emma, Sophia, and Isabella are soon to be resigned to the same fate.

You may want to consider some names that have a similar beginning sound to Emma:

Emilia

Emmeline

Amelie

Amelia

You may want to consider other two-syllable names that end in -a:

Clara (my favorite)

Willa

Eila/Isla (EYE-luh)

Elsa

Ada

Lina

Lyra

Luna

Mira

Mila

Mara

Moira

Nora

Cora

Cara

Dora

Gemma

Lola

Lilah

You may want to consider other old-fashioned names that have a similar "feel" to Emma:

Celia/Cecelia

Lydia

Eliza/Elise/Elisabeth

Charlotte

Miriam

Adele/Adela

Ruby

Lucy

Evangeline

Helena

Violet

Juliet

Rosalind/Rosalyn/Rosalie

Eloise

Elodie

Evelyn

Susanna

Anne

Eleanor

Jane

Good luck, and I hope this helps!  I used to be in love with a very popular name, too, but after realizing its popularity was skyrocketing, I decided to look around a bit more until I settled on another name I love.  My husband and I have now agreed on Clara for our first daughter.  It's just as sweet and old-fashioned as the other name I loved, but it's not even ranked in the top 200.

Answer 17

I think you should keep it. I found the name Jaden years ago before most people had even heard of it an fell in love with it. Now every kid is named Jaden but I'm still going to use it because I would regret it if I didn't.  

Answer 18

Maybe Emma as a middle name. You might like Emelia, Emilia, Amelia, Amelie,Abby, Amy,Aimee,Brooke, Brodie,Chloe, Charlotte,Demi, Danielle, Daniella,Eden, Eve, Evie,Ellie,Erin,Francesca,Grace, Georgie,Holly, Hope, Isabella, Jasmin,Lauren, lauryn, Libby, Lily, Liberty,Alex, Alexa, Alexia, Alexandra,Lucy,Mia, Maya,Mya, Madison, Maddie,Naomi,Poppy,Riley,Sophia,Savannah... Taia,Taya,Talia, Taylor,Taryn,Paris and Lola.   Good luck!

Answer 19

My friend named her daughter Emmaline Mae.  Maybe you could do something to lengthen it so she is a bit different but you can still call her Emma.  My friend only calls her daughter Emmaline when she was mad at her. lol

Answer 20

I think its a really cute name, and if u like it, go for it!  Congrats!

Answer 21

I agree with the Big Cheese.  If you're worried about her being Emma #7 or "one of the Emma's" then pick a more unique name and use Emma as a nickname.

Here are a few:

Ember

Emberlynn

Emerald (Or Emeralda!)

Emilia

Emiliana

Emmalia <-- my favourite

Emmeline

Emsley <-- 2nd favourite.

Best of luck!

Answer 22

There is nothing wrong with your child having a name that is more popular.  I named my daughter a name that was not popular at the time, but then the next year it was in the top 5.  You could give her a longer full name like Emmalynne or  Emmalee and have her go by Emma.  That way she would have a slightly different name, but you would still be able to give her the name you want her to have.  

Answer 23

change it.  You want her to stand out.   You are sure it is a girl?

Here is a not so common, in fact made up last year by our Pastor and his Wife for their daughter

Briley  

or

Tylia

Answer 24

Emma is popular, but I think you should go with it because you like it and thats all that matters...

Answer 25

Keep it, if anything her personality will shine through and that'll show her individuality (: names are important, but who she becomes counts more! Go with Emma, it's beautiful and elegant.

Answer 26

You could pick a less popular name and then just call her Emma as a nickname. I'm sure she would appreciate it.

My suggestion is Emile or Emilia.

Answer 27

You could use Emma as a middle name.

Answer 28

keep the name you really like

Answer 29

Go with it. I do not know anyone by that name, so it must not be that popular in my area, but maybe elsewhere. I deal with the public and deal with many people every day, so I hear a lot of names. I have, however, heard of the name Ella. You could try that one. It's not as commom and is still very pretty, and similar to Emma.

Answer 30

use it

Answer 31

Emma is a nice name, but if you want your child not to have such a common name, i suggest Lola, Baliee, Claire, and Eloise.