Parents are opting for more unusual baby names these days - and it seems this trend is favourable with school teachers. April Hamilton, 34, works as a teacher and knows the difficulty of having several kids with the same name in class - so when it came to naming her baby, she decided to go unique.
April enjoyed growing up not knowing anyone else with her name, and wanted her little girl to get to experience that too. She was always set on calling her two-year-old daughter 'Juneau', inspired by the film Juno. Then she stumbled across a clever way to make sure it wasn't popular with new parents.
April and her husband Graeme, 35, searched it up on 'National Record Scotland' which allows expecting parents to see how common their favourite names are.
The couple discovered there have only been two Juneau's since records began, and now they are using the site to look for a name for their second child.
April, from Glasgow, Scotland, said: "Always in my head I knew my first child would be called Juneau.
"I wondered if anyone else had been called Juneau and I came across National Record Scotland. Since records began, there have only been two Juneau's in Scotland."
By searching the site, April soon discovered there were records dating back to 1974 and a graph tracking the popularity of names.
"You go onto National Record's Scotland and click on baby names. Once you're on baby names, click babies' first names - the 2020 one," she said.
"Then go to interactive chart, on this page you can type in any name and it will tell you how many people have been named that name since records since records began in 1974."
The mum, who is pregnant with her second daughter, soon became fascinating tracking trends and noted names from when she grew up in the 80s were no longer popular.
April said: "There have been no babies called Stacy since 2012. In the year I was born there were 800 Laura's but it's tailed down.
"In my head it's still a popular name but the data proves it isn't. If people want a unique name, go back to the 80s, they're dying out.
"It's interesting to see how names such as Ava and Olivia have come back."
April and Graeme are expecting their second child this summer and want to find a unique name with a 'May' route - following in the footsteps of April and June.
April added: "I want it to be a unique name but not too out there that I'm going to have spell it out to everyone.
"Graeme and I are both teachers and we see trends - it's tricky in class when there are four people with the same name.
"As much as I'm fussy, everyone should just choose a name they truly love."
Does your baby have an unusual name? Get in touch. Email nia.dalton@reachplc.com.
