Names

My first college roommate and current best friend is also an Alexandra. My group of friends in high school? They included Alex (male), Alex (female), Alexis, Sandra and Sasha (Russian diminutive). I do love the name Alexandra, but there are times when I do wish that my parents had had the originality you have shown and had named me something unique, or that the spike in this name had not occurred around the early 80s. (My middle name is Muse, though, so that is pretty cool.) I'm sure there won't be a spike in Rubies, but that is a truly lovely name for a beautiful baby.

Yeah...and don't even get me going on androgynous names. That was definitely a factor in our name selection as well. I have always (sorry mom) hated my name for that reason (the SNL Pat years were brutal) our children's names will always be gender specific as long as I have a say.

Funny thing you mentioned "Alex" as my old roommate Alexandra married a guy named Alex.

We named our daughter, who is 9-months old, Katrina. As in, Hurricane.

She was born 2 months before it hit.

People look at me all the time like I'm crazy after I tell them her name. I mean COME ON, who knew the K Hurricane was going to be THE hurricane??? And would I really name her after a natural catastrophe of biblical proportions? I mean, I'm a decent person! Mostly!

Anyway, I'm sure the association will falter after a few years. Besides, she's already a force of nature at our house.

We named our little girl Ruby too. She was born last August. She's named for my great, great grandmother who live to be 100 and with whom I was very close. There does seem to be a wave of Ruby's out there though...

And that's why we named our kids after pets:
Sadie & Oscar

i think a lot of people are looking to their grandparents for name ideas, hence the Emmas, etc. We picked Eleanore for our girl, and I know of 2 others so far. Our son is Alex, picked by his dad. I know that's not original either, but it fits him. I can't wait til the names from the 50s come back - Barbara, Linda, Debbie, etc. Some day those names will be "different"!

I have an Emily, but it fits her so well it just couldn't be helped!

Ruby is a very pretty name.

We have a Ruby too, she's 16 months, and I'm also hoping there won't be a wave of Rubys. We picked it partially b/c everyone with a "Ruby story", it starts out with "I had this crazy grand (insert mother, aunt, etc), named Ruby, who at the age of eighty some thing, did (somehting completely crazy)." I think kids grow into their names, and our Ruby has a TON of personality. We wanted a strong name for a strong girl- and we got it!

It's a beautiful name, but out here in LA there are lots of Ruby's. Good thing they're all so different. :)

I feel your pain on this subject. We our son Declan, but when my friend who works at the local children's hospital told me that she had seen 3 Declans - all under the age of 1 (our son was 10 months at the time). We quietly started calling him by his middle name - Magnus _ just to ensure he wouldn't be one of 3 Declans in his kindergarten class. - How insane are we! - So I am hoping you never have to resort to changing your daughters name - Ruby is a lovely name.

When I went to school, I was the ONLY Emily!! Grades K-8, the only one. I loved having the name all to myself!
High-school was a bit different with 5 other Emily's in just my class, but it still didn't bother me.
Now, I can't go anywhere without hearing my name called, only to turn around and find a mother looking for her 3-year-old.

I hate that my name is so popular, and has been for the past 9 years!

I LOVE the name Ruby...it's different without being wacko-like some of the celebrity baby names (i.e. Apple, Pilot Inspektor)

Very good choice...two thumbs up! :)

I *love* the Baby Name Wizard. I'm no where near a place in my life where I'm going to have a baby of my own, but I like to point expecting people there and grimace slightly when people tell me of new babies that I know have horribly popular names. Ruby is a good name.

Hmmm. I love the name Ruby. I do not like my name so much. There aren't many Loralee's out there. I hated it as a kid. I never could find a bicycle licence plate with my name on it...sigh.

Add to that, I am a twin (To "Loraina")> I guess I should be thankful that my 'Gone With The Wind' loving father didn't get his way and name us Scarlett and Vivian. Although, actually I think I would have preferred either of those to my name.

My kids are Christopher, James and Matthew for a reason! To each his own!

Ruby was a front-runner for us too (daughter Audrey was born 8/31/2005). But I couldn't shake that my husband's language du jour is Ruby on Rails.

My son, age 2 1/2, is an Elliot. I hear about Elliots every now and again, but they're all 7-10 years old.

I fortunately only ever had one other Michelle in my class, and that only lasted a year. I became "Michelle J." However, in college one year there was another Michelle on my dorm floor and I won't tell you what they called me that year!

Unfortunately I don't think most parents have any clue that the name they pick will be so popular. My parents said they had no idea that everyone else was naming their daughters the same thing!