Parents Change Baby Names Because Someone Else ‘Steals’ It

Most parents feel compelled to change their baby's name because someone else 'stole' it, a survey revealed.

A survey by U.K.-based website Netmums showed that one in 20 parents considered changing the names of their babies simply because someone else had already used it for their little one. The website surveyed as many as 6000 mothers and fathers.

The survey also found that 12 percent of parents regretted their choice of baby name. Around a quarter of parents said that they did not like the name they gave their babies. Also, in a bid for an unusual name, parents name their kids on animals, colors and seasons. The poll found that one in 12 parents chose Blue, Grey and Scarlett for their babies and one in 50 parents named their children Bear or Tiger. In order to make the boys look tough the parents named them Axl or Diesel.

And for girls, the survey found, most common choice for unusual names was based on seasons. Parents preferred names such as Summer, Autumn and Winter. The reasons parents gave for their inclination towards unusual names were that the usual names were dull and overused.

Apart from the unusual name choices, parents said they liked to give their babies a retro name such as Mabel, Ethel and Stanley. Some still had old favorites such as Alfie and Grace. The parents said  names popular in the 1950s will soon be in fashion again.

The poll also found that the parents chose double-barreled first names such as Taylor-Rose for girls and did not mind using single or multiple middle names. Nearly three in 10 parents said they were tempted by names with unusual spellings.

 "What's in a name? An awful lot. It's something you carry through life and although it's a private choice for the parents, it's something everyone has an opinion on," Siobhan Freegard, founder of Netmums, said.  "The internet is making it much easier for parents to research unusual names and on Netmums we've even seen parents putting up polls and crowd sourcing names for their children from others online.

"So while 12 per cent of parents who choose trendy names say they regret their choices, it is clear that fashionable or wacky names are only going to get more common in the playground, " Freegard added.