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I wanted to stay out of the top ten or twenty if possible. DH and I both have really common names for our generation, DH in particular, and we wanted to avoid her having to always be Susie H. DH went by his last name all through college since there were dozens of Brian's in our class.

However I also think even the number one most popular name this year won't be anywhere as common as the most popular names of our generation.

I care more about not choosing a name that is popular within our circle.

Similar to @Truth Bombs, I don't care about popular, I just didn't want trendy. We ended up choosing a name that's neither popular nor trendy: Marcus. We chose it because 1) unambiguous spelling and pronunciation (neither of our names are), 2) it sounds good with our last name, and 3) DH thinks it sounds manly.

It's important to me that my kids have names that are unique. And the popularity of my husband's name and last name and my name did play a small role.

@TemperanceBrennan: I don't mind weird over here.

@DillonLion: yeah I never had a name I fell in love with for a long time. If I did I don't really think popularity would have changed my mind.

D and I both had names in the Top 5 the years we were born--I'm a Sarah born in the mid-80s, and was ALWAYS Sarah D. It bothered me then, but I love how classic my name is. I'm not deterred by a name being super popular (Olivia and Ava are favorites) but it's important to D that we at least stay out of the Top 10 with our kids' names.

E's is in the mid-40s, I think. Not super common, but not at all rare or unique.

@anonysquire: it's Utah culture (you've seen the Mormon girls say video on names, right? Can't remember if we've talked about it). You take unique to a higher level though!

I always shoot for names in the 200's range classic, but not heard every day. Of course with Theo it's a little more popular than I prefer and M's name is in the 800's.

@Mrs. Jacks: yes I've seen that lol. I feel like my names are easy names though. Not so much.

I like names that are more unique. DDs name has never been in the top 1000. I'd like to at least stay out of the top 100 in the future. I'm bummed because my favorite boy name has always been Noah, which has of course shot up in popularity recently.

DH and I both actively avoided popular names when we were discussing it. We have the most common last name in the U.S. DH has an extremely popular name for our generation, to the point that there were 3 other guys with his same first and last name in our dorm building alone. He very much didn't want that for our kid(s). That being said, LO's nickname (but not legal name) is going to be a fairly popular one. It's been on the decline in recent years though, which is a factor.

We wanted a name that was uncommon yet not weird or hard to pronounce. My son's name is right around top 200. More importantly, we didn't want the name to remind us of anyone we know (including my clients).

@DillonLion: This is very timely as I'm having second thoughts that our Charlotte (due next week) will hate her name for being too popular, especially with the recent royal addition! We actually haven't come across a single Charlotte in any of my 2.5 year old son's classes (day care, music, gym), but it still worries me.

@SeptMomma12: have you looked at the social security listings for your state? C's name is about 150 in the U.S. But 75 in MA. Maybe it's less popular in your area.

I have a less common name and prefer it. When naming our children we want to chose names that people have heard of, but not super popular names. I also like to avoid trendy names.

I like unique but easy to spell/pronounce. However, our DD2's name has become more popular but we loved it and went with it.

I'm Greek and I am raising DD and future children as Greek Orthodox... so their baptismal names must either be of a Greek saint or Ancient Greek origin. It makes it a bit more challenging in adapting their baptismal name in Greek to a name in English. DD's name is similar in both languages though it is a different name, and some people will give a child a Greek middle name if they can't find an English first name that adapts well. I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do for the baby i'm currently pregnant with, it will be a fun challenge.

I don't care so much about popularity vs trendiness. I love all the classic names....Charlotte, Elizabeth, etc, etc.....and they are popular....I would like to stay away from the trendy names....Everly, ending in -den names for boys, etc.

@Foodnerd81: I think it might be a regional thing. There's a lot around here, (Claire or Clara) Dh's cousin just name their daughter Claire too. It's a beautiful name, but perhaps the overabundance has just made me bored of it? I go through lots of name phases, on to the next! Lol.