by Lori King

Created on: January 05, 2009

I think it depends on the region or where you live as to what names are most common. I know in the area where I am and when I was growing up, the more common names were Casey, Jennifer, Jessica, Amber, Sarah, Ashley, Amanda, etc. It seemed like there were hundreds of girls with those names. I guess I got lucky because my parents named me LoriBeth. (Although on my birth certificate, the name was separated into Lori Beth). I was the only one with that name. But I had friends who also had the only names at that time, too. Shannon, Desiree, Kristen.

I personally prefer names that are kind of on the old fashioned side but yet not obsolete. My daughters are Molly Michaela and Emilee Sharlaine. I think if the names are spellled differently than the original spelling then the name is more unique and may seem less common. But what is a name? It is like a title. Just because your name might be Jessica doesn't mean you may act like a stereo-typical Jessica. Most of the Jessicas I knew were not very nice. But some were. I would personally prefer having names that are not that common because I don't want my kids to go to school and have like a million Mollys and a million Emilees in one class. But I'm pretty sure the way I have Emilee spelled is really different from a lot of others. Molly's name almost got Mollee. Some people like to use family names or names from friends. Emilee's middle name, Sharlaine, is actually a combination of two names. I used the name Arlan and Elaine, two close friends of the family. Her middle name was originally supposed to be Arlaine and her first name was supposed to be McKenna but people kept getting the name wrong so we changed it in order to get rid of any unwanted pronunciations and so forth.

I have been thinking about names for our next child, if we have one and it is a girl anyway. If we have a boy the name is to be Isaac Joe. My husband's middle name is joe and he has always liked Isaac. If we were to get pregnant again and have a girl, I have too many names that I like. I really like the name Tilly. She would be named for Jennifer Tilly and just because I like it. I also like Hilly for a girl. I am still very unsure. For a boy, though, I like the name Hollis. Maybe not a first name but for a middle name.

Whatever name is chosen for your child, I'm sure they will give it that special touch and every child has a unique personality and they are the one who makes the name, not the name making them.

Learn more about this author, Lori King.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.