Question of the Week: Would you choose a popular name?

　　When my daughter Chloe was little, her name was becoming well used in Britain and Australia, but was hardly heard in the U.S.  In fact, a surprising number of  people often didn’t know how to pronounce or spell it.  And so, try as I might, and much to my frustration, I could never find any of those personalized pens or pencils or little mini-license plates for her bike unless I special ordered them from Lillian Vernon or Walter Drake.

　　Time marches on, and with Chloe now in the Top 10–with more than 11,000 new Chloes entering the world last year– that certainly wouldn’t be a problem today!

　　A good thing or a bad thing?  Annoying though it may have been not to have a “personalized”option name, there was something special about being semi-unique, with her being the only Chloe in her school.

　　How do you feel about using a popular name?  Is there a cut-off point when popular becomes too popular for you?  Would you give up a name you love because too many other people were choosing it or is that irrelevant to you?

　　Would you use a name in the Top 10?  The Top 25?  The Top 50?  The Top 100?  The Top 500?  Or would you try to avoid one that even appeared on the Social Security list?

　　And if it’s after the fact, did the distinctive name you chose suddenly take off?

　　Do you draw a distinction between popular and trendy?  After all, Elizabeth is #11 and few people would rule her out for being too popular.

　　Where do you stand?