Heck, when I was in school we had 3 or 4 Michelle's and Michael's in every class. That would have driven me crazy.
My name was very unique when I grew up. It has become more popular now, but I was the only Kara all through school.
I was always grateful for that, especially since my last name was awful to say and pronounce. It made it easy for teachers, friends, and myself to only have to refer to me by my first name.
I will admit that I like the name Shanda. Probably because the only girl I ever knew with that name was a strikingly pretty little girl with light blonde/brown hair.
I should think that many of today’s ‘unique’ names are so styled because of their spelling. I have an ‘old’ name, and it suits me just fine, thanks :)