My sister went to school with a boy named Colton Brown who went by Colt. Colt Brown always sounded to me like something out of the big box of 64 crayons. 
Jayden and Aiden sound too effeminate for boys (Jayden in particular sounds like an upcoming Playmate of the Month).
Madison makes me think of Darryl Hannah in “Splash.” (Yeaaaaaaaaaaah! :p)
Mia and Sophia also sound like really hot babes!
Emily, Olivia, and Emma sound like hot British babes! Yum-O!
What about Mason Williams?
I am actually in a perfect storm of bitter about it. My name is one of the most common names around, and I live near enough to Berkeley CA that I am surrounded by people who burst with pride at their “unusual” baby names. It’s really annoying and I get really sick of the implication that my name and the names of my children are somehow deficient or handicapping to us. So yeah, bitter.
I see my daughter’s name (Lucy at #72) is more popular now than it has been in over a hundred years (#71 in 1909). It had bottomed out in the 500’s during the '70s.
My seven year old is also named Nathaniel. We screwed up too; we meant to name him after the biblical character which is “Nathanael” but we didn’t realize our spelling mistake until later.
People shouldn’t act like a common name is handicapping (which I’ve never really heard anyone do that) but what you’re doing is just the same.
It does seem kind of boring to me if a whole name, first middle and last, is all super common, but it’s obviously not a big deal and I have a hard time believing that many people think it is. Are your kids really young and you’ve just recently named them or something? Because I know a lot of people think nothing of giving unsolicited rude opinions before the baby is born, but pretty much everyone stops that after it’s official.
The only reason id ever want to have a kid is so that we could name our daughter Lola.
L-O-L-A Lola?
Bumped reply and missed the edit window.
I’ve seen Xaiden.
I hate Xander. Why not call him Alexander and nickname him Xander? Then he has the option of a traditional or a unique name when he grows up, and can go with whatever suits his circumstances best.
I don’t know about that. “Ever” is a very long time. Lets just keep it to within the last five years.
Not at all. One’s family is not a brand, unless you buy your children from a large corporation.
[QUOTE=Skammer]
My seven year old is also named Nathaniel. We screwed up too; we meant to name him after the biblical character which is “Nathanael” but we didn’t realize our spelling mistake until later.
[/QUOTE]
So far we’re four for four with Biblical names. Nathaniel is the more usual spelling, so it’s probably easier for both boys in the long run. 
We call him Nat, not Nate, although usually more like, “NAT! Stop that!!”! It reminds me of the Bill Cosby quote about him and his brother thinking their names were Dammit and Jesus Christ.
Names definitely go in cycles. I spent some time in a dept where there were a Mary and a Janet with the same last name (turned out they MIL and DIL). In my day, Janet was a young girl’s name and Mary an old lady’s name. But in this office, Janet was the older one, a bit younger than me (this was around 1990, BTW) and Mary the younger one. I soon realized that all the Janets I grew up with were now middle-aged ladies, while the pendulum had, shifted and Mary was back in vogue.
We used basically the same criteria, except I wanted something that wasn’t in the top 100. We chose Jane. Paisley is more popular for little girls now than Jane, which totally blows my mind. Anyway, we love it. Simone was another name on our short list.
Where I live Jayden has been popular for quite a while. I have a friend named Jayden who is my age. His parents are middle-class, even though a lot of people in my area consider it a lower-class name.
I try not to stereotype people, but I admit Britney Spears’ son looks more like what I picture a Jayden looking like - you know, blond and pale. My friend Jayden is of Italian heritage (he told me his great-grandparents were from Florence) and he really looks stereotypically Italian.
My friend’s parents weren’t big into Italian-sounding names - his older sister is named Autumn, also not very Italian. Then again, heritage isn’t important to many parents these days.
As for popularity, I know a lot of people who say that Frank is an old man’s name, but I know 3 or 4 guys in my age group named Frank. And my sister has a friend (who’s 25) named Eugenia. Then again, this Eugenia was named after her grandmother.
It could be worst. You could be named Shannon Sossamon and change your own name to Shannyn Sossamon. When you have an “unusual” last name it helps to have an “unusual” first name. Especially, if you are a celebrity.
I liked the name Chloe up until Khloe Kardashian with her wacky misspelled name started getting popular. Ugh, every time I see that name in print, I wince. It just grates. I also think it’s slightly goofy to see Chloë spelled with the umlaut.
Another personal annoyance I have with people’s names, is those damned affected accent marks WHERE THEY DON’T NEED TO BE.
Example: the actress Raven-Symoné. Does she pronounce her name Raven Si-mon-AY? No. She does not. That accent mark is unnecessary, and in fact, makes her parents look like idiots for sticking it there.
Actually, the aforementioned Khloé Kardashian has an unnecessary accent also. I don’t think it’s supposed to be pronounced “clo-EE”, is it? Doubtful. Double Moron Points awarded to her parents. Were they aiming for the umlaut spelling and missed?
Also, Beyoncé Knowles. Is it supposed to be “be-yon-SAY”? No. She pronounces it “be-YON-say”. Another accent mark fail.
Does an accent change syllabic emphasis?
Not in French, it doesn’t. I can’t speak for the others.