DH and I LOVE the name William. However, it is so popular! It is much more popular than my other children's names as well. Is this a huge deterrent? Or should should we go with a name we both love?
DS is $teph€n and DD is 
P.S. Not pregnant at the moment, just obsessing over the fact that it is way popular 
pomegranate / 3768 posts
Popularity wouldn't deter me from choosing a name. I say go for it if you love it!
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
Do you know a lot of people IRL that named their son William? I think that matters more than popularity overall! I love the name William! It's classic and timeless 
pomelo / 5524 posts
My name was the most popular girls' name the year I was born. It's clearly an 80s trendy name, and that just annoys me. It's also not a great grown-up name.
William is such a classic name. I feel like if you really love it, it's timeless and will be a name that is great for a baby as well as an adult.
blogger / pineapple / 12381 posts
I think of popular as a name that has a huge spike at one point in time. Classic means that it has always ranked really highly. William falls squarely in the classic category and you can always find a less popular nickname if so inclined.
grapefruit / 4120 posts
LOVE IT. I was undeterred by its popularity. I think it goes really well with your other kids' names.
pomelo / 5132 posts
I think it's super classic, and as a teacher, I wouldn't say it's that popular! If you like it, go for it.
blogger / pineapple / 12381 posts
Nicknames could include Liam, Will, Wills, Whit, Wylie.
grapefruit / 4455 posts
I think it would go ok with your other LOs names! Also it's a classic so to me it goes in a different category than other popular names.
pomegranate / 3565 posts
It's classic! And to me classic never goes out of style, and it doesn't matter if it has waves of popularity.
I was starting to get excited thinking baby #3 was on the way!
GOLD / wonderful pea / 17697 posts
I agree with pps, I definitely think William as a classic name, not necessarily popular! (And I looove it! It's a contender for us!)
We've shied away from names in the top 10 (D and I both have incredibly popular names), but if we really LOVED a name popularity wouldn't stop us from using it.
cantaloupe / 6885 posts
My daughter is Charlotte , and I didn't care so much that it is popular today because it's classic - like William. From a young age, even when it wasn't popular, I wanted a daughter named Charlotte. Dh loved the name so we dove in and used it. Even though it's like #13 in my province I actually don't know any other Charlottes besides for my moms friend.
pear / 1586 posts
Thanks for all the positive feedback! I've heard the name while at the library but only twice and in two different states. Plus it is a family name.
@Mamasig: Lol! Not yet!
@Mrs. Jacks: I love Wills and Will P.S. I absolutely love your son's name!
nectarine / 2148 posts
I am naming my son William. We are also going with the nn Will. Popularity has never been a factor for me with naming. I think if you like the name you should just go for it!
pomelo / 5607 posts
We dropped William from our list because it got so popular. But that's something that we care about, and honestly the nn we're planning for this LO is pretty popular (though her actual name isn't), and we're doing it anyway. I'm not sure we would if it were more popular than it is, and not on a downward trend right now. But again, it matters to us. I think it's a personal thing whether you care. Some people prefer a popular name, which seems so foreign to my way of thinking, but it's a perfectly valid opinion.
pomelo / 5469 posts
I ignore lists and go on how many people do I actually know of with that name. My Lo's name was top 20 and it didn't bother me.
pear / 1586 posts
@Torchwood: thanks for that perspective. It does matter to me (probably because my name isn't common at all) but we really love it. DS is a III and I think his name is a bit common for me lol. We met a little boy a bit older in my mum's town with the same name and I admit to being sad. Our future girl choices aren't as popular.
@MamaBehr: @illumina: thank you for reassurance!
pomelo / 5607 posts
@cheesetomywhine: Yeah, the popularity of both of our names (DH's was number one for our age group, and mine was top ten) combined with the US's most common last name is a big factor for us.
wonderful grape / 20453 posts
Not a deterrent because it's classic. I have a top five name and it's better than something obscure
GOLD / wonderful olive / 19030 posts
If I loved a name I would use it regardless of popularity. We chose Everly for DD2 and we knew it was one of the fastest growing names, but we loved it and we knew it was the name for us regardless of popularity
pomegranate / 3350 posts
I was excited, thinking this was an announcement!
We did not worry about the popularity because our last name is pretty unique. So far I have seen other kids with the same name at the playground or in public but we have not had any playmates or kids in activities with the same name. And there are SO many nickname options that it's probably uncommon to use the full name if you like it!
pomelo / 5678 posts
I don't think of that as a "popular" name. It is a name that has been used for such a long time, I don't think of popular in this case as a deterrent.
pear / 1586 posts
@skipra: Lol not yet! We would probably use the full name as we call DS by both first and middle.
@Greentea: thank you for your input!
cantaloupe / 6634 posts
@cheesetomywhine: This is what we are name our LO due in July! We are going to call him Liam. We don't know a lot of Williams around here and we love it. 
pineapple / 12566 posts
I think of William as classic and not popular and it definitely wouldn't be a deterrent for me if I liked the name.
apricot / 309 posts
Like most of the previous posters, I think of William popular but as classic, not trendy. Either way, I wouldn't shy away from a popular name for a boy. I've read a few studies saying that boys with more common / popular names tend to have less behavioral issues overall than boys with rare / unusual names. The studies didn't say the same was true for girls.
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