We're in the process of naming our second boy, and we don't want to end up with a name that will be at the top of the charts in ten years. How can we predict if we're picking the next Aiden or Liam?
- Not one of the crowd

When it comes to clothes or music, you can be avant-garde with just a few month's head start. Baby names are different. Your "cutting-edge" choice may well hit the mainstream by the time your son walks into preschool.

There's no crystal ball for name trends, but if avoiding the crowd is important to you, try these three tests of your favorite choices:

1. Ask yourself: How similar is my choice to other hit names? Baby names tend to change in baby steps, with new fashions just a small twist on the old. Just ask any mom of a Madison about Addison. The more smoothly a name fits in, the more likely it is to rise.

2. Look at the name's recent history on Social Security Administration's annual list of popular baby names (it goes all the way back to 1880) as well as the NameVoyager. If it has already started going up (like Miles or Piper), it's likely to keep on rising. On the flip side, a slow, steady history (Clayton, Nina) usually points to a fad-free future.

3. Brace yourself, because this is the one you don't want to hear. If you've hit on a traditional but fresh-sounding name that everybody likes but nobody's using...that's the name that's going to skyrocket. (Think of Ava a decade ago.) Such is life in the fashion fast lane. The best way to guard against future name trends is to choose a name that has already gone out of fashion. And no, names of great-grandma's time don't count. We're talking the names of the '40s-'80s that aren't close to comeback time yet. A little Kent or Margo, anybody? They're really not half bad.

Or you can just make your peace with popularity. There are worse fates than to be well-liked.

Do you have a question to Ask the Name Lady? Drop her a line!