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Yeah, I wouldn't want to use a name that had more than 1% popularity for any given year.

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OTOH, you never know. My daughter's name isn't even on the charts and we've met 5 other girls with her name, all about her age, since she was born. The most popular name for a boy that we considered, Alexander, I haven't met any Alexanders under age 20. Even though it's supposed to be particularly popular in my local area.

No, popularity doesn't matter to me. Probably because I have mainstream taste and most of the names I like are gaining in popularity.

Personally, anything in the Top 30 (maybe 50) I would shy away from, the reason being that the child would inevitably be known throughout schooling as "Noah G," "Olivia B," "Jacob M," or "Emma D."

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Kids like meeting one or two people who share their name (with me being an Erica born in the early 90s, that happened a couple times growing up), but not being one of four people with the same name in their class (like the Christophers and Ashleys of my generation). It sort of takes away a child's sense of individuality. So if this is a real concern for you, then it would be prudent to pay attention as much to local trends as national (e.g. there aren't that many little Noahs running around in your area); I know in many places if you name your son John he might be the only one.

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That said, please keep in mind that there's a greater naming pool now than ever before. Looking back when John and Mary were the #1 names (which they were for a looooonnng time), their popularity graphs show their #1 positions to be much higher than, say, Noah's #1 position today. http://www.behindthename.com/name/noah/top/united-states?compare=John&type=percent

I tend to go for classic rather than popular, and I don't think Noah counts as a classic. Certainly not where I live. The fact that you love it should suggest that, at the moment, it appeals to people. And if you've got two children already and you don't know any young Noahs, then perhaps you inhabit a Noah-free neighbourhood and could safely go right ahead and use it.

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That said, what puts me right off is the loud NO! at the beginning. Same as the I in Ivor and the ME in (some versions of) Megan - it sends a message I find unsuitable whenever the name is said.

The older I get, and the longer I teach, the more I'm convinced that popularity is becoming a non-issue. I might use popularity as a deciding factor between two names that were otherwise completely equal in my eyes...but since that never happens to me, nope, I don't care about popularity a bit. I use the name I love, the one that feels right for my kid.

No, if I genuinely loved the name it wouldn't matter to me, unless I already knew personally a couple of kids about his age with the same name.
Stella's very popular too, according to the charts, but I only know one, Valerie's age, and she goes by her middle name which is Rachel.

At least 350 or less

Honestly, it depends where you live and how resilient you and your child are. For instance, I am a NICU nurse and barely see any Noahs born. If you are okay, however, if you move and find he is in a school with 4 other Noahs in his class then go with it. If you would be devastated or annoyed then its probably best to use it as a middle name.

If you really like it, use it. Don't let popularity be the reason you use something else and possibly regret it later. Isn't better to have a name you love vs. regret???

No, popularity personally doesn't bother me. I look at the name itself (how it looks, how it sounds) rather than its popularity. Whatever I pick for my future children, I wouldn't care if their names where super trendy and common or the opposite.
Perhaps use Noah as a middle if popularity bothers you?

Yeah, if I really loved Noah, I don't think popularity would stop me. Picking a name you love is much more important than the need to be different, IMO. I don't think it's worth straying away from just because he might meet a few other Noah's in school. I know about 500 Michaels and I'd still consider using it in the first name slot, because it's a great name.

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Plus you've already named two other children! If this is what you like the third time around, you gotta trust your gut. :)

It's a very important factor to me. I wouldn't use anything in the top 50. My son's name was an exception because he was named after his father.

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If I liked Noah, I would never use it due to its position on the popularity chart.

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People can say it doesn't matter, but there are names that I've known multiple bearers of so that last names always had to be used, and I wouldn't want that to happen to my son or daughter.

It's something I consider. It's not because of name frequency, as Rachel Shaina said that is not a huge factor anymore. It's because I think high popularity tells me that a name will have a certain image. Or at least, a certain aspect to it, that less relatively-popular names don't have. And it's almost like, the less that popularity means great frequency, the more that seems true.

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But, it is usually not something that would stop me from using a name - especially one that wasn't a trendy-style name like Mason, Liam, Mia, Ava. I would have used Alexander for my son if my husband hadn't agreed on something else, and I think of that as a really popular name (it's even one that is perceived as overused in some demographics).

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I feel like Noah is more overused than that even. But, for guynames a little blandness can be appealing, in a way that I don't feel it is for girlnames. So I don't know if I would use Noah or not. It's really hard to say because it's not my style. I start to think I probably wouldn't, but then, I don't love it, so I don't know.

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I think I would have used Charlotte or Sophie if we hadn't been able to agree on other names, and Sophie definitely has Noah-level popularity-effect. But I do like it enough that I would have used it if compromising made it necessary, so ... yeah. There you are.

This message was edited 12/6/2015, 11:00 AM

Popularity has a small degree of significance with me - and I am not happy that this has any relevance with my preference. If you like, love, or even just prefer a name - and any name, I hope feel free to use it.

If I really loved a name, no, I don't think popularity would stop me.

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Really popularity today is not like it was back even 20 years ago. In 1994, Michael was the most popular name. 44,463 boys were named Michael, more than 2% of all boys born that year.

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Noah in 2014, is less than 1% of boys born, 19,144 boys given the name. And Noah isn't the most popular name in Michigan (you are still in Michigan, right?). It's #2, after Liam. Only 545 boys born in 2014 were named Noah. It comes out to being just a little over 6 Noahs per Michigan county. So, like, really, nothing in the grand scheme of things.

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Also (and it depends on the personality of the person for sure), some kids are into sharing names, they think it's cool. My brothers both really liked knowing that their names were really popular.

I guess it would. Not a lot of people want their kids to have a name that more than 2 kids in their class have. Individuality, you know?

This message was edited 12/6/2015, 10:08 AM