That was my choice for my daughter’s name, but my SO wouldn’t let me name her that. So we named her…guess…
Caitlyn LOL… :smack:
Same thing happened to us (except we already have the kid, and were not hip enough to know it was getting popular).
Chloe.
We thought it was pretty rare. It’s 24th on the 2003 list though. And now I notice Chloes in pop culture, and they’re all with negative connotations: a murderer on Monk, a suicide on Buffy, a crazy rape victim in Gothika, and evidently one of those Whorz - I mean Bratz dolls is “Cloe.” Thank goodness for Smallville at least.
You might find it interesting that when we tell people her name, they say stuff like, “Oh, my cousin’s daughter is named Zoe!”
Ah, yes. It’s one of those somewhat unique names that is getting destroyed by its own popularity. I’ve seen quite a few young Zoes here in the Bay Area, not to mention the Chloes and Sofias.
I’m a Michael, born in 1972. It’s only been in the top 3 of names for the past, oh…let’s see here…30 YEARS!! I had 3 Michaels on my block (I became "Little Michael, " which I guess is better than “New Michael” who moved in later) and 4 in my second-grade class.
In response, my two boys’ names are not even on the charts.
So, can anyone around little girls a lot (now why does that sound dirty?) tell me if Zoe is really becoming a very popular name? I’m not around kids that often. They frighten me, and they often don’t smell good.
The Social Security Administration has a searchable name index to tell you the popularity of names based on applications for social security numbers. It’s the best way to tell how truly popular a name is. It doesn’t depend on overzealous, self-selecting baby name website crazies to post their snookums names. Every name is counted.
According to them **Zoe **ranked:
2003 58
2002 61
2001 64
2000 80
1999 103
1998 123
1997 135
1996 156
1995 168
1994 216
So not only is it pretty popular, but it’s still gaining in popularity.
To compare, Kaitlyn, which is actually their example of a very popular baby name with many spellings (different spellings are all ranked separately), got:
2003 32
2002 32
2001 31
2000 31
1999 34
1998 36
1997 41
1996 42
1995 43
1994 49
Chloe:
2003 24
2002 24
2001 30
2000 40
1999 63
1998 87
1997 110
1996 112
1995 137
1994 155
Mackenzie:
2003 46
2002 43
2001 41
2000 43
1999 53
1998 65
1997 72
1996 76
1995 89
1994 108
Kali:
2003 571
2002 549
2001 473
2000 425
1999 382
1998 399
1997 358
1996 342
1995 356
1994 400
Madeline:
2003 60
2002 56
2001 55
2000 56
1999 70
1998 49
1997 59
1996 67
1995 78
1994 94
Nickname your Madeline (Madeleine) children “Maddy.” That’s what an old classmate of my brother’s went by.
As for Brandon, I’ve met four kids with that name in the past two years.
My pick for names: Tatiana and Sebastian.
Oh yeah, we’ve got Brandons by the truckload around here. About half my older son’s friends are Brandons. It kind of challenging to take phomne messages. 
We had our boys in '84, '86 and '89. John was a “Grandfather” name. The other’s are Dan and Josh. :rolleyes: Well, they weren’t that popular then!
I’ve got the same name as my dad and to make it more confusing, he got it with “ie” and I got it with “ey”. I wasn’t actually named for him - Mom wanted to call a little girl Lesley since she was a teenager. then she met Dad… :smack:
Anyway, I’ve always used my middle name.
Oh, by the way. This just might be a good thread to keep track of. I’m waaaay overdue and it’s either menopause or… :eek:
I’ll let you know!
I suggested Tatiana but was told it sounded “stripperish”.
At least you didn’t suggest Xaviera then, else it would have sounded distinctly hooker-ish.
Bah. Go with normal. Not overly popular, but for the kid’s sake, don’t, don’t intentionally go for unusual.
Or if you must, stay short. Note: Most computer systems, such as for academic standardized tests, school registration, etc, only accepts 8 characters for the first name.
-Ninja, who’s got twenty-seven letters in her first, middle, and last name.
PS: Hyphenated last names, you will find, are the root of all evil in the computer age. I don’t think I’ve ever once had a plane ticket with a name that matches the one on my ID.
I agree completely. That’s why we liked Zoe. Not overly popular (five years ago…) and not intentionally unusual.
Why are girl names so much more creative than boy names? The top names for boys seems much more static.
I’ve decided that I’m not going to do much planning about naming my children till I’m sure what their last name will be. There are many names I like but I want to be careful about the sound and connotation. For example, I like the name Cassandra very much, but there’s that whole prophetess-no-one-believed-who-came-to-a-bad-end thing about it. My own name, Kelly, is all right as far as it goes. The new secretary in the office right next to ours is named Kelly, but she’s at least twenty years older than I am. The name is fairly popular according to the rankings, but I haven’t heard of many new Kellys being born lately.
Thanks – I figured I was mangling the pronunciation a bit. We use the standard Americanized pronunciation, so no one’s ever had to correct me.
Same with apostophes: O’ …
I know at least four girls under 6 named Zoe. Zoe is the new Jessica, just as Caitlyn/Kaitlyn/Caightlynnne is the new Jennifer.
I once had a one night stand with a stripper who went by “Nectar”.
Now that’s stripperish.
You just ruined my day… 
Eight letters, you say? Maybe Madeline does have an edge over Madeleine. And the combination of “Madeleine”, the middle name we’ve picked out, and my last name totals 26 letters. We may have to rethink a few things.
When I was in school, there were some computer forms that only accepted the first six letters of a first name. Kind of annoying for my friends named Christopher and Christine.
Go with Maddy-Lyynn. It’s creative to put a whole bunch of 'y’s in a name, you know! And it makes your child stand out as special! I guarantee she won’t murder you in the middle of the night at some future time.*
Warning: Not a guarantee
Ha. In my daughter’s class there are two Lhi??vj?aá? /KI_0NfjL=Qa:5/.s. Luckily one uses the nickname of ??vj?a !
As for Zoe, my daughter is one and I know of two girls with that name. Only one spells it properly Zoë.
I say properly because my daughter is Anaïs and the ¨are oh so graphically pleasing.
As for personalized stuff, now a days it’s no problem. I’ve gone to several places and have gotten stuff with her name. Granted it is a special order, but the turn around time is pretty ast because everything has been computerized.