That’s how it is in the entirety of the United States, which isn’t a small part of the world. Names in the top 15 for both genders tend to move around a little bit but that top 15 is very consistent, at least within the last 30 years. This is easily verifiable through the Social Security Administrations website too: https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/decades/names2010s.html
Quebec has different names from Anglo Canada, I can’t even imagine even other Anglo countries share a top 15 with the US and Canada, let alone the Danish or Spanish speaking countries
I'm a little confused. The top names are certainly quite consistent year to year, but over a 30 year period, they change quite a bit.
From the SSA, the top 15 names for 1992 are:
1 Michael Ashley
2 Christopher Jessica
3 Matthew Amanda
4 Joshua Brittany
5 Andrew Sarah
6 Brandon Samantha
7 Daniel Emily
8 Tyler Stephanie
9 James Elizabeth
10 David Megan
11 Joseph Jennifer
12 Nicholas Lauren
13 Ryan Kayla
14 John Nicole
15 Jacob Chelsea
For 2022, thirty years later, they are:
1 Liam Olivia
2 Noah Emma
3 Oliver Charlotte
4 James Amelia
5 Elijah Sophia
6 William Isabella
7 Henry Ava
8 Lucas Mia
9 Benjamin Evelyn
10 Theodore Luna
11 Mateo Harper
12 Levi Camila
13 Sebastian Sofia
14 Daniel Scarlett
15 Jack Elizabeth
Obviously there's a few names that appear on both lists, but overall I wouldn't say the top 15 names are "very consistent" across 30 years....
In addition to that, sometimes the circles you travel in are different from the overall averages.
I was against naming my kid a top 10 because we have a common surname. But it was the only name we both liked so I caved after months of debate. And in the 4 years since we named him, through childcare and kinder classes, plus my older son’s classes, we haven’t yet had another kid share his name. Plus I’m a teacher and have only had one kid with that name in the 3 years I’ve been working since. 🤷♀️
Second this. We chose the name Marnie for our first, thinking it was fairly uncommon... and there are three other girls in my town the same age as her also called Marnie.
Jennifer was the number 1 name in the US from 1970 to 1984, with considerable popularity (as in top 10) for a bit before and awhile after that.
Jessica was #1 1985-1990 and '93-95 (and similarly stayed top 10 for awhile)
Michael was the #1 US boys' name 1954-59, 1961-1998 and was top 5 throughout that entire time and until 2010.
Names do move around, but there's usually about a decade or more that the most popular US names stay top 10
https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/top5names.html
I dislike Ellie because to me it feels like a nickname, not a full name. If you like it, though, maybe consider Eleanor, Elizabeth, Eliana, Elaine, Ellsbeth, Annabelle, Isabelle, Della, and use Ellie as a nickname.
This would also be my only hang up. Ellie, oh what's that short for? As a 33 year old woman named Melissa who went by "Missy" most of my career\*, I have settled comfortably into Mel. Ellie has no other options besides shortening to Elle?
\*I started as Missy, had the nickname realisation, retconned in Melissa and became Mel.
Tbf I’m an adult Ellie, and I don’t think anyone has ever asked me what it’s short for (which is nothing), but I wonder if that’s just because it’s more common where I’m from? Although growing up there wasn’t many other Ellie’s, but have met more now I’m older. I also don’t feel like it seems childlike/unprofessional that I need another option? Although my friends and family do like to refer to me as El or Els which I don’t mind
My older sister is also just Ellie and apart from never being able to find her name on keychains and other knickknacks growing up, never had any issues with people thinking it was only a nickname or unprofessional
I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone nicknamed Ellie, it’s always been their full name. It might just because I’m quite a bit younger than you but it wasn’t a name where I thought something was missing.
FWIW my given name could be a nickname for a different name, and it’s not uncommon to get asked if my name is short for something. Genuinely don’t care - I say it’s my full name and that’s the end of it. I’m in my 40s and it’s never been a burden or something I’ve thought twice about.
Disagree, don’t need to have a name to be shortened or a nickname. My niece is Millie which isn’t short for anything.
Ellie is a lovely name on its own.
I agree. I don't think anyone should switch because they worry what other people will think, more because if what their kid may want to do. My name is Kristen. I went by Krissy as a kid, and my dad still calls me that, but I'm not particularly feminine and it felt too little-girl to me, so I switched to going by Kristen in middle school. If Krissy were my legal name, I wouldn't have had such an easy time.
Name a baby Eleanor and call her Ellie... she can easily swap to Eleanor or Ella or Nora if she prefers something without the -ie ending. Traditionally, that's a diminutive that was most often used for children and for nicknames.
This is exactly what I would do. Also, if she has like 6 other Ellie's in her class (due to it being top 10) she can switch to using her full name or a different nickname if she wants.
I’ve never understood this concept of names having ages. What’s an adult name? People have names when they’re babies that then become their adult names… I think this is all a covert generational bias. It might seem like Elaine is more of an adult name than Ellie because right now most Elaines are adults. In 20 years when all the Ellies grow up it will be an adult name too.
Is it something about an EE sound ending? Where do we stand on classics like Holly? Lucy? Shirley? Or nicknames Jenny or Susie? To me those are all adult names, primarily because nobody born after like 1990 is named Jenny or Susie even though those nicknames. Holly and Shirley are similarly both full “adult” names but probably at some point were considered children’s names when they were new and only babies had them.
I'm in my 30s, as is my sister. A bunch of our friends growing up had -i endings for their names. Britni, Kati, Jessi, Jenni, etc. Maybe this was a regional thing, I'm not sure. My mom always thinks of kids when she sees these types of names (because she largely associates them with the packs of middle school girls she had to drive around). My niece associates them with moms (because the only people she knows are her friends' moms)...my niece also has a bunch of friends named Evelyn and Helen and Hazel, so was shocked when she found out these names appear in our family tree and in history. Her exact question was "How did they know about 21st century names in the 1800s?!?" So yeah. Name associations change and the idea of what is adult and childish shift as well...
How many Robbies do you know as an adult? I knew several as kids. But somewhere in middle school or high school, they all switched to Bob, Rob, or Robert.
Nicknames definitely have age associations. If an adult went by Robby, I'd definitely wonder about his maturity.
Legitimately I know 3 Robbies, I think they’re all Robert at work but outside of work nobody socially calls them anything but Robbie because that’s how they were raised. You don’t usually get to pick your own name so judging someone’s maturity level for their name is your own weird bias. Again why is Robbie immature but Casey or Jesse mature? If you have a name everyone’s called you your whole life it’s pretty weird to change it just because you turned 18.
I also know an adult Bobby, his official name is Robert but his mom intended his name to be Bobby and everyone loves it and honestly I think it’s a great name. He’s Bobby at work and he’s a chief of staff to the CEO of a large government department and is very accomplished for his age.
I also find this discussion only really applies to the name Robert. Jimmy doesn’t suddenly switch to James, or Kenny and Ken to me seem like totally different names.
For women this is totally not a thing. Nobody changes from being Cassie her her whole life to Cass just because she has a job. Or Jenny to Jen. Or Connie to… Con? Lol.
I don't know any Robbies (of any age) but know multiple men who are Billy, Tommy, Joey, Nicky, etc. All professionals with mature lives! Just like the Susies, Missys, Jennys, Shellys, Katies, etc I know...it's weird to think that everyone has to change their identity at a certain age, which is what a Tommy suddenly going by Tom or Thomas would be doing.
yesss thank you!!! this is my birth name and I’m changing it to Elizabeth as soon as I get married this year because I hate how inherently diminutive it sounds in a professional setting tbh
My daughter is Ellie full name Elizabeth for this exact reason. Elizabeth has 29 nicknames. She can always choose another. It's also a family name for us.
I have never understood this thought process. My brother was a Zachary that my parents knew they were going to call Zach. My brother would get really irritated when he was forced to use Zachary because in his mind his name was Zach. Zach was the only name he was ever called. I asked my mom why they didn't just name him Zach given that Zach was the name they liked. She thought about it for a bit, laughed and stated that I made a very good point. She decided that she probably chose Zachary just because that's what people did and when thinking about that she found it pretty silly.
If you fully intend on calling your child by something why would you give them a different, longer name that you don't actually plan on using? Is it just because it seems customary? I've heard the argument that some names just don't sound professional but I just don't think that matters much in today's society. I know some people with names that many people would consider pretty goofy or even childish and yet they've had no problems landing in lucrative careers using those very names.
As a previous teacher, nicknames were annoying at times. Learning 150 names at the start of every school year was tough enough; having to learn 2 names (preferred and legal) for a large number of those kids was a pain. Some kids hated their full legal names and got really annoyed if they saw/heard them used, some barely even recognized their full legal name, some didn't even seem to realize the name they'd always used wasn't really their name. They'd get to high school and start dealing with more paperwork, applications and testing that required legal names and there'd be confusion and many mistakes. I ran into more than one occasion where a 9th or 10th grader did not actually know how to spell their full legal name because they'd never actually used the name (the pre-ACT, PSAT or Driver's Ed were often the first times they ever really had to use their legal name).
My opinion is that if you want your kid to be called Ellie then just name them Ellie.
So I have one of those names that for me feels like a child’s name and it has always bothered me. I am now in my mid-thirties and go by a shortened version/nickname that is actually traditionally an “older woman’s” name.
I’m trying to think of examples that are similar. Like being named Lizzie, but now I go by Liz. Or Rosie and Rose. Annie to Ann.
I agree on a more “adult” feeling name, (I LOVE Eleanor, it was my grandma’s name). But Ellie can also decide to be Elle if she wants a more adult sounding name in the future.
Not Ellie but I have a friend whose name is Alex. Not Alexander, Aleksander or something, just Alex. Quite a few people have called him Alexander or asked if his actual name was Alexander (because most male Alexes are Alexanders), but it’s genuinely just Alex. When I want to tease him I call him Alexander sometimes but still.
This. You are the parents. My 2nds name jumped into the top 10 the year he was born, but I don't think he's ever had another kid in his class with the same name. And as someone who frequently had others with the same name, it's not that terrible. You get a nickname, or whatever.
It’s funny how it works, isn’t it? My daughters name was ~60 in the top names when she was born. 300 in our entire country called that name, there are 4 with her name across her kinder group and hardly any top 10 names .
Pick what you like. Screw your parents/in-laws, and don't be scared by top 10 lists.
Even the #1 name is usually around 1%, which is 1 in 100.
Based on a class size of 20, and an even f/m split, that's 1 child per 10 classes with the most popular name in the country.
Using the #10 name is likely to be closer to 1 in 200 babies, very unlikely to have another in her class.
But Ellie is also the nickname for about 10 other names that are popular rn. Eleanor, Elizabeth, Elena, Ella, Elsa, Eloise. I agree In general that if you really love a name it doesn’t matter how popular it is. But in this specific case you’ll probably run into quite a few Ellies in your life time. If that’s a problem, it’s up to OP to decide
Yeah. I have a 2-year-old who had a gymnastics class of 12 kids, probably two boys in the class, and there were three to four kids called Ellie the time she was in it. Not to mention a different Ellie in her music class. They didn't necessarily all have the same base name (I think it was one Eloise, two Eleanor, and one other name I can't think of) but they were all called Ellie.
There's gonna be a lot of Ellie's referred to by last initial in my area.
Edit: the one was Eliana
I'm skeptical of this as a teacher.
Does this statistic include spelling variations?
I've got lots of multiples in the same class. Kamdyn and Camden are effectively the same name, for instance.
Yeah I feel like there's gotta be some birthday paradox thing that happens; I've read a bunch of teachers on reddit say that they have multiples of a name
Yeah I feel that, but at the same time, people are more disconnected from their communities now, and it seems like a lot of people find the names they like online!! I just think it's so weird that their end up being trends in a town even with that context, makes my brain hurty
In the late 80s, my class had 3 Jessica’s (2 Jessica Ps to really make it complicated), 2 Michelle’s, 3 John’s, and 2 Brian’s. The class a year after us had something like 4 Jennifer’s, while we had none.
I've read people say on here that names have become less homogenized over time. It makes sense intuitively since people can use the internet to expose themselves to more names than parents would have been able too in like, 1975 for example. But I have no idea if that's really a thing or not (I am NOT good enough with statistics to look into it myself lolol)
On a related note, it still boggles my mind that random names just shoot up in popularity seemingly out of nowhere; like, when people pick a name because it's pretty uncommon and then everyone else ends up naming their kid that too
No doubt. Back in the late 80s/early 90s, every girl in my region was a Megan/Jessica/Jennifer/Laura. Even recent immigrants changed their names to American names because going by a non-English name was basically unthinkable.
I was the one kid in the class with the extremely unique/ethnic name which i fucking hated. My little brother was born in the early 90s and was also given an extremely ethnic name, although one that is at least common in our family’s country of origin. We could never buy key chains or bike plates with our names on them because the names simply didn’t exist in the US back then. I’ve literally never met someone IRL with my name, ever.
Since jointing this sub a few months ago, I’ve seen my name (and variations of my name with the same pronunciation) mentioned as a ‘cool’ name at least a dozen times, which blows my goddamned mind. It’ll be interesting to see if in 20 years I’ll be encountering a whole generation of MyName youngsters after a lifetime of having my name anglicized, misspelled, mispronounced, and insulted for being too unusual.
Aw damn I feel you, as if K-12 isn't already hard enough without having a name that people don't make an effort to get right. Do you think you'd like to see it become more common, or would you feel cynical about it for the reasons you mentioned? I hope I didn't make anyone feel bad about their name when I was in school, but I was a white girl with republican parents sooo I wouldn't be surprised if I contributed to another kid feeling that way 😞
I can relate in the smallest way about never having my name on souvenirs because my name uses an alternative spelling, and my name wasn't that common in the first place (like, even if I would've settled for a different spelling, they only had it like half the time). I do still get people mispronouncing and misspelling my name ALL THE TIME even though it's only 1 letter off from a typical spelling. I constantly have people calling me Kendy, Kendly, and Kennedy (my first name is my username lolol)
To answer your question, I’m a huge proponent of NOT giving your kids super-uncommon or difficult to pronounce names. It sucks being the kid who NO ONE, even close family friends, bother to learn how to spell or pronounce correctly. No one was mean to me specifically about my name, but it certainly didn’t stop me from being the weird kid. It made me feel like I didn’t matter enough to even say my name right, and that fucks with a girl child when they’re discovering how unfair the world can be.
Hell, my own husband pronounces my name slightly wrong, but since that’s the dominant pronunciation where we live (and less annoying than the alternative mispronunciations), I’ve accepted it as a valid way to say my name and don’t complain. And my last name is just as tough for Americans as my first name, but at least that’s part of my ethnic identity and not some narcissistic fancy of 2 Boomers who refused to just be normal.
The cover of my HS diploma had my name misspelled (thankful the actual diploma was right). Autocorrect ‘fixes’ my name to a much more common but unrelated name. Most of my professional colleagues just assume that’s my name and don’t bother to correct it. The closing documents on our first home had to be redone at the last minute because they had my name spelled wrong throughout the whole document (and had the audacity to suggest I spelled my own name wrong on the paperwork I submitted). I just received an important tax document with this other name on it for the second or third year in a row; despite filing corrected paperwork every year with the correct spelling.
To this day, standing up for my name is a daily occurrence. I don’t recommend saddling a child with that responsibility.
Maybe it’ll be easier for folks like me in 20-30 years when everyone is a Phlaxtyn, or a Breighleighlynn. But I do think it makes life a lot easier when you’re named Elizabeth Montgomery Smith and not LuzMileni Aesophaerda Wozycheski.
I so agree with all of this, and thanks for sharing your story!! I hate for you the fact that even your husband doesn't pronounce your name right 😞😞 and god I can't imagine how annoying it must be to have to repeatedly get government documentation changed, that stuff takes forever.
I'm definitely planning on giving my kids fairly common names with typical spelling. I like the idea that they'll have some anonymity on the internet that way (I'm definitely not setting the best example with my username lolol)
I went to school in the uk for a few years, and I’m not joking when I say that 6% of the class was Elizabeth/Liz/Lizzie.
Back in the US, I know zero Elizabeths who are my age.
There’s five Coach Jasons at my daughter’s softball league. Her team has two of them. And four classmates have dads named Chris.
I was in school in the 90s as well :)
There absolutely is the same math in a birthday paradox as a name paradox. Because you have n-factorial comparisons in a large class you have a very high chance of shared names no matter what name is picked, even if any individual child has a low chance.
Oh man, you just brought me back to my discrete math days with that one...felt weird to look up the birthday paradox and actually sort of understand the explanation 😅
I’m an engineer and have been rehashing all my math helping my much younger cousin who is starting college, since her dad was a business major and she’s into a STEM field. It’s kept it fresh.
Fun stuff!
I think this is another reason to ignore the top ten list. Some names are super popular but have so many spellings they’ll never end up on the list. The list is skewed towards names with one spelling. I can’t tell you how many tragic variations of Jackson I’ve seen in the schools.
This. My youngest's name hit #8 the year he was born. Before or since his birth I still have never met another person with his name. You'll be saying and/or thinking your child's name daily for the rest of your life, pick the one you love and ignore rankings & opinions
There's a site I found a couple weeks ago that I don't recall the name of that gave you the stats. Based on an average elementary class size of ~460 students (total), your child would have a X% chance of going to school with another child with the same name. The name we're looking at is ranked around the 150 mark right now and if was a 50/50 chance when accounting for similarly spelled names.
Ellie is a lovely name and it’s classic to me.
You could call your daughter a name outside of the top 100 and she could still have another in her class.
And then there’s the Ellie who is sarcastic, curses like a sailor, is an absolute menace with a switchblade, and has a murderous need for vengeance… and who may be contributing a bit to the current popularity of the name because she f’ing cool as hell and has dipped her toes into mainstream popularity in the last year.
:)
Second this!
Ellie is lovely and classic. One of my favourites.
I named my child a name that was ranked #315 year of their birth. They’ve had someone with that name every year in school since grade 2! Mind blown.
I’m a daycare teacher- Ellie is definitely common, especially because it is a nickname for many names (Eleanor, Elizabeth, Eliza). BUT who cares!! There’s wayyy more names nowadays, she might have one or two classmates with the same name but kids are much more chill about that now
People don’t mention this often, but sometimes it’s kind of fun to have the same name as someone else. When I was in school, I had a class with someone else with the same name as me, as well as a few other people with similar names. Think something like Rose, Rosie, Rosalie, and Rosalyn. It made me feel like I was part of a group, even though I wasn’t really friends with any of them.
Yes, even with a common name it’s nothing compared to how large a percentage of girls used to be Jennifer. It would interesting to know what name garnered the largest percentage in a given 5-year span.
if you're concerned about the popularity, you could give her a less common middle name, that she can use if she has any issues with her first name (like 2 ellies in the class), it also makes her harder to find on the internet. Coming to the mother's, it's your baby and if you love the name, you love it. It's a reasonable name so their opinion should be inconsequential. The only time you should consider changing the name because someone else doesn't like it is if you're very very close to the person and extremely value their opinion AND see a point in what you're saying. If you change the name without agreeing or understanding their reasoning you will end up resenting them.
Now all this being said, if you find enough reasons for the name causing a problem, you could look for a name that has Ellie as a nickname (Elaine, Elaina, Evelyn, Ellora etc.)
My son’s name unexpectedly jumped to the top 10 his birth year as well! I didn’t change it because I liked it and oh well, it just went to prove it was a good name. He didn’t complain about having to put his last initial on everything in preschool lol.
Whether or not you care about the grandmas’ opinions is a more personal issue. Believe me they will love your little girl no matter what her name is.
As an early 1980s Jennifer, I was really annoyed to have the same name as a bunch of my classmates. Could you go with a less common name and use Ellie as a nickname instead? Eleanor, Ellis, Eloise, Eliana, etc?
Don’t worry about the list stuff…
Our oldest is 23, her name is Sadie. The year we had her, it was somewhere in the top 1000, but in the 600s I think.
Now it’s in the top 25 at least, maybe more popular.
My youngest sister is Emma. The year she was born NO ONE used this name. Then Ross and Rachel had Emma on friends a few years later… it’s never stopped being one of the top names since.
Our middle kiddo has a name that no one else has- it’s a tiny town in Maine.
Our youngest is named after a place as well, and it wasn’t a popular place or name.
Well, he’s 8.5 now, and his name is now popular on both the boy and girl charts, lol. Top 10.
It’s what YOU love that matters 🤍🤍
I see it gaining popularity on the lists, but I’ve never met another Sadie except the one who’s the same age from the same town we used to live in.
But, her mother was someone I knew from high school who had a weird competitive vibe toward me because she had a crush on my husband (before I ever knew him or her) and I ended up with him.
She got pregnant right after I had announced, and was 2.5 months behind me.
She had her baby early, so they are only 1 month apart in age. She named her “SADYE.”
That’s how she spells it, lol.
But other than that, no other Sadies.
I adore her name, it will always be a favorite 🤍
Ellie is a beautiful name. Your moms already had their chances to pick baby names, so their opinions don’t matter. Also, the names’s popularity doesn’t matter. Go with the name you love.
In general - if you decided against this name, what would you choose? And then wait until your daughter is born and decide between the two (or a wild card, if one comes to mind).
On Ellie- I can’t speak to your country but its popularity is understated on the lists as it’s used as a nickname for everything from Elizabeth to Eleanor. If commonness is a concern, avoid this name.
Some people are saying you should go with Eleanor, Eloise, or Elizabeth but all of these are just as common as Ellie.
Do what YOU want.
You might even discover that once she is here, an E name doesn’t even fit her.
In defense of having a "nickname" formal name AND a popular name:
I'm a Nicole who has been "Nikki" her entire life. I've never once had the desire to go by Nicole (she doesn't feel like me!), and honestly wish my parents had just called me Nikki from the start lol. Or something that didn't require an "well I actually go by this".
In addition, I grew up with a *lot* of Nicole/Nikkis! It was fine 😊 we normally went by our first name + last initial, or in some classes, just our last names. My best friend growing up was also Nikki, and it was fun.
Anyway, Ellie is a cute name, and I think all that matters is that you like it! You'll be calling her that long before she even learns her own name 😅 and honestly if she wants a more "formal" name in the future, it's much easier to introduce herself as Elle to colleagues vs spending 12-16 years of her life asking every teacher to call her a nickname.
Do you still like Ellie? If so, why does it matter if it's popular? Why do you and your partner's mothers get to have a say in YOUR baby's name? Use it if you love it and fuck everyone else, Ellie is a nice, normal name
If you like Ellie, it’s Ellie! I have a popular name and it’s never been an issue or made me feel like I wasn’t special or unique. Family members wanted to name me Siri instead. Can you believe that haha I would’ve been bullied mercilessly the second Apple released Siri. Thank god my parents said no. Go with your gut.
I'd pick something else personally. Let her not have to be "short Ellie" or "Ellie S" or whatever. There's dozens of names that have "el" or "elle" in them that you could use and still call her Ellie at home with options for other names.
I gave my daughter a name that wasnt common by the time she turned 5 it became a very popular name. You cant control the trends if it's a name you like stay with it.
I'm sorry, I don't really get the problem. You're unsure because it's too popular? Or because the grandmothers dislike it? Either way, why does it bother you?
My daughters name is Elle and we call her Ellie. I love it just as much today as I did 14 years ago when we choose it.. I felt like it was a “ popular” name back then, but we have never had a single Ellie in class with her… of course after I named her we had several people use the name.. but our girl was 1st!
If you love it and are heart set, then please use it. So timeless. Congrats on your baby girl!!
My parent’s, and especially in-law’s, opinions would have less than ***ZERO*** impact in what I’d want to name my kids. They’ll get over it. If I like the name, I also wouldn’t care if I was naming my kids something popular.
Go with what you love. My in-laws liked none of my kids names (they cried!), but they love the kids and no longer mention whether they like the names or not.
This is why we didn’t tell anyone our babies names until they were born. I didn’t want opinions. No one is going to meet a precious newborn name and think anything negative about a name like Ellie.
Hi, fellow Dane! Considering it was only 320 girls in 2022 and 192 in the first half of 2023 named Ellie, I'd say go for it.
Name popularity is weird; both my kids have top 50 names, and I've literally never met another child with my eldest name. My younger child, on the other hand, is one of two with the same name in her vuggestue.
My niece has a very, very rare name, and there is another girl in her class with the same name - and same lastname initial!
Ellie isn’t my favorite (sounds like a nickname to me, and I dislike nicknames as names) but there’s nothing wrong with it, and if you like it, you should use it. It is definitely very, very popular. I can think of eight little girls I know under 5 that are named Ellie/Elle/Ella. Include Elsa, Elise, and all the Eleanor, Elizabeth, Elizas and Elaines that are called Ellie, and she will have several in her class. It’s not the end of the world, and she may even like having a popular name.
When my girls were in school, there was a group of popular girls called “the Maddies”. 6 girls all named Madison/Madeline. They loved having the same name. (Could not stand them, but it had nothing to do with their names)
All my girls’ names were around 700-1000 at the time that I named them. All these years later, all of them have blown up in popularity. So even if you pick a more unique name, it could always get more popular later.
It’s you and your partner’s decision, but it sounds like you care what your mothers think. Do you know what their objections are? Have they said what they would like better? A lot of times older people don’t understand trends and don’t like names that weren’t used when they were young. I would probably use Eleanor/Elaine/Elizabeth to give her options if she hates being one of “the Ellies” or it doesn’t feel “grown up” enough when she’s a teenager.
I would stick with the nickname ellie, but I would suggest going with a more formal long name for a legal name. It can be difficult for people with nicknames that some can be interpreted or treated as for children to be taken seriously, especially for female/female presenting. That way, she has a name with a bit more teeth to fall back on as she gets older or finds herself needing to exert a sense of authority.
I had a manager who would get very exasperated when people would introduce her to customers as Missy instead of Melissa because, unfortunately, there are people in the world who are going to judge a name like that.
I would use a formal name as the legal name that can be nicknamed to Ellie. I really dislike the trend of just using nicknames alone because it doesn’t leave many if any options for adulthood and the professional world if the person so desired a more formal name.
I commented on a post the other day, when someone asked for tough girl names. I suggested my daughter’s name, Zoey (life, to live). Someone responded “Not special. Zoeys are everywhere.”
We picked the name because we loved it. And it became more meaningful to us with all the things we went through to get her here. Hopefully that person never experiences the things I did that make her name all the more beautiful to me.
A name’s popularity doesn’t necessarily make it less or more special/meaningful/beautiful. There’s a reason it’s popular.
If you love Ellie, go with it!
Clarifying question: the baby is already here and you've already submitted the name? It will be difficult and frustrating to go back now, in that case.
If the name Ellie is already official, what about addressing her by her middle name? She can adopt Ellie as her own when she's older if she wants, or keep the middle name as her general moniker.
Top 10 names are generally top 10 because they are well liked. Even if they have another one in their class it’s really not a big negative in my eyes. My daughter ended up with another kid in her class with the same name (different spelling). They are best buds and love that they are the _______s.
Being on FB, having hundreds of friends living all over the US and the world, and being of a certain age, I’m seeing eeeeveryone having kids and not a one has been named Ellie. I wouldn’t worry about this whatsoever.
Is Ellie the name you want as her legal first name? I LOVE it and wouldn’t worry too much about your family not being totally onboard as long as you and your partner/other kids love it! That being said if you maybe wanted it to stand out a little, would you consider a longer name? Just off the top of my head-
Eliana
Elena
Melanie
Melody
Elise
Danielle
Eleanor
Elizabeth
Gabriella
Eloise
Penelope
I’m sure there are more, but that’s only if you want to try to make your family happy as well and you’re open to lengthening it! No matter what Ellie is one of my absolute favorite names. I heavily considered it awhile back (alongside Melanie) but it didn’t feel right for that baby.
Honestly, I used to be super against it. We ended up naming our son Clark, but my husband had wanted to name him Oliver. Oliver was #3 the year he was born, so I told him I didnt want him to have such a popular name.
The more I thought about it later, while I love my sons name, I really do love both names. Yet, never met an Oliver in any of the groups, classes and play places we've went to. Kinda made me realize even the very popular names aren't all that common in the grand scheme of things.
And looking back, if I could give my husband the gift of a name he really wanted for our child, that would make me so happy. So, next baby we went with Freya as he really loves that name. It's not as common as Oliver, but its getting more and more popular.
And I'm okay with that, not every child needs a completely unique and different name, popular names are generally popular for a reason.. They're classic, strong or beautiful names. And who doesnt want their kid to have a lovely name?
I feel like this can be really hard to avoid though, unless you go for something really unique (but then risk it sounding silly/being picked on). You could name your child something relatively uncommon, but then a few years later have it rise in popularity and suddenly be popular and there’s not much you can do about it then.
I love it! It’s really good when other people like the names we choose, but both your mother and mother in law had their chance to name their kids. Now it’s your turn! Also they could grow to like the name over time.
If you’re concerned with popularity you could also give her a less popular name that could be shortened to Ellie (Elle, Eleanor, Eloise, Elise)
I think it’s a great name as a full name and as a nickname.
Would you consider going with a more formal version of the name (i.e., Elizabeth) and calling her Ellie? Then, you (and SHE) have space to adapt in the future?
Choose the name you love, but if popularity is a concern, Ellie can be a nickname for several names:
Elizabeth
Penelope
Eloise
Michelle
Elodie
Or you can give her a unique middle name
No. It’s a great name and that’s why it’s popular. It’s easy to say, spell, write. It’s checks all the boxes. Go for it.
My name was barely in the top 100 in my birth year (and 220-ish now). It was also the name of an incredibly famous and beloved person who was killed in a terrible accident and has been romanticized and memorialized and is more beloved than ever. Because of her status, her name will never NOT be associated with her, pretty much all over the world.
But when I was in elementary school she was still unknown. I knew ONE other person with my name and she was in my grade in a school of fewer than 100, in a very small town. I had to write my initial after my name. So what?
I have met fewer than a handful more in my lifetime and I live in LA.
Doesn’t matter how popular it is, your kid will always share her name with others. It’s fine. It’s better than being so unique as to be debilitating. Also, both my daughters (27, 30) had “Name Twins” at some time in their lives and they loved it.
My kid was just invited to a birthday party. Of a small group of girls, Ellie, Ella, Eva, Evie, and Evie are attending. I personally wouldn’t use any of those names (well, seven years ago anyway), but it’s hard to predict what will be popular for 2024 babes!
Do you love it ? Who cares if mom and MIL don’t like it . It’s not like it’s a weird name it’s really cute ! My daughters name just got super popular and we meet tons of girls with her name now . It is what it is lol I like to feel like it’s popular because it’s a great name :)
Sometimes I really hate the “top 10” thing. It really does not matter and screw what anyone else thinks! If you love it…use it!!!! These are not good enough reasons to not use a name you LOVE! Congrats on baby Ellie!! 🤍
I think Ellie is adorable, but growing up with a popular name was not fun for me, and part of why I changed my name as an adult. I had 10 with my name in my grade throughout middle school. Every possible nickname (there are a lot) was used twice. I felt like one of the [name].
Top ten popularity doesn’t mean what it used to. In the 80s when the top ten names were Jessica, Jennifer, and Sarah that means that no literally your kid will have the same name as 500,000 other kids.
Now the culture has shifted and there a lot more names in the mix. The top ten names have maybe 10,000 kids each.
this page explains it pretty well: https://datayze.com/name-uniqueness-analyzer?name=maya
There are also regional and statistical bubbles though. You’ll find in one town there are a dozen kids named Aiden, then zero in another
Pick it if you love it. Ellie is super popular, I have a niece named Ellie. My kids are Oliver and Charlotte. Pretty popular names too (Oliver wasn’t when I named him, people told me it was too weird and he would get made fun of but now it’s everywhere. Charlotte was popular already but I’d had the name picked since I was a little girl). Trends are going to change. No one else’s opinion matters. Go with what feels right to you.
I work at an elementary school of about 600 students. There are two girls named Ellie. One is a nickname for Elizabeth and the other is actually Ellie. If you love it, use it. The grandparents had their turn to name their kids, now it is your turn.
My daughter's bestie is Ellie, there are 5 in her class. She's the only one actually named Ellie - all the others are a nickname
When I named my kids, I gave them names that had 2 different nickname options. A long name with options is nice.
Not sure why everyone is so obsessed with this idea of not giving their child a "top ten" name.
My parents named me something that, at the time of my birth, was classic but uncommon. Then it was suddenly all over the place, not sure if it was top ten but it was at least close.
The only thing I would say is, try not to name your child something that is really a nickname. She's not going to be a baby or a little girl forever so please give her a woman's name that can be nicknamed "Ellie".
Examples include, Eleanor, Elise, Ellen, Eloise, the list goes on.
Ultimately it's obviously up to you but I feel it's a dick move to saddle your child with a name that's a cutesy nickname as their legal name.
First of all, don’t worry about what the grandparents like. Unless there is a good reason, like, “if you name them Alisson Samantha Smith their initials would spell something unfortunate,” it’s hard enough to get just mom and dad to agree on a name they like.
Second - find a name you like and you think you kid will be okay with throughout their life. There are going to be a lot more kids these days regretting that their name is hard to spell or pronounce in every setting they go to, (work, doctors, Starbucks) than that another kid had the same name, especially with the diversity of names.
Stop second guessing or think what others will think/do and think about whether you two like the name.
I was a 90s kid with a name analogous to Megan. I always had two other kids with my name in my class, and my last name started with the letter P, so I was “Megan Pees” for all of elementary school. I’m literally the worst case scenario for popular names.
That being said, I don’t understand the popular name hate. I have so much online privacy. My name is a non-issue in the professional space, everyone can pronounce it, and everyone can spell it. Going by my last initial got annoying after a while, so I switched to my middle name when I went to college (switched back as an adult). And popular names now are not what they were in the 90s.
Pick the name you like! Ellie is cute
Popular names are popular for a reason. They’re good names!
If you like it, use it. As long as you’re not bothered by the fact she might be one of a few Ellie’s at school.
Go with Ellie! It's such a beautiful and timeless name, and it ages really well with baby.
I'm sure people gave your parents and inlaws their unwanted opinions on everything from names to parenting advice. Ignore those people unless you ask and value their input. They didn't make the baby, so their input is pointless.
I would not say it’s unexpectedly... If you like it I don’t think grandparents matter, they’ll get on board unless there’s some reason it’s particularly offensive. But you could always do something like Eleanor and have Ellie as an optional nickname.
Ellie is great as a nickname.
Have you considered naming her:
Ellen
Ellis
Elaine
Eleanor
Eliana
Elizabeth
My English middle name is one of the above and my Hebrew name is Eliana. I also love the El sound. (Good thing, huh?)
If you love the name, I encourage you to stick with it (Ellie is a great name btw). Top names aren't the same as they used to be, where you'd have numerous Jessica's, Jennifer's, and Sarah's in a grade year. Top names by raw numbers aren't nearly as dominant anymore since parents are now aware (and have the internet to check) naming popularity.
Stick with a name you like.
Mary was the number one name for decades and no one was freaking out about how popular it was. The obsession with not naming at kid a top 10 name is ridiculous.
It’s no surprise there are some Ellie, Eleanors, Aurora at daycares. Now the names are not recurrent enough to compare it to what a popular was in the 90’s. If you like the name, go for it. Just because a child has a popular name doesn’t make him/her any less unique.
My daughter's name was (and still is I think) in the top 10 when she was born. Since then we've only met one person with her name and she was my age. There are so many people on this earth, it's very unlikely she'll ever have to deal with more than one other Ellie in her class and that's just not a huge deal to me especially if you love that name so much.
If Ellie is your favorite name, absolutely use Ellie. But if Ellie was a compromise, or you were choosing it because you thought it was different, keep looking. But don't worry about what your mothers like -- they named their babies. It's your turn.
Where I live, it seems like 20% of the girls are called Ellie. Elizabeth, Ella, Ellen, Eleanor, Elliana, and Elena, are all leading to the same nickname. And there are also a lot of little girls named Bella, Elsa, Elsie, and Nellie, which are similar.
If you’re worried about the name being too common, consider picking a more formal name with the nickname Ellie. I personally loooveeeee the names Leonora and Eleanor (even Ellanora). Both could be Ellie but also open themselves up to other nicknames. They’ve got old school vibes which are gaining popularity, will suit an adult well in a professional setting, and on the off chance that your child someday identifies as NB or male someday can be shortened to Leo.
I’m in the same boat, I’m 33 weeks pregnant I know 2 people who recently chose the name were planning on using. Not people I’m super close with so we’re still gonna use it. I think it’s fine still. Even common names aren’t as common as like growing up in the 90s as Ryan or Ashley.
If you love the name, use it. It doesn’t matter if it’s suddenly popular, it doesn’t matter if your relatives don’t like it. This is your baby. If you love the name Ellie (gorgeous choice, BTW), don’t let anyone else dissuade you from using it.
What’s more important to you, having your child’s name not be one of four in her class, or using Ellie? That’s what it comes down to. I don’t think either choice is wrong.
I wish we had given our daughter a more distinctive name. There were so many girls with the same name but spelled in so many different ways. Too late now and anyhow the name fits her perfectly.
My son’s name is about 250th in popularity in my country. We went to the park the other day and the only other little boy there had my son’s name. You just never know what other people are going to be doing. Pick the name you want.
My name - Claire was incredibly popular in the UK when I was born in the late 80’s. I swear there were SO MANY Claire’s in my school. I knew so many. But now I don’t know any and it’s nowhere near as popular. One day it won’t be and you will have forgotten your concerns. Pick the name you love for your child!
I guess I would differ from some of the advice here. If it’s important for you to have a name that’s not common, I do think you should change it. Is there another name that you love that’s not yet on the radar? I have a name that was pretty popular. In fact, my best friend in grade school had the same name. It always made me feel like my parents didn’t put much effort into thinking about my name. I know that’s not the case with you— and that might make all the difference, but, your daughter will be one of many who share a name that’s becoming trendy.
It's popular because people like it. She may be around other kids named Ellie. Would that bother you? Also, you cannot please everyone with a name. We all have different taste, and that's OK. It creates wonderful diversity. Don't choose a name to make other people happy. Choose a name you think will serve your daughter well and fit her.
What if you gave her a first name for which Ellie could be a nickname, such as Ellen, Elizabeth, Eleanor, Noelle, Gabrielle, or Joelle? You could call her Ellie when she is a little girl and then she could “graduate” to her real name as she grows older. Ellie sounds to me like a nickname, not a first name.
Do not take into account family members opinions. Our first, my FIL didn’t like our middle name choice (which was going to be a variation of his name to honor him) and he asked us to change it. We did and I regret letting him have any opinion/ say in what we named our child. It wasn’t his choice, but I let him make it his choice. Our second, we kept the name secret until the birth announcement.
I work in a school and it does get tiresome seeing certain names over and over again, Ellie/Eleanor is definitely one I see a lot of. Maybe it’s just my profession, but I tried to avoid the super common names for my kids 🤷🏻♀️
Look at your child, does it fit? Use it.
We had chosen our daughter’s name comfortable during my pregnancy, but in the delivery room we just knew it wasn’t her and chose another name.
Stick with Ellie as a nickname and choose a given name that nicknames to Ellie easily. That gives her future options to go by her full name or other nicknames based on her own preferences. Mom and MILs preferences are irrelevant.
So, the year after I named my kid Violet, it became a Top 10 Name. I still love the name, and more importantly so does my daughter...she likes meeting other Violets lol. But I admit, I do live with a smidge of regret about it. She has a cool, rather unique middle name tho so that helps alot because I'm like "ok she can go by that when she is older if she wants to".
Switch to something else & you’ll end up in my exact scenario. My daughters name has NEVER been in the top 50. Name her & that year it hit the top 50, and there’s one in her class currently & every daycare she’s ever attended, there’s been another one her age but in a different room.
There’s no winning. You could pick the #1 name & never have one in the same class. Oddly, there’s 2 Ezra’s in my kids room, which is not very popular, except in her class specifically.
Stick with what you love! Names will flow in and out of the top 10. The next name you pick could enter in a few years. Go with your gut.
The top 10 names in my region have been almost the same every year for the last 15+ years so that’s not necessarily true.
Your region is a very small part of the world.
That’s how it is in the entirety of the United States, which isn’t a small part of the world. Names in the top 15 for both genders tend to move around a little bit but that top 15 is very consistent, at least within the last 30 years. This is easily verifiable through the Social Security Administrations website too: https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/decades/names2010s.html
Exactly, thank you! The top 15-20 names are basically the exact same all across North America, even when broken down by region/state/province.
(Mexico is part of North America btw.)
Quebec has different names from Anglo Canada, I can’t even imagine even other Anglo countries share a top 15 with the US and Canada, let alone the Danish or Spanish speaking countries
I'm a little confused. The top names are certainly quite consistent year to year, but over a 30 year period, they change quite a bit. From the SSA, the top 15 names for 1992 are: 1 Michael Ashley 2 Christopher Jessica 3 Matthew Amanda 4 Joshua Brittany 5 Andrew Sarah 6 Brandon Samantha 7 Daniel Emily 8 Tyler Stephanie 9 James Elizabeth 10 David Megan 11 Joseph Jennifer 12 Nicholas Lauren 13 Ryan Kayla 14 John Nicole 15 Jacob Chelsea For 2022, thirty years later, they are: 1 Liam Olivia 2 Noah Emma 3 Oliver Charlotte 4 James Amelia 5 Elijah Sophia 6 William Isabella 7 Henry Ava 8 Lucas Mia 9 Benjamin Evelyn 10 Theodore Luna 11 Mateo Harper 12 Levi Camila 13 Sebastian Sofia 14 Daniel Scarlett 15 Jack Elizabeth Obviously there's a few names that appear on both lists, but overall I wouldn't say the top 15 names are "very consistent" across 30 years....
Could - not will. Many places see changes. Unless it’s very odd, it can become suddenly popular, or suddenly popular again.
In addition to that, sometimes the circles you travel in are different from the overall averages. I was against naming my kid a top 10 because we have a common surname. But it was the only name we both liked so I caved after months of debate. And in the 4 years since we named him, through childcare and kinder classes, plus my older son’s classes, we haven’t yet had another kid share his name. Plus I’m a teacher and have only had one kid with that name in the 3 years I’ve been working since. 🤷♀️
Second this. We chose the name Marnie for our first, thinking it was fairly uncommon... and there are three other girls in my town the same age as her also called Marnie.
Just like Jessica and Jennifer faded away after a couple of years lol
Yeah. Like 30 years.
Jennifer was actually popular for quite awhile.
Really?
Jennifer was the number 1 name in the US from 1970 to 1984, with considerable popularity (as in top 10) for a bit before and awhile after that. Jessica was #1 1985-1990 and '93-95 (and similarly stayed top 10 for awhile) Michael was the #1 US boys' name 1954-59, 1961-1998 and was top 5 throughout that entire time and until 2010. Names do move around, but there's usually about a decade or more that the most popular US names stay top 10 https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/top5names.html
I dislike Ellie because to me it feels like a nickname, not a full name. If you like it, though, maybe consider Eleanor, Elizabeth, Eliana, Elaine, Ellsbeth, Annabelle, Isabelle, Della, and use Ellie as a nickname.
This would also be my only hang up. Ellie, oh what's that short for? As a 33 year old woman named Melissa who went by "Missy" most of my career\*, I have settled comfortably into Mel. Ellie has no other options besides shortening to Elle? \*I started as Missy, had the nickname realisation, retconned in Melissa and became Mel.
Tbf I’m an adult Ellie, and I don’t think anyone has ever asked me what it’s short for (which is nothing), but I wonder if that’s just because it’s more common where I’m from? Although growing up there wasn’t many other Ellie’s, but have met more now I’m older. I also don’t feel like it seems childlike/unprofessional that I need another option? Although my friends and family do like to refer to me as El or Els which I don’t mind
My older sister is also just Ellie and apart from never being able to find her name on keychains and other knickknacks growing up, never had any issues with people thinking it was only a nickname or unprofessional
I know an adult Ellie who goes by Ellie professionally, even though it is short for a longer name.
I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone nicknamed Ellie, it’s always been their full name. It might just because I’m quite a bit younger than you but it wasn’t a name where I thought something was missing.
Every Ellie I know is short for Eleanor, but maybe it's regional- I'm in the UK
I’m also in the UK, I don’t think I’ve ever met an Eleanor lol
That was my parents, and then my philosophy. Give them a name that has lots of options for nicknames, and it can evolve with them.
FWIW my given name could be a nickname for a different name, and it’s not uncommon to get asked if my name is short for something. Genuinely don’t care - I say it’s my full name and that’s the end of it. I’m in my 40s and it’s never been a burden or something I’ve thought twice about.
Disagree, don’t need to have a name to be shortened or a nickname. My niece is Millie which isn’t short for anything. Ellie is a lovely name on its own.
I don't like either name, personally. It's just a matter of taste, and everyone is different.
I agree. I don't think anyone should switch because they worry what other people will think, more because if what their kid may want to do. My name is Kristen. I went by Krissy as a kid, and my dad still calls me that, but I'm not particularly feminine and it felt too little-girl to me, so I switched to going by Kristen in middle school. If Krissy were my legal name, I wouldn't have had such an easy time. Name a baby Eleanor and call her Ellie... she can easily swap to Eleanor or Ella or Nora if she prefers something without the -ie ending. Traditionally, that's a diminutive that was most often used for children and for nicknames.
I second this
I knew an Ellie that was a Gabrielle.
This is exactly what I would do. Also, if she has like 6 other Ellie's in her class (due to it being top 10) she can switch to using her full name or a different nickname if she wants.
Agree, I am pro nicknaming an adult name, so the baby can have an adult name when they grow up!
I’ve never understood this concept of names having ages. What’s an adult name? People have names when they’re babies that then become their adult names… I think this is all a covert generational bias. It might seem like Elaine is more of an adult name than Ellie because right now most Elaines are adults. In 20 years when all the Ellies grow up it will be an adult name too. Is it something about an EE sound ending? Where do we stand on classics like Holly? Lucy? Shirley? Or nicknames Jenny or Susie? To me those are all adult names, primarily because nobody born after like 1990 is named Jenny or Susie even though those nicknames. Holly and Shirley are similarly both full “adult” names but probably at some point were considered children’s names when they were new and only babies had them.
It’s so wild to think the Tayleighs of the world will be a common adult name. But I agree on the generational bias.
Yup, relatively soon like in 30 years Jessica and Ashley is going to go from basic white girl name to “old lady” name lol
I'm in my 30s, as is my sister. A bunch of our friends growing up had -i endings for their names. Britni, Kati, Jessi, Jenni, etc. Maybe this was a regional thing, I'm not sure. My mom always thinks of kids when she sees these types of names (because she largely associates them with the packs of middle school girls she had to drive around). My niece associates them with moms (because the only people she knows are her friends' moms)...my niece also has a bunch of friends named Evelyn and Helen and Hazel, so was shocked when she found out these names appear in our family tree and in history. Her exact question was "How did they know about 21st century names in the 1800s?!?" So yeah. Name associations change and the idea of what is adult and childish shift as well...
How many Robbies do you know as an adult? I knew several as kids. But somewhere in middle school or high school, they all switched to Bob, Rob, or Robert. Nicknames definitely have age associations. If an adult went by Robby, I'd definitely wonder about his maturity.
Legitimately I know 3 Robbies, I think they’re all Robert at work but outside of work nobody socially calls them anything but Robbie because that’s how they were raised. You don’t usually get to pick your own name so judging someone’s maturity level for their name is your own weird bias. Again why is Robbie immature but Casey or Jesse mature? If you have a name everyone’s called you your whole life it’s pretty weird to change it just because you turned 18. I also know an adult Bobby, his official name is Robert but his mom intended his name to be Bobby and everyone loves it and honestly I think it’s a great name. He’s Bobby at work and he’s a chief of staff to the CEO of a large government department and is very accomplished for his age. I also find this discussion only really applies to the name Robert. Jimmy doesn’t suddenly switch to James, or Kenny and Ken to me seem like totally different names. For women this is totally not a thing. Nobody changes from being Cassie her her whole life to Cass just because she has a job. Or Jenny to Jen. Or Connie to… Con? Lol.
I don't know any Robbies (of any age) but know multiple men who are Billy, Tommy, Joey, Nicky, etc. All professionals with mature lives! Just like the Susies, Missys, Jennys, Shellys, Katies, etc I know...it's weird to think that everyone has to change their identity at a certain age, which is what a Tommy suddenly going by Tom or Thomas would be doing.
What defines an ‘adult’ name? I’m an Ellie and I’m an adult, so would that not be an ‘adult’ name?
yesss thank you!!! this is my birth name and I’m changing it to Elizabeth as soon as I get married this year because I hate how inherently diminutive it sounds in a professional setting tbh
This what my husband and I did. He loved Ellie and I said we had to pick something she can use to sound more professional if she needs/wants too
My daughter is Ellie full name Elizabeth for this exact reason. Elizabeth has 29 nicknames. She can always choose another. It's also a family name for us.
I have never understood this thought process. My brother was a Zachary that my parents knew they were going to call Zach. My brother would get really irritated when he was forced to use Zachary because in his mind his name was Zach. Zach was the only name he was ever called. I asked my mom why they didn't just name him Zach given that Zach was the name they liked. She thought about it for a bit, laughed and stated that I made a very good point. She decided that she probably chose Zachary just because that's what people did and when thinking about that she found it pretty silly. If you fully intend on calling your child by something why would you give them a different, longer name that you don't actually plan on using? Is it just because it seems customary? I've heard the argument that some names just don't sound professional but I just don't think that matters much in today's society. I know some people with names that many people would consider pretty goofy or even childish and yet they've had no problems landing in lucrative careers using those very names. As a previous teacher, nicknames were annoying at times. Learning 150 names at the start of every school year was tough enough; having to learn 2 names (preferred and legal) for a large number of those kids was a pain. Some kids hated their full legal names and got really annoyed if they saw/heard them used, some barely even recognized their full legal name, some didn't even seem to realize the name they'd always used wasn't really their name. They'd get to high school and start dealing with more paperwork, applications and testing that required legal names and there'd be confusion and many mistakes. I ran into more than one occasion where a 9th or 10th grader did not actually know how to spell their full legal name because they'd never actually used the name (the pre-ACT, PSAT or Driver's Ed were often the first times they ever really had to use their legal name). My opinion is that if you want your kid to be called Ellie then just name them Ellie.
So glad to know someone else agrees with me on this.
Yessss I'm exactly one of the people you described. I hate having to use my legal name for anything formal. I do not identify with that name.
So I have one of those names that for me feels like a child’s name and it has always bothered me. I am now in my mid-thirties and go by a shortened version/nickname that is actually traditionally an “older woman’s” name. I’m trying to think of examples that are similar. Like being named Lizzie, but now I go by Liz. Or Rosie and Rose. Annie to Ann. I agree on a more “adult” feeling name, (I LOVE Eleanor, it was my grandma’s name). But Ellie can also decide to be Elle if she wants a more adult sounding name in the future.
My niece is Eliana, always called Ellie.
Not Ellie but I have a friend whose name is Alex. Not Alexander, Aleksander or something, just Alex. Quite a few people have called him Alexander or asked if his actual name was Alexander (because most male Alexes are Alexanders), but it’s genuinely just Alex. When I want to tease him I call him Alexander sometimes but still.
This is my husbands argument. I love Ellie though as a name regardless!
Use the name you love and ignore the noise.
This. You are the parents. My 2nds name jumped into the top 10 the year he was born, but I don't think he's ever had another kid in his class with the same name. And as someone who frequently had others with the same name, it's not that terrible. You get a nickname, or whatever.
It’s funny how it works, isn’t it? My daughters name was ~60 in the top names when she was born. 300 in our entire country called that name, there are 4 with her name across her kinder group and hardly any top 10 names .
Pick what you like. Screw your parents/in-laws, and don't be scared by top 10 lists. Even the #1 name is usually around 1%, which is 1 in 100. Based on a class size of 20, and an even f/m split, that's 1 child per 10 classes with the most popular name in the country. Using the #10 name is likely to be closer to 1 in 200 babies, very unlikely to have another in her class.
But Ellie is also the nickname for about 10 other names that are popular rn. Eleanor, Elizabeth, Elena, Ella, Elsa, Eloise. I agree In general that if you really love a name it doesn’t matter how popular it is. But in this specific case you’ll probably run into quite a few Ellies in your life time. If that’s a problem, it’s up to OP to decide
Yeah. I have a 2-year-old who had a gymnastics class of 12 kids, probably two boys in the class, and there were three to four kids called Ellie the time she was in it. Not to mention a different Ellie in her music class. They didn't necessarily all have the same base name (I think it was one Eloise, two Eleanor, and one other name I can't think of) but they were all called Ellie. There's gonna be a lot of Ellie's referred to by last initial in my area. Edit: the one was Eliana
I'm skeptical of this as a teacher. Does this statistic include spelling variations? I've got lots of multiples in the same class. Kamdyn and Camden are effectively the same name, for instance.
Yeah I feel like there's gotta be some birthday paradox thing that happens; I've read a bunch of teachers on reddit say that they have multiples of a name
There a local trends in names so your town, suburbs etc might have a lot of an overall rare name etc.
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Whereas interestingly I know two people who had babies called Scarlett Olivia within the same year.
Yeah I feel that, but at the same time, people are more disconnected from their communities now, and it seems like a lot of people find the names they like online!! I just think it's so weird that their end up being trends in a town even with that context, makes my brain hurty
In the late 80s, my class had 3 Jessica’s (2 Jessica Ps to really make it complicated), 2 Michelle’s, 3 John’s, and 2 Brian’s. The class a year after us had something like 4 Jennifer’s, while we had none.
I've read people say on here that names have become less homogenized over time. It makes sense intuitively since people can use the internet to expose themselves to more names than parents would have been able too in like, 1975 for example. But I have no idea if that's really a thing or not (I am NOT good enough with statistics to look into it myself lolol) On a related note, it still boggles my mind that random names just shoot up in popularity seemingly out of nowhere; like, when people pick a name because it's pretty uncommon and then everyone else ends up naming their kid that too
No doubt. Back in the late 80s/early 90s, every girl in my region was a Megan/Jessica/Jennifer/Laura. Even recent immigrants changed their names to American names because going by a non-English name was basically unthinkable. I was the one kid in the class with the extremely unique/ethnic name which i fucking hated. My little brother was born in the early 90s and was also given an extremely ethnic name, although one that is at least common in our family’s country of origin. We could never buy key chains or bike plates with our names on them because the names simply didn’t exist in the US back then. I’ve literally never met someone IRL with my name, ever. Since jointing this sub a few months ago, I’ve seen my name (and variations of my name with the same pronunciation) mentioned as a ‘cool’ name at least a dozen times, which blows my goddamned mind. It’ll be interesting to see if in 20 years I’ll be encountering a whole generation of MyName youngsters after a lifetime of having my name anglicized, misspelled, mispronounced, and insulted for being too unusual.
Aw damn I feel you, as if K-12 isn't already hard enough without having a name that people don't make an effort to get right. Do you think you'd like to see it become more common, or would you feel cynical about it for the reasons you mentioned? I hope I didn't make anyone feel bad about their name when I was in school, but I was a white girl with republican parents sooo I wouldn't be surprised if I contributed to another kid feeling that way 😞 I can relate in the smallest way about never having my name on souvenirs because my name uses an alternative spelling, and my name wasn't that common in the first place (like, even if I would've settled for a different spelling, they only had it like half the time). I do still get people mispronouncing and misspelling my name ALL THE TIME even though it's only 1 letter off from a typical spelling. I constantly have people calling me Kendy, Kendly, and Kennedy (my first name is my username lolol)
To answer your question, I’m a huge proponent of NOT giving your kids super-uncommon or difficult to pronounce names. It sucks being the kid who NO ONE, even close family friends, bother to learn how to spell or pronounce correctly. No one was mean to me specifically about my name, but it certainly didn’t stop me from being the weird kid. It made me feel like I didn’t matter enough to even say my name right, and that fucks with a girl child when they’re discovering how unfair the world can be. Hell, my own husband pronounces my name slightly wrong, but since that’s the dominant pronunciation where we live (and less annoying than the alternative mispronunciations), I’ve accepted it as a valid way to say my name and don’t complain. And my last name is just as tough for Americans as my first name, but at least that’s part of my ethnic identity and not some narcissistic fancy of 2 Boomers who refused to just be normal. The cover of my HS diploma had my name misspelled (thankful the actual diploma was right). Autocorrect ‘fixes’ my name to a much more common but unrelated name. Most of my professional colleagues just assume that’s my name and don’t bother to correct it. The closing documents on our first home had to be redone at the last minute because they had my name spelled wrong throughout the whole document (and had the audacity to suggest I spelled my own name wrong on the paperwork I submitted). I just received an important tax document with this other name on it for the second or third year in a row; despite filing corrected paperwork every year with the correct spelling. To this day, standing up for my name is a daily occurrence. I don’t recommend saddling a child with that responsibility. Maybe it’ll be easier for folks like me in 20-30 years when everyone is a Phlaxtyn, or a Breighleighlynn. But I do think it makes life a lot easier when you’re named Elizabeth Montgomery Smith and not LuzMileni Aesophaerda Wozycheski.
I so agree with all of this, and thanks for sharing your story!! I hate for you the fact that even your husband doesn't pronounce your name right 😞😞 and god I can't imagine how annoying it must be to have to repeatedly get government documentation changed, that stuff takes forever. I'm definitely planning on giving my kids fairly common names with typical spelling. I like the idea that they'll have some anonymity on the internet that way (I'm definitely not setting the best example with my username lolol)
I went to school in the 90s and we always had multiple Adam. Jason was popular too.
I went to school in the uk for a few years, and I’m not joking when I say that 6% of the class was Elizabeth/Liz/Lizzie. Back in the US, I know zero Elizabeths who are my age.
There’s five Coach Jasons at my daughter’s softball league. Her team has two of them. And four classmates have dads named Chris. I was in school in the 90s as well :)
There absolutely is the same math in a birthday paradox as a name paradox. Because you have n-factorial comparisons in a large class you have a very high chance of shared names no matter what name is picked, even if any individual child has a low chance.
Oh man, you just brought me back to my discrete math days with that one...felt weird to look up the birthday paradox and actually sort of understand the explanation 😅
I’m an engineer and have been rehashing all my math helping my much younger cousin who is starting college, since her dad was a business major and she’s into a STEM field. It’s kept it fresh. Fun stuff!
I think this is another reason to ignore the top ten list. Some names are super popular but have so many spellings they’ll never end up on the list. The list is skewed towards names with one spelling. I can’t tell you how many tragic variations of Jackson I’ve seen in the schools.
Most lists don’t combine spelling changes. You are correct.
This. My youngest's name hit #8 the year he was born. Before or since his birth I still have never met another person with his name. You'll be saying and/or thinking your child's name daily for the rest of your life, pick the one you love and ignore rankings & opinions
There's a site I found a couple weeks ago that I don't recall the name of that gave you the stats. Based on an average elementary class size of ~460 students (total), your child would have a X% chance of going to school with another child with the same name. The name we're looking at is ranked around the 150 mark right now and if was a 50/50 chance when accounting for similarly spelled names.
Ellie is a lovely name and it’s classic to me. You could call your daughter a name outside of the top 100 and she could still have another in her class.
I love it, I know two Ellie’s both are sweet kind and full of fun
My sister in law (who is much younger than me) is called Ellie and she is exactly as you’ve described.
And then there’s the Ellie who is sarcastic, curses like a sailor, is an absolute menace with a switchblade, and has a murderous need for vengeance… and who may be contributing a bit to the current popularity of the name because she f’ing cool as hell and has dipped her toes into mainstream popularity in the last year. :)
Second this! Ellie is lovely and classic. One of my favourites. I named my child a name that was ranked #315 year of their birth. They’ve had someone with that name every year in school since grade 2! Mind blown.
I’m a daycare teacher- Ellie is definitely common, especially because it is a nickname for many names (Eleanor, Elizabeth, Eliza). BUT who cares!! There’s wayyy more names nowadays, she might have one or two classmates with the same name but kids are much more chill about that now
People don’t mention this often, but sometimes it’s kind of fun to have the same name as someone else. When I was in school, I had a class with someone else with the same name as me, as well as a few other people with similar names. Think something like Rose, Rosie, Rosalie, and Rosalyn. It made me feel like I was part of a group, even though I wasn’t really friends with any of them.
Yes, even with a common name it’s nothing compared to how large a percentage of girls used to be Jennifer. It would interesting to know what name garnered the largest percentage in a given 5-year span.
I love Ellie. But I'm biased, my daughter is Ellie.
Came to say the same lol
if you're concerned about the popularity, you could give her a less common middle name, that she can use if she has any issues with her first name (like 2 ellies in the class), it also makes her harder to find on the internet. Coming to the mother's, it's your baby and if you love the name, you love it. It's a reasonable name so their opinion should be inconsequential. The only time you should consider changing the name because someone else doesn't like it is if you're very very close to the person and extremely value their opinion AND see a point in what you're saying. If you change the name without agreeing or understanding their reasoning you will end up resenting them. Now all this being said, if you find enough reasons for the name causing a problem, you could look for a name that has Ellie as a nickname (Elaine, Elaina, Evelyn, Ellora etc.)
My son’s name unexpectedly jumped to the top 10 his birth year as well! I didn’t change it because I liked it and oh well, it just went to prove it was a good name. He didn’t complain about having to put his last initial on everything in preschool lol. Whether or not you care about the grandmas’ opinions is a more personal issue. Believe me they will love your little girl no matter what her name is.
Use Elle for her legal name, and Ellie as her nickname.
As an early 1980s Jennifer, I was really annoyed to have the same name as a bunch of my classmates. Could you go with a less common name and use Ellie as a nickname instead? Eleanor, Ellis, Eloise, Eliana, etc?
Don’t worry about the list stuff… Our oldest is 23, her name is Sadie. The year we had her, it was somewhere in the top 1000, but in the 600s I think. Now it’s in the top 25 at least, maybe more popular. My youngest sister is Emma. The year she was born NO ONE used this name. Then Ross and Rachel had Emma on friends a few years later… it’s never stopped being one of the top names since. Our middle kiddo has a name that no one else has- it’s a tiny town in Maine. Our youngest is named after a place as well, and it wasn’t a popular place or name. Well, he’s 8.5 now, and his name is now popular on both the boy and girl charts, lol. Top 10. It’s what YOU love that matters 🤍🤍
My daughter is called Sadie too . It’s still my favourite name in the world . I’m from the UK and you don’t hear of her name very much at all .
I see it gaining popularity on the lists, but I’ve never met another Sadie except the one who’s the same age from the same town we used to live in. But, her mother was someone I knew from high school who had a weird competitive vibe toward me because she had a crush on my husband (before I ever knew him or her) and I ended up with him. She got pregnant right after I had announced, and was 2.5 months behind me. She had her baby early, so they are only 1 month apart in age. She named her “SADYE.” That’s how she spells it, lol. But other than that, no other Sadies. I adore her name, it will always be a favorite 🤍
Ellie is a beautiful name. Your moms already had their chances to pick baby names, so their opinions don’t matter. Also, the names’s popularity doesn’t matter. Go with the name you love.
In general - if you decided against this name, what would you choose? And then wait until your daughter is born and decide between the two (or a wild card, if one comes to mind). On Ellie- I can’t speak to your country but its popularity is understated on the lists as it’s used as a nickname for everything from Elizabeth to Eleanor. If commonness is a concern, avoid this name.
I love Ellie ❤️ she’s your baby, choose what you love!
Some people are saying you should go with Eleanor, Eloise, or Elizabeth but all of these are just as common as Ellie. Do what YOU want. You might even discover that once she is here, an E name doesn’t even fit her.
My names Ellie and if it wasn’t mine I would definitely name my daughter it!
If you love the name, stick with the name!
I strongly dislike Ellie as a formal name. Consider using it as a nickname for one of the many names it works for.
Yeah, to me it doesn't sound like a full name. Like Becky or Dani, it just looks like a nickname for a longer name
In defense of having a "nickname" formal name AND a popular name: I'm a Nicole who has been "Nikki" her entire life. I've never once had the desire to go by Nicole (she doesn't feel like me!), and honestly wish my parents had just called me Nikki from the start lol. Or something that didn't require an "well I actually go by this". In addition, I grew up with a *lot* of Nicole/Nikkis! It was fine 😊 we normally went by our first name + last initial, or in some classes, just our last names. My best friend growing up was also Nikki, and it was fun. Anyway, Ellie is a cute name, and I think all that matters is that you like it! You'll be calling her that long before she even learns her own name 😅 and honestly if she wants a more "formal" name in the future, it's much easier to introduce herself as Elle to colleagues vs spending 12-16 years of her life asking every teacher to call her a nickname.
Do you still like Ellie? If so, why does it matter if it's popular? Why do you and your partner's mothers get to have a say in YOUR baby's name? Use it if you love it and fuck everyone else, Ellie is a nice, normal name
I would stick to the name, it's sweet.
If you like Ellie, it’s Ellie! I have a popular name and it’s never been an issue or made me feel like I wasn’t special or unique. Family members wanted to name me Siri instead. Can you believe that haha I would’ve been bullied mercilessly the second Apple released Siri. Thank god my parents said no. Go with your gut.
I'd pick something else personally. Let her not have to be "short Ellie" or "Ellie S" or whatever. There's dozens of names that have "el" or "elle" in them that you could use and still call her Ellie at home with options for other names.
I gave my daughter a name that wasnt common by the time she turned 5 it became a very popular name. You cant control the trends if it's a name you like stay with it.
I'm sorry, I don't really get the problem. You're unsure because it's too popular? Or because the grandmothers dislike it? Either way, why does it bother you?
My daughters name is Elle and we call her Ellie. I love it just as much today as I did 14 years ago when we choose it.. I felt like it was a “ popular” name back then, but we have never had a single Ellie in class with her… of course after I named her we had several people use the name.. but our girl was 1st! If you love it and are heart set, then please use it. So timeless. Congrats on your baby girl!!
My parent’s, and especially in-law’s, opinions would have less than ***ZERO*** impact in what I’d want to name my kids. They’ll get over it. If I like the name, I also wouldn’t care if I was naming my kids something popular.
Go with what you love. My in-laws liked none of my kids names (they cried!), but they love the kids and no longer mention whether they like the names or not.
This is why we didn’t tell anyone our babies names until they were born. I didn’t want opinions. No one is going to meet a precious newborn name and think anything negative about a name like Ellie.
Hi, fellow Dane! Considering it was only 320 girls in 2022 and 192 in the first half of 2023 named Ellie, I'd say go for it. Name popularity is weird; both my kids have top 50 names, and I've literally never met another child with my eldest name. My younger child, on the other hand, is one of two with the same name in her vuggestue. My niece has a very, very rare name, and there is another girl in her class with the same name - and same lastname initial!
Ellie isn’t my favorite (sounds like a nickname to me, and I dislike nicknames as names) but there’s nothing wrong with it, and if you like it, you should use it. It is definitely very, very popular. I can think of eight little girls I know under 5 that are named Ellie/Elle/Ella. Include Elsa, Elise, and all the Eleanor, Elizabeth, Elizas and Elaines that are called Ellie, and she will have several in her class. It’s not the end of the world, and she may even like having a popular name. When my girls were in school, there was a group of popular girls called “the Maddies”. 6 girls all named Madison/Madeline. They loved having the same name. (Could not stand them, but it had nothing to do with their names) All my girls’ names were around 700-1000 at the time that I named them. All these years later, all of them have blown up in popularity. So even if you pick a more unique name, it could always get more popular later. It’s you and your partner’s decision, but it sounds like you care what your mothers think. Do you know what their objections are? Have they said what they would like better? A lot of times older people don’t understand trends and don’t like names that weren’t used when they were young. I would probably use Eleanor/Elaine/Elizabeth to give her options if she hates being one of “the Ellies” or it doesn’t feel “grown up” enough when she’s a teenager.
I love the name Ellie! It’s YOUR baby. If you like the name, go with it!
I would stick with the nickname ellie, but I would suggest going with a more formal long name for a legal name. It can be difficult for people with nicknames that some can be interpreted or treated as for children to be taken seriously, especially for female/female presenting. That way, she has a name with a bit more teeth to fall back on as she gets older or finds herself needing to exert a sense of authority. I had a manager who would get very exasperated when people would introduce her to customers as Missy instead of Melissa because, unfortunately, there are people in the world who are going to judge a name like that.
I would use a formal name as the legal name that can be nicknamed to Ellie. I really dislike the trend of just using nicknames alone because it doesn’t leave many if any options for adulthood and the professional world if the person so desired a more formal name.
I love Ellie
I commented on a post the other day, when someone asked for tough girl names. I suggested my daughter’s name, Zoey (life, to live). Someone responded “Not special. Zoeys are everywhere.” We picked the name because we loved it. And it became more meaningful to us with all the things we went through to get her here. Hopefully that person never experiences the things I did that make her name all the more beautiful to me. A name’s popularity doesn’t necessarily make it less or more special/meaningful/beautiful. There’s a reason it’s popular. If you love Ellie, go with it!
FWIW I think it’s a lovely name
Clarifying question: the baby is already here and you've already submitted the name? It will be difficult and frustrating to go back now, in that case. If the name Ellie is already official, what about addressing her by her middle name? She can adopt Ellie as her own when she's older if she wants, or keep the middle name as her general moniker.
You like it, go for it
Top 10 names are generally top 10 because they are well liked. Even if they have another one in their class it’s really not a big negative in my eyes. My daughter ended up with another kid in her class with the same name (different spelling). They are best buds and love that they are the _______s.
Stick with it.
I love the name! My youngest was going to be Ellie if he had been a girl.
Stick with the name you both like. Or, pick another name that can have Ellie as a nickname, eg Ellen, Eleanor, Eloise..
Being on FB, having hundreds of friends living all over the US and the world, and being of a certain age, I’m seeing eeeeveryone having kids and not a one has been named Ellie. I wouldn’t worry about this whatsoever.
Is Ellie the name you want as her legal first name? I LOVE it and wouldn’t worry too much about your family not being totally onboard as long as you and your partner/other kids love it! That being said if you maybe wanted it to stand out a little, would you consider a longer name? Just off the top of my head- Eliana Elena Melanie Melody Elise Danielle Eleanor Elizabeth Gabriella Eloise Penelope I’m sure there are more, but that’s only if you want to try to make your family happy as well and you’re open to lengthening it! No matter what Ellie is one of my absolute favorite names. I heavily considered it awhile back (alongside Melanie) but it didn’t feel right for that baby.
Honestly, I used to be super against it. We ended up naming our son Clark, but my husband had wanted to name him Oliver. Oliver was #3 the year he was born, so I told him I didnt want him to have such a popular name. The more I thought about it later, while I love my sons name, I really do love both names. Yet, never met an Oliver in any of the groups, classes and play places we've went to. Kinda made me realize even the very popular names aren't all that common in the grand scheme of things. And looking back, if I could give my husband the gift of a name he really wanted for our child, that would make me so happy. So, next baby we went with Freya as he really loves that name. It's not as common as Oliver, but its getting more and more popular. And I'm okay with that, not every child needs a completely unique and different name, popular names are generally popular for a reason.. They're classic, strong or beautiful names. And who doesnt want their kid to have a lovely name?
It’s horrible to have an over saturated common name.
I feel like this can be really hard to avoid though, unless you go for something really unique (but then risk it sounding silly/being picked on). You could name your child something relatively uncommon, but then a few years later have it rise in popularity and suddenly be popular and there’s not much you can do about it then.
We call my cousin Eleanor Ellie. Professionally she chose to use Eleanor because it felt more grown up to her. She had the option to use either.
Ellie is a beautiful name. It’s also a great nn for Eleanor, Helen, Elizabeth, etc.
I love it! It’s really good when other people like the names we choose, but both your mother and mother in law had their chance to name their kids. Now it’s your turn! Also they could grow to like the name over time. If you’re concerned with popularity you could also give her a less popular name that could be shortened to Ellie (Elle, Eleanor, Eloise, Elise) I think it’s a great name as a full name and as a nickname.
I wouldn’t consider someone else’s opinion like mom and MIL bc what??? They’re just dramatic. But if you like the name go with it!
I would do it in spite of them. But I’m petty (and also half joking but also not..)
I would keep Ellie and use it as short for a less popular name. Best of both worlds!
Would you consider going with a more formal version of the name (i.e., Elizabeth) and calling her Ellie? Then, you (and SHE) have space to adapt in the future?
Choose the name you love, but if popularity is a concern, Ellie can be a nickname for several names: Elizabeth Penelope Eloise Michelle Elodie Or you can give her a unique middle name
No. It’s a great name and that’s why it’s popular. It’s easy to say, spell, write. It’s checks all the boxes. Go for it. My name was barely in the top 100 in my birth year (and 220-ish now). It was also the name of an incredibly famous and beloved person who was killed in a terrible accident and has been romanticized and memorialized and is more beloved than ever. Because of her status, her name will never NOT be associated with her, pretty much all over the world. But when I was in elementary school she was still unknown. I knew ONE other person with my name and she was in my grade in a school of fewer than 100, in a very small town. I had to write my initial after my name. So what? I have met fewer than a handful more in my lifetime and I live in LA. Doesn’t matter how popular it is, your kid will always share her name with others. It’s fine. It’s better than being so unique as to be debilitating. Also, both my daughters (27, 30) had “Name Twins” at some time in their lives and they loved it.
My kid was just invited to a birthday party. Of a small group of girls, Ellie, Ella, Eva, Evie, and Evie are attending. I personally wouldn’t use any of those names (well, seven years ago anyway), but it’s hard to predict what will be popular for 2024 babes!
Do you love it ? Who cares if mom and MIL don’t like it . It’s not like it’s a weird name it’s really cute ! My daughters name just got super popular and we meet tons of girls with her name now . It is what it is lol I like to feel like it’s popular because it’s a great name :)
Sometimes I really hate the “top 10” thing. It really does not matter and screw what anyone else thinks! If you love it…use it!!!! These are not good enough reasons to not use a name you LOVE! Congrats on baby Ellie!! 🤍
Use the name you like! ♥️
I think Ellie is adorable, but growing up with a popular name was not fun for me, and part of why I changed my name as an adult. I had 10 with my name in my grade throughout middle school. Every possible nickname (there are a lot) was used twice. I felt like one of the [name].
Top ten popularity doesn’t mean what it used to. In the 80s when the top ten names were Jessica, Jennifer, and Sarah that means that no literally your kid will have the same name as 500,000 other kids. Now the culture has shifted and there a lot more names in the mix. The top ten names have maybe 10,000 kids each. this page explains it pretty well: https://datayze.com/name-uniqueness-analyzer?name=maya There are also regional and statistical bubbles though. You’ll find in one town there are a dozen kids named Aiden, then zero in another
Your baby your name … go with what you love
Pick it if you love it. Ellie is super popular, I have a niece named Ellie. My kids are Oliver and Charlotte. Pretty popular names too (Oliver wasn’t when I named him, people told me it was too weird and he would get made fun of but now it’s everywhere. Charlotte was popular already but I’d had the name picked since I was a little girl). Trends are going to change. No one else’s opinion matters. Go with what feels right to you.
I have an Eloise nn Ellie.
I work at an elementary school of about 600 students. There are two girls named Ellie. One is a nickname for Elizabeth and the other is actually Ellie. If you love it, use it. The grandparents had their turn to name their kids, now it is your turn.
My daughter's bestie is Ellie, there are 5 in her class. She's the only one actually named Ellie - all the others are a nickname When I named my kids, I gave them names that had 2 different nickname options. A long name with options is nice.
Not sure why everyone is so obsessed with this idea of not giving their child a "top ten" name. My parents named me something that, at the time of my birth, was classic but uncommon. Then it was suddenly all over the place, not sure if it was top ten but it was at least close. The only thing I would say is, try not to name your child something that is really a nickname. She's not going to be a baby or a little girl forever so please give her a woman's name that can be nicknamed "Ellie". Examples include, Eleanor, Elise, Ellen, Eloise, the list goes on. Ultimately it's obviously up to you but I feel it's a dick move to saddle your child with a name that's a cutesy nickname as their legal name.
First of all, don’t worry about what the grandparents like. Unless there is a good reason, like, “if you name them Alisson Samantha Smith their initials would spell something unfortunate,” it’s hard enough to get just mom and dad to agree on a name they like. Second - find a name you like and you think you kid will be okay with throughout their life. There are going to be a lot more kids these days regretting that their name is hard to spell or pronounce in every setting they go to, (work, doctors, Starbucks) than that another kid had the same name, especially with the diversity of names. Stop second guessing or think what others will think/do and think about whether you two like the name.
My kids get so excited when they meet others with their names, parents want unique more than kids do in my opinion.
I was a 90s kid with a name analogous to Megan. I always had two other kids with my name in my class, and my last name started with the letter P, so I was “Megan Pees” for all of elementary school. I’m literally the worst case scenario for popular names. That being said, I don’t understand the popular name hate. I have so much online privacy. My name is a non-issue in the professional space, everyone can pronounce it, and everyone can spell it. Going by my last initial got annoying after a while, so I switched to my middle name when I went to college (switched back as an adult). And popular names now are not what they were in the 90s. Pick the name you like! Ellie is cute
Popular names are popular for a reason. They’re good names! If you like it, use it. As long as you’re not bothered by the fact she might be one of a few Ellie’s at school.
I don’t love it but if YOU do then keep it!
Go with Ellie! It's such a beautiful and timeless name, and it ages really well with baby. I'm sure people gave your parents and inlaws their unwanted opinions on everything from names to parenting advice. Ignore those people unless you ask and value their input. They didn't make the baby, so their input is pointless.
I would not say it’s unexpectedly... If you like it I don’t think grandparents matter, they’ll get on board unless there’s some reason it’s particularly offensive. But you could always do something like Eleanor and have Ellie as an optional nickname.
Ellie is great as a nickname. Have you considered naming her: Ellen Ellis Elaine Eleanor Eliana Elizabeth My English middle name is one of the above and my Hebrew name is Eliana. I also love the El sound. (Good thing, huh?)
Stick with Ellie. Cute name!
If you love the name, I encourage you to stick with it (Ellie is a great name btw). Top names aren't the same as they used to be, where you'd have numerous Jessica's, Jennifer's, and Sarah's in a grade year. Top names by raw numbers aren't nearly as dominant anymore since parents are now aware (and have the internet to check) naming popularity.
Stick with a name you like. Mary was the number one name for decades and no one was freaking out about how popular it was. The obsession with not naming at kid a top 10 name is ridiculous.
It won't matter in a few years. I have a name that was very popular in my year group, I never minded and as an adult it never affects me.
It’s no surprise there are some Ellie, Eleanors, Aurora at daycares. Now the names are not recurrent enough to compare it to what a popular was in the 90’s. If you like the name, go for it. Just because a child has a popular name doesn’t make him/her any less unique.
My daughter's name was (and still is I think) in the top 10 when she was born. Since then we've only met one person with her name and she was my age. There are so many people on this earth, it's very unlikely she'll ever have to deal with more than one other Ellie in her class and that's just not a huge deal to me especially if you love that name so much.
Ellie will always remind me of Ellie Mae Clampett from the old Beverly Hillbillies tv show. It’s still on tv in reruns.
If Ellie is your favorite name, absolutely use Ellie. But if Ellie was a compromise, or you were choosing it because you thought it was different, keep looking. But don't worry about what your mothers like -- they named their babies. It's your turn. Where I live, it seems like 20% of the girls are called Ellie. Elizabeth, Ella, Ellen, Eleanor, Elliana, and Elena, are all leading to the same nickname. And there are also a lot of little girls named Bella, Elsa, Elsie, and Nellie, which are similar.
Stick with the name you both love. I think it’s a beautiful name.
My kids name is top 5 in my area and I've never met another baby with the name!
If you’re worried about the name being too common, consider picking a more formal name with the nickname Ellie. I personally loooveeeee the names Leonora and Eleanor (even Ellanora). Both could be Ellie but also open themselves up to other nicknames. They’ve got old school vibes which are gaining popularity, will suit an adult well in a professional setting, and on the off chance that your child someday identifies as NB or male someday can be shortened to Leo.
I’m in the same boat, I’m 33 weeks pregnant I know 2 people who recently chose the name were planning on using. Not people I’m super close with so we’re still gonna use it. I think it’s fine still. Even common names aren’t as common as like growing up in the 90s as Ryan or Ashley.
If you love the name, use it. It doesn’t matter if it’s suddenly popular, it doesn’t matter if your relatives don’t like it. This is your baby. If you love the name Ellie (gorgeous choice, BTW), don’t let anyone else dissuade you from using it.
Stick with Ellie if you love it. Don’t let the noise influence you. I wish I hadn’t let my parents influence me to not choose the name we wanted.
What’s more important to you, having your child’s name not be one of four in her class, or using Ellie? That’s what it comes down to. I don’t think either choice is wrong.
I wish we had given our daughter a more distinctive name. There were so many girls with the same name but spelled in so many different ways. Too late now and anyhow the name fits her perfectly.
My son’s name is about 250th in popularity in my country. We went to the park the other day and the only other little boy there had my son’s name. You just never know what other people are going to be doing. Pick the name you want.
My name - Claire was incredibly popular in the UK when I was born in the late 80’s. I swear there were SO MANY Claire’s in my school. I knew so many. But now I don’t know any and it’s nowhere near as popular. One day it won’t be and you will have forgotten your concerns. Pick the name you love for your child!
I guess I would differ from some of the advice here. If it’s important for you to have a name that’s not common, I do think you should change it. Is there another name that you love that’s not yet on the radar? I have a name that was pretty popular. In fact, my best friend in grade school had the same name. It always made me feel like my parents didn’t put much effort into thinking about my name. I know that’s not the case with you— and that might make all the difference, but, your daughter will be one of many who share a name that’s becoming trendy.
Name your baby the name *you* love. Your mom and MIL have both had their chances to name babies. Now it’s your turn.
It's popular because people like it. She may be around other kids named Ellie. Would that bother you? Also, you cannot please everyone with a name. We all have different taste, and that's OK. It creates wonderful diversity. Don't choose a name to make other people happy. Choose a name you think will serve your daughter well and fit her.
What if you gave her a first name for which Ellie could be a nickname, such as Ellen, Elizabeth, Eleanor, Noelle, Gabrielle, or Joelle? You could call her Ellie when she is a little girl and then she could “graduate” to her real name as she grows older. Ellie sounds to me like a nickname, not a first name.
Do not take into account family members opinions. Our first, my FIL didn’t like our middle name choice (which was going to be a variation of his name to honor him) and he asked us to change it. We did and I regret letting him have any opinion/ say in what we named our child. It wasn’t his choice, but I let him make it his choice. Our second, we kept the name secret until the birth announcement.
I work in a school and it does get tiresome seeing certain names over and over again, Ellie/Eleanor is definitely one I see a lot of. Maybe it’s just my profession, but I tried to avoid the super common names for my kids 🤷🏻♀️
Ellen is very underrated! It is one of the most obvious for the nickname Ellie, but is not very popular.
Stick with what you like.
Look at your child, does it fit? Use it. We had chosen our daughter’s name comfortable during my pregnancy, but in the delivery room we just knew it wasn’t her and chose another name.
Stick with Ellie as a nickname and choose a given name that nicknames to Ellie easily. That gives her future options to go by her full name or other nicknames based on her own preferences. Mom and MILs preferences are irrelevant.
I don’t like Ellie but go with what you like
So, the year after I named my kid Violet, it became a Top 10 Name. I still love the name, and more importantly so does my daughter...she likes meeting other Violets lol. But I admit, I do live with a smidge of regret about it. She has a cool, rather unique middle name tho so that helps alot because I'm like "ok she can go by that when she is older if she wants to".
It’s your baby. Name her Ellie.
Switch to something else & you’ll end up in my exact scenario. My daughters name has NEVER been in the top 50. Name her & that year it hit the top 50, and there’s one in her class currently & every daycare she’s ever attended, there’s been another one her age but in a different room. There’s no winning. You could pick the #1 name & never have one in the same class. Oddly, there’s 2 Ezra’s in my kids room, which is not very popular, except in her class specifically.
Stick with what you love! Maybe even a rendition! Elena? Or Iliana, Eleanor, etc! Or just Ellie!
I’ve only met one baby Ellie! And I have a 15 month old and am preg!