Erm, I hate to say it, as you have already pointed it out, but really you are a tad biased aren't you."At least three Royal names are in there." Erm well as the royal family(s) are far reaching it is fairly obvious that royal names are going to creep on to the list and it seems pretty odd to rule them out just 'cos Lady Di got there first (well after all the other Harrys and Williams in history) Royalist or not I am fairly sure that my child would rather have a good popular name, than being called Petal, a nickname surely, Britney, or Tallulah does the Hula from Hawaii (enough said). Parents are wonderfully selfish on this issue, forgetting the playground taunts that children are so good at. At least if you are one of ten boys called Jack you might be less likely to be singled out that a chap called Apollo....and yes I do know one.

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Hmmm. Sometimes I think people can angst over these things too much. I have a child with a top ten name and I don't care! Really, by the time they're here there are a squillion other things to worry about.

To put the other side, my husband has a very unique unusual name and swore he'd never saddle his child with something too different.

For a start no-one you have to keep repeating what it is. Then you have to tell the story behind it. Then you have to spell it. Then people always get it wrong. When you're a kid others take the micky. You can never ever buy anything personalised like pens/stickers/etc that you can get at those tacky souvenir shops.

Yeah, I reckon people should just pick a name they like and be done with it. (Just wait til you're on your second/third/etc - it will be impossible to find a name you like that hasn't been taken or will not remind you of some gruesome kid....)!

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Whatever you name your child, just make it something you are comfortable calling out in public. There is nothing worse than a mother calling her child's name out in the supermarket and everybody turns round and gives her a look as if to say "did you just speak to your child or your cat?" My daughter is called Grace and when she was small so many people said what a lovely old fashioned name it was. 10 years ago Grace was ranked something like 345th and I picked it because my best friend was called Grace, but now its supposed to be the most popular name. Whose to say your unusual name won't be top of the list in five or ten years' time. And your popular names will most likely not be in the top ten in five or ten years time either. When your children grow up and get jobs they will be mixing with people of all ages, so the popularity of the names they were given when they were born will no longer be relevant. It's so much nicer to have a lovely name as a grown up than worry about how many other kids have the same name as yours in their class.

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I enjoyed this article and had to smile wryly when reading it. I'm a grandmother now of almost 50 years of age, and can clearly remember all the "Kyles", "Gavin's" and "Lee's" that were popping up all over the place 30 years ago when I had my first son. I deliberately avoided the trend even then - partly because I simply didn't LIKE those names, but mostly because I didn't want to saddle him with something we would all live to regret.

In the event we opted for the traditional but not - in our eyes, the "old fashioned" - and named him "Michael" - providing for "Mike" for short. We've never regretted it and neither has he.... where he works now he tells me that if someone shouts up for a phone call for "Lee", you have to move quickly or be killed in the stampede.

I also had to smile at the way fashions for baby naming have evolved... again harking back to when my first son was born, the woman in the bed next to mine named her son "Jack" - which caused huge snorts of derision among the other young mums as being SO old fashioned..... surely no-one in their right mind would give a kid a name like that?!!!!

Finally, using public transport recently, (and I swear this is true) - a harassed young mum with two girls aged about 2 and 3 respectively tried to hurry them off at their stop, shouting - "Britney! - Whitney! - come on!" Oh dear oh dear.... lol.

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I called my son Ben, though I hadn't realised it was so popular at the time. In his primary school, a third of the boys had the same name so they were called by their name with the initial of their surname. Even that didn't work, there were 2 boys who had surnames beginning Gr!
However, any outlandish name is unfair on the child

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My youngest son, who by the way is called Jack, is now 19 years old. Before he was born we picked the name Billy. During my pregnancy my Dad, who's name was also Jack died. Hence why we changed from Billy to Jack. So not everyone goes for names just because they are popular, people have their own reasons for naming their children.

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My son is called Jack, and at age 5 was the only Jack right through nursery (of around 50 kids, including 3 Olivers, 2 Bens and 2 Aidens) and is the only Jack in his 2 form entry in school (another 50 kids).

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I grew up with being the only one in the class and through my working life called Georgina. I have always shortened it to Georgie and can remember shuddering in Hammersmith market when I was a child when my grandmother shouted out my name. However I do like having a less common name as people do remember me. My son and daughter do not have a top 10 name, neither do their children namely Adam, Megan and the new arrival will be Matthew - my daughter and her husband's names both start with M!

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I have 3 sons Arthur 19yrs Jack 12yrs & Brendon 4yrs and i love ll their names. Arhtur is sort of coming on the scene now david camerons son Arthur paul macartneys grandson Arthur. I chose names that i loved.

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I went to an all girls' school and there was a ludicrous seven Sarahs and four Louises in my form, not to mention all the Claires, Nicolas, Emmas and Helens etc in the rest of the year. I do feel sorry for my friends whose names are so common that they have to be Sarah K, Nicola T and so on. We consciously avoided not just top ten names but top 100 and noted the trends. Our five year old daughter is called Xanthe (pronounced Zan-thie). Yes, we're always asked to spell it, and frequently asked to explain where it comes from and why we chose it, but so what? It's an easy ice-breaker. Meanwhile Xanthe herself loves her name and likes being the only Xanthe (it hasn't escaped her notice that a lot of children all have the same name). Sometimes she does like to pretend she's called something else - and her choice? Ceridwen!

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Being Sue I know the problems a really popular name incurs. There were 5 in my class at school. I was made to feel like one of many. in fact when I started dating and was asked my name the reply I got was invariably, Oh, Another one. I am also unfortunate to have a common surname as well, which as resulted in me actually working with a namesake, which caused allsorts of confusion I have had my wages stopped when another me has been off sick, my bank account closed in error and even suffered menancing phone calls from an angry wife because a namesake was having an affair with her husband. I definately decided to give my daughter a name that wasn't in the top ten list. She is constantly told what a lovely name she has and its done wonders for her confidence.

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I have two sons. One named Gray and once named Kayden. They are unusal names and I am yet to find a child with the same name anywhere near us. People often remark on what lovely and unique names the boys have and they don't seem to find life with an unusal name hard.

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As an author I marvel at names when I do a book signing. Yes I have already noticed how popular some names are. I also take note when unusual ones come along. A boy called TRULLS for example? Gaelic and Welsh hereditary names should be admired and also historical family names have great value to thier owners. My final comment would be to think hard, your child has to live a life with the name not you. Paige Turner, Teresa Green, Robert Roy, Michael Jackson and many others all exist and will always be found amusing.

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I gave my daughter my second name ( possibly also after a great friend I had when I was small?). When my daughter went to Poland in her gap year teaching English she asked me "why did you give me such an old fashioned name? People laugh at me!" I had NO IDEA that names followed fashions and just thought it was a lovely name!
Just another reason why mums never get things quite right!

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I agree kids shouldn't have the same name as everyone else. Fair play if it's a family name, but I really hate people who are doing it just to be "cool". It's up there with people spelling things bizarrely to be different, imo - eg Kayti.

At school, I was one of three Gemmas. And we all had the same middle name. Which is one of the most popular middle names ever and also a very popular first name. It does indeeed make you feel less than special.

I for one will only be checking baby name lists when I have kids to make sure I avoid all the names on it.

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When I was expected my name had already been chosen. Mum never wavered over it. A girl was always going to be Sheila not least because she liked the name but principally because it couldn't be shortened. Not having one herself, Mum declined to give me a middle name so I became known as "just Sheila" because every time she had to give my name to somebody that is what she found herself saying "Sheila .... yes, just Sheila". It infuriated her. All through my school days I was the only one and I have only ever worked with one other Sheila. I can't imagine being called anything else. I would hate to have one of these new age/celebrity names like Wave or Peach or Star. It may sound cute up to the age of 5 but how stupid is that going to look on a Pension Book?

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well my name has always stood out.I was always the only eleanor in my schools so if u ever heard someone saying "that eleanor" u always new it was me in trouble ha ha.
As i got older as soon as my name was mentioned there was always the comment of"is that the mad one from cefn"or not so nice"is that the one with big t**s.
So what did i do name my kids with not so heard of names like TONI for a girl JORDAN for a boy which aint so unusual then IEUAN very welsh,SHAUNNA with a extra n just to stand out and then COURTNEY SKIE so really i didnt learn from when i was younger thinkin why did my parents have to be so strange lol.

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My children are called Emily, Lucy & Delaney. Neither of the girls names were anywhere near the top of the list 10 & 8 years ago when I chose them because they were old names but didn't sound old fashioned. They are also the only Emily & Lucy in their school with a school roll of 500 even though the names are quite popular now. As for Delaney I cant imagine that ever making onto the list but I dont care it was my favourite boys name, I still love it & he certainly couldn't have been anything else. And amazingly I dont have a problem with people calling him Del Boy which I hate & was my only hesitation in using the name. Parents should call their children what they like with no fear of recrimination from other people. My mum saddled me with Jennifer for heavens sake & she wouldn't allow it to be shortened to Jennie.

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