If you gave birth to multiples (name question)

[Anonymous]

Did you make their names complimentary or matching in any way? We are having twins and three grandparents and several random relatives keep saying we must. Like two names from nature or location (Georgia and Brooklyn?), or starting with the same letter and same number of syllables, etc.

So far the only names DH and I have agreed on are both two syllables but start with different letters and aren’t complimentary in any way.

[Anonymous]

Do what you want. The twins I know don’t have matching names but complimentary like you would with any siblings.

[Anonymous]

People outside of you and your husband really should not have any sway over what you both choose.

[Anonymous]

No matching names! I have twins with nonmatching names and I don't know any other twins that have matching names.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People outside of you and your husband really should not have any sway over what you both choose.

My mom still brings up ways I disappointed her when I was in elementary school. I’m worried we’ll never hear the end of it if we go against what everyone is saying. My cousin named her son Scott because the first date she and her husband had was to see Notting Hill, and even as a college graduate, the older relatives still make comments about how he should have been named Solomon.

[Anonymous]

I have twins and we just picked two girl names that we liked; same as we did for our older son. They are all individual kids so we treated them them same.

Your mom already sounds like a nightmare. Do you think if you name your kids like she wants, she will stop being judgy and brining up stuff from elementary school? I am willing to bet she won't, so why would you listen to her on something as important as your kids' names?

Also, why does your sister care if random relatives think she should have named her kid something different? If those relatives like the name Soloman, they should have a kid and name them that.

[Anonymous]

Twins don’t want this. Go with the names you already picked.

One of my teenaged twin daughters recently told me she’s so glad we didn’t give her and her sister “matching” names.

[Anonymous]

I feel like all the twins I grew up with (late '70s, early '80s) had very matchy-matchy names. That's definitely not the trend now. I like it when twins at least sound like they came from the same family, but don't have obviously matching names. Some that I've liked in our communities: Peter and Daniel, Luca and Mia, Zion and Isaiah ...

[Anonymous]

I mean I wouldn’t name one of them “Willow Wren” and the other one “Adelaide Beatrice,” but that’s about it.

As a twin mom, different first initial makes life easier labeling-wise. As they grow you will constantly need to keep track of who stuff belongs to and writing one letter is much easier. I also am glad that their names are about the same length (4 and 5 letters) because again we have a lot of stuff with their names on it to help keep things straight and I like the look of both names being the same size when printed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People outside of you and your husband really should not have any sway over what you both choose.

My mom still brings up ways I disappointed her when I was in elementary school. I’m worried we’ll never hear the end of it if we go against what everyone is saying. My cousin named her son Scott because the first date she and her husband had was to see Notting Hill, and even as a college graduate, the older relatives still make comments about how he should have been named Solomon.

This is a reason to see less of your mom, not a reason to do as she wishes.

[Anonymous]

I have a Lawrence and a Peregrine so they have distinct names but their nn are Larry and Perry

[Anonymous]

Thinking about all of the multiples I know among my friends and my kids', mostly twins but also one set of triplets. A few have the same initial but most are individual names that work together just as any other family with multiple kids.

[Anonymous]

Mine have the same number of letters (one is a nickname for a longer name and the other has a short full name) and syllables, but different first initials (agree with the PP about labeling stuff) and they're b/g. They're names of a similar vibe, but that's because those are the kinds of names that we liked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you make their names complimentary or matching in any way? We are having twins and three grandparents and several random relatives keep saying we must. Like two names from nature or location (Georgia and Brooklyn?), or starting with the same letter and same number of syllables, etc.

So far the only names DH and I have agreed on are both two syllables but start with different letters and aren’t complimentary in any way.

Ignore this garbage from relatives. You are having a multile birth pregnanacy and will be the couple caring for 2 infants. I had twins and we named them as individuals. In fact we had several names chosen for 1 and when we "met" them just knew what fit.

[Anonymous]

They don’t need to match but they should have the same vibe.

Don’t use one traditional name and one unique or hipster name.

You need not use Katie and Kelly, but you shouldn’t use Katie and Windsong or Katie and Mercedes either. Pick a vibe and stick with it.

Fwiw, don’t give one a long name and the other a short name. Elizabeth and Victoria rather than Elizabeth and Ann.

I suppose your goal is to avoid having one kid complain that they got stuck with the bad name.

Having said that, I might be tempted to go with a theme or some sort of symbolism. Why not?