[aimeecc]

The article is dead on. I was named Aimee - my brothers and sisters named me after their kindergarten teacher. I was born in Texas, and no one around had the name. We moved to Colorado when I was 8 and Aimee is extrememly popular there. It turned out to be one of the top 5 names for my year (with different spellings). I hated the fact that there were 18 Amy/Aimee/Ami's in my small high school. Its not that I hated the name - its beautiful - nor that I wanted to be soooo unique or soooo special. I just didn't want a name every one else seemed to have. I remember always having to write my full name out - because there were already other Aimee C.'s, so I had to write my entire name on every homework assignment. If you don't have an incredibly common name, you don't think about these things that really do get to be a bother. By the time I was 10, my mom offered to let me change my name. I really liked Elizabeth, and its the name my mom wanted (my dad hated that name). However I was indecisive and never changed my name. My best friend was Jennifer - and there were 26 of those in my high school. Its always a pain when talking about people with common names "hey, I'm going to the mall with Jen" "Which one?" In college I had two roommates - both named Jen. I now go by my middle name - Christine. There was only one in my high school, and she went by Chrissy. Its funny how things turn out though. After moving to the East Coast, I run into more Christine/Christina/Chrissy's than Amy/Aimee/Ami's. I've thought about going back to Aimee.
Bottom line, unless you've had an incredibly common name, don't judge parents for wanting their child to have a name that not every other kid in school has. It really is a pain.