wish my child was old enough. I'll have to ask my 12-year-old sister when I get a chance.

I do know that when I was ten and my (other) sister was six or seven, she insisted that when she grew up she was going to change her name to Pocahontas. This worried me greatly at the time :)

also, I know that I never had names picked out, but my boyfriend (now husband) suggested Matthew, Thomas, and Arielle when we were ten or so. None of those names is on our list now, I might add.

My husband says it was Peter, not Matthew. Peter, Thomas, and Arielle (we had a classmate named Arielle.) Apparently he had very non-trendy taste!

When I was younger, maybe around 1994, my favorite names were Brianna and Lydia.

I teach preschool, and for the most part, names the kids use for dolls and such are names from TV and movies they like. Tiana gets a lot of usage in my classroom right now. Also Katara, a character from the Avatar cartoon.

When I was pregnant my 4-year-old wanted to pick the name Martha for a girl. She was really into the Martha Speaks series. Now she swears her next sibling will be named Glowy, lol.

Oh gosh, I hope people don't name their kids names they liked when the are 4 and 5. The names they know are family members, classmates and cartoon characters.

Even kids twice that age are probably liking names they wouldn't consider when they are older. My favorite names then were Margo, Lizzy and Sam. We would "change" our names when we went to the mall or pool; those names aren't my style at all anymore.

Even thinking about the names I like in high school and college make me cringe a bit.

Unless you are talking about a family name, I think people's taste in names change quite a bit as they get older.

My daughter is four and I just asked her what baby names she likes. She suggested:

Princess Battaliot (my best guess at spelling this one)
Loving Princess
Beautiful Pretty Girl
George
Boy

My 4 yr old loves baby dolls. Her babies are Kestra, John, the Other John, Finn, Shaylee and Tulip.

I remember my mom telling me that as a high schooler she decided her first daughter was going to be Jack-a-mich-a-line...however that would be spelled!

I have always loved names, too and have not used any of the ones I chose as a kid because my hubby does not have as "exotic" taste as I do. I was able to slip in a Jacoba and Jasper for middle names with 2 of them though...we'll see with the new baby.

Oh goodness! My two-year-old has a doll she's named four-five. And my 4-year-old would like to name our next baby after himself: Diego. Or if we can't name another baby Diego, how about Diegofe?

I agree with others, the names I've had on my lists have changed over time, some of them have been knocked off because of celebrities, others because they are too common for my tastes and others because I outgrew them.

I think that only time will tell if the Top Names of 2019 are accurate or not.... but I sure hope my kids aren't parents in 2019 either! (Maybe asking a group of 14 and 15-year-olds what their favorite names are would be more appropriate.)

My 8-year-old daughter uses the following names when playing with her plastic animals: Gilbert, Frank, and Charlotte. She throws others around occasionally, but those three are consistent.

When I was 10 or so (1986) I wished my name was Stephanie (and not Sarah). Clearly that was because Stephanie was more popular amongst girls my age then. I also wanted to name my daughter Brooklyn one day. I thought it was super-unique (I was sure I was the first to think of it) and really cool sounding. Funny how it actually has become popular now. However, I've just had a daughter and that name was not even considered - my little girl is named Claire.

I was a fan of Kelly when I was four or five, but I don't know why.

One of my younger cousins (now five) insisted that her sister would be named Stella Avery. It took her two or three weeks after Sarah was born to give up on that one.

My favorite name when I was younger, around 3-6 years old, was Julia (only I think I would have spelled it Jewelea).

In middle school, I liked the named Anika and Danika, but I didn't realize they were basically the same name because I pronounced them differently. When I was around 14, I loved the names Charisma and Pearl. Later in high school, around 16 or 17, I started to like a lot of names that are still on my list: Mae, Eleanor, Ruby.

As I get older, my name list is actually getting a little more "out there", with names like Priya and Zinnia.

Oh, and I loved the name Elaine for forever, starting around age 10, but I saw The Graduate earlier this year and now it's definitely off my list.

When I was a little girl, I named all my dolls Jerry and Bob, after my uncles, or Jenny, after my cousin.

When I got a little older, I liked Carrie, Amy, Beth, Ashley, Abigail, Peter and Gilbert, none of which are on my current names list. (Well, Peter is, but my husband doesn't like it.)

In college, I toyed with the idea of naming my future daughter Aviendha after a character in Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" books. I still think that name is pretty, but I'd never use it.

My current list, which is about 90 percent husband-approved is: Veronica, Claudia, Vanessa, John/Jack, and Samuel.

My 12 year-old recently told me that she wished her name was Elaine or Ellie, because Sonje (her actual name) is "too weird."

Our friend's daughter suggested names for our baby. She's about 9 . She thinks Tom for a boy and Maria for a girl. Not bad! When my sister was young she would have said WendyO and Curtainy.

When I was two my first doll was Tess, I don't know how she got that name but I still like it, my other dolls were Liliana and Amber. I used to like to spell names weird too, but those names pretty much came off my list and now I love the name Juliette Grace, even though I know she'll get a lot of Romeo comments and Leila Rose and then Joshua Caleb and Matthew Thomas

I remember being about 6 or 7, and all of my friends loving names like Holly, Roxie, and Alexa. I think at the time, my favorites were Ella and Anne, then later Liajane (I liked combining names). And I've loved the name Henry since I was about 9. Oh, and from the ages of about 6-8 I tried to change my middle name to Rose...:) And I had dolls named Carrie, Matilda, Mary, Anne, Rose, Meg, Petunia, and Diggory (I always preferred classics to the trendy names).

When I was really young, I loved the name Debbie and I wanted that to be my name SO badly.

As I got older I liked lots of different names, a few of which I was pretty sure I "invented" or that I was the first to think of them...lol:
Kaylynn
Kacey
Kacia
Liberty
Annelise
Aurelia
Adelaide
Chloe
Moirey
Sullivan
Zalia
Raffia
Monroe
Zennia
Karenna
Rhiannon
Corinne
Kathrynne
Victory or Victorya
Audrina
Karyssa

It's a good thing I didn't have a baby when I was 14-15...

I had a doll named Amy when I was 4, and suggested that name for my little sister. Would you believe my mom actually used it? I remember wishing I was named Megan in about third grade. As I got older (high school) I really liked Hunter and Ethan for boys. Neither of them are on my list now. I used to toy w/ naming a girl McCartney (I'm a huge Beatle fan) but I don't think I have the courage...and I know my husband wouldn't let me.

My 4yo daughter Zoe names alot of her dolls "Lexie", "Alexa", "Alyssa" - very curious, as her older brother is named Alex. She completely denies that she is naming after her brother, though. I think she sometimes misses playing with him.

Ha! When I was a very little girl I had a baby boy doll. It's name was Baby Alex and it went EVERYWHERE with me. It never even occurred to me what my father -- whose name is Alex -- must have thought of that.

My 3 year old likes the name Bluettes or Lily. Both flowers!

Names I liked as a kid, not necessarily in any chronolgical order...

Gerina
Arianwyn (the name of a spider in a book I read)
Annabelle
Racine
Hazel
Persephone
Seraphina
Bridget
Gretchen
Ianna
Xaviera
Sylvia

Steve
Julius
Leonardo
Ethan
Lou
Dakota
Jackson
Thorn
Axel

I'd say most of these still appeal to me, though few I'd still consider naming a child; Axel and Sylvia stand out to me. Very fun post, thanks!!

When I was about 9 or 10, I thought I'd name my future son Peter or Rush, both for boys in books (Narnia series and The 4-Story Mistake, respectively).

Now, I'd still consider Peter, but absolutely not Rush, given certain other associations with that name these days.

When I was about 12 or so, my favorite names were Analie, Elinor and Anastasia (I ended up naming my daughter Sara). She is 3 and her dolls are called Sabrina and Jazzy.

I was playing with my four-year old niece a week or two ago, and she and I were racing around on stick horses which she had named Leo and Iylie. Seems pretty trendy to me!

When I was a pre-teen I loved Celia, Megan, Caitlin, Dylan, and Eve. When I was expecting my second, my son, then 2 1/2, suggested Souria, which I had never heard before or since, but think is beautiful.

I would ask the college age girls what names they like right now. They'll be the ones having babies in 10 years and I would eb inerested to see what they are being influenced right now and what names are getting stuck in their heads that they just have to name a baby some day.

My 5 1/2 year old son has dolls named Cradle, Mango, Lightning, Tessie Pom Pom, Lice (yep, Lice), and Skip. I fear for my future grandchildren...

When I was ten years old or so I wanted to name a daughter Julian Claire. My aunt told my Julian was a boy's name, so I changed my favorite name to Jillian Claire, and later Jillian Hannah. I still like those. We considered Jillian Hannah, Lillian Hannah, and Carolyn Hannah but had a boy.

At ten Josiah Jacob was my favorite name for a boy. Jacob I still like, but Josiah I wouldn't choose any longer. We named our son Nathaniel.

My husband and I are adopting a baby from Africa and recently asked our almost 3-yr-old daughter what we should name her new brother or sister. First, her answer was always her own name(Eliana/Ellie), but once she understood the question, she said "Pete". We have no idea how she came up with that name or where she heard it, but she stood by it and now any time we ask her the question she always answers "Pete". It cracks us up and is definitely not a name on my list (we're considering Silas, Isaiah, Ezra, etc), but she says is to resolutely that my husband has started saying, "Maybe we should consider Peter".

The names I liked as a kid are surprisingly popular today. Among my favorites were Lily and Emily. Also, when I was in the 3-5 range, I wanted to change my own name to Alice. Though in addition to those favs, I also had dolls named Carrie, Susie, & Mary (two of which I gleaned from the 'Little House' books which my mom read to me).

As a child I liked names like
Beth
Tina
Renee
Never really thought of boys names
My 7 yr old son says
Joshua or Abby (which is his sisters name)

I ended up naming my children
Nathaniel Lee
Nicholas James
Abigayle Emelie

I love that there's a young kid out there playing with a doll named Charlotte -- that was my favorite name for a long time, and the one I always chose when playing "school" or "house". It would probably still be on my list for a girl, but I think I would remove the names Honey, Candy, and Peppermint (I apparently really liked sweets!).

I am 16 and I love names. My Aunt is the only other person in my family who enjoys them as much as I do. We usually agree on names. Here are my favorites.

Girls:
Genvieve
Evelyn
Alessandra
Rose (Rosemary)
Lucy (Luciana)
Anastasia
Gwendolyn
Elodie
Annabella
Darcy
Hazel
Verity
Luna
Eloise
Hermione
Audrey
Ava
Iris
Alessandra
Hollis
Willow
Evangeline

Boys:
Silas
Edmond
Titus
Oliver
Darcy
Aubrey
Bennett
Stephen
Walden
Warren
Alistair
Nigel
Neil
Atticus
Felix
Milo
Landon
Quinn
Vance
Vaughn

I have been a "name nerd" since I bought my first baby name book back in 3rd grade. I now have a whole collection of baby name books and two daughters who are name nerds too--we joke that it must be genetic! My 10-year-old makes long lists of her favorite names for her pretend classes when she "teaches" her dolls and stuffed animals. My 7-year-old changes her dolls' names every few days to her latest favorite name (but, oddly, her imaginary friend was always just called "Baby."). Such a fun post!

Best thing I've read all day. Thanks for the laugh.

What a great exercise!

My five-year-old daughter Ivy does have a favorite name -- Sally -- that she uses for both her toys and herself when playing pretend.

As for myself, when I was little I was a huge Bewitched fan, so I was certain I'd name my daughters Samatha and Tabitha. Had a brief stint loving Madison too, after watching Splash (of course!). Ended up choosing Ivy for my daughter in 2005 and Kai for my son in 2009.

I'm 23. I started liking names when I was 8, but I'm not sure what my very first favorites were. I've always liked girls' names better and have always wanted to use Margaret, after my grandmother. I remember liking Summer and Autumn when I was 10 or 12. When I was in my late teens, I liked John William and Noah Benjamin for boys and Kristin, Emma/Emmeline, Caroline, and Ellen for girls. I still like those, bit they're not what's on the top of my list anymore.

My daughter is 2 1/2 now and her doll's name is Baby Bug. When I was about 4 my doll's name was Jeana. When I was maybe 10 or 11 (1992) my friend and I would write stories together and our favorite part was naming the characters: Aramynta, Estelle, Montague, etc. Haha. Before I got married my favorites list included Claire, Madeleine, and Owen, which now are too popular for me to consider using.
My kids' actual names are Sylvia Grace
and Jasper William.
My top names now for future kids are Ingrid and Colin.

LOL...that is fantastic! I love asking little kids what they would name a baby. It's always a guaranteed cheap laugh.

When I was a little girl my favorite dolls were named Lucy and Allison-Ann. Middle school age produced a good number of odd ones; Sapphire, Skye-Bleu (all one name) and Wisahicken were my top three. I don't remember thinking about baby names for my kids in high school, but the girls in my school (it was small and rural, there were several) named their children, Caleb, Avery, Addison and Jayden. As an adult, I favor very traditional names like Benjamin and Abigail. It's interesting to see how people grow with their name choices. Tween years seem to produce the most interesting names.

When I was about 7, I had a dream about being a princess named "Lily-Ella"... ho ho. Who'd have thought.

It's so much fun to read these responses!

Through junior high I was in love with the name Tuesday Elisabeth. It had to be the Elisabeth with an s, to be original you see. I even remember where I got it from -- the Beatles song "She Came In Through the Bathroom Window" -- Sunday's on the phone to Monday/Tuesday's on the phone to me. (Among my other loves: Emily, Jacob, Aubrey.)

I dropped all my old names, of course, but I have to admit that Tuesday's starting to sound pretty good again.

I'm a teenage name nerd, too. Right now I really like Willow, Ginevra, Leila, Rose, Anna, Jezebel, Violet, Amabel, Harper, Cooper, Lucas, Rowan, and Jacob. Of these, Violet, Harper, Cooper, Lucas, and Rowan are on the 2019 list.

Haha, when I was little I had a Baby Minnie doll that I absolutely loved. Its name was Baby Anthony, after my "baby" cousin Anthony. He's actually only a year younger than I am, but when he was a year old and I was two, he was the "baby". He never lets me live that down...

I have a four year old and a seven year old and I'm pregnant with a boy.

Miss 4 has suggested: Benjamin, Geoffrey, Jim (a few kids have suggested Jim actually).
For girls she likes Kitty (which was going to be her name, but by the time she arrived, 2 weeks late, we'd changed our minds.)

Miss 7: Likes Billy, Little Jumping Jo (shortened to Jo, like from The Faraway Tree). And Jimmy.
Fir girls she likes Little Jumping Jo.

(My children are now chanting JIMMY JIMMY JIMMY.)

We like quite different names like Tolliver and Toshi. Name discussions are fraught in this house.

Huh. Well, the only thing I can think of is that around 9th grade or so, I started a sci-fi story (never finished my novel lol) with characters Kira and Bernard. I thought I had invented Kira myself and it actually did appear on my potential baby names list, but we didn't end up going with it.

My son is 5. He wants so bad to have a "cool" name like Brick or Hawk.
He also has imaginary siblings named Laine, Anika and Brick.

As a tween I was really into the names Anastasia, Hanna, and Rebekah.

I've always liked to write, so I had a baby name book from a young age to choose character names. I also had tons of imaginary friends.

I was born in 89, and some of my favorite names as a kid were:

Amber (I wonder if this had to do with my dog of the same name)
Fiona (that was my favorite for a long, long time)
Sabrina
Sandra (I named a doll this)

In middle school, I liked the names Pyra and Petra a lot, as well as Cambria (plus some froofy-type names that I, luckily, forget now)

In high school, I started writing plays. Main characters included (though they don't necessarily match my personal taste):
Boris & Evangeline
Angie
Miranda (which my parents considered for me), Darcy
Fitz (for a guy)

I had a baby in March, and his name is Nic0lai, nn Nic0 (full name pronounced Knee-coal-eye or Knee-cull-eye, not Nickel-eye)

I don't know how that matches up with my naming preferences, since I never really paid attention to male names as a kid. I had a sister and all female pets.

My five-year-old daughter says she will name her daughter Charlie and her son Sunrise.

I was a name book freak as a child also! The only ones for boys I can remember are Garrett and Drew. For girls, I wanted Koa and Kyla. (I'm 40 now.)