Anonymous wrote:I know a family that basically made up a name for their first child and then gave the second a top 5 name

That is always a bit odd

I know a family who did the same, but different order: first has a super preppy name, second one that's completely made up. I think it's odd, too.

We did think about how our kids' names would sound together. No regrets and we love our kids' names.

I always feel sorry for the kid that ends up with the bad name. Looking at you parents of Thomas, William and Maverick.

I have my own personal gauge of what sounds good together, but someone else might have a totally different gauge. And most people wouldn't even care.

Anonymous wrote:We have relatives that gave three of their boys a traditional Arab name and then named the fourth one William. It sounds really strange!

Maybe. I know a family with three white kids with white-sounding names and an adopted child with a Hindi name. Is that strange?

It doesn’t matter.

I know a family that basically made up a name for their first child and then gave the second a top 5 name

That is always a bit odd

Anonymous wrote:I think it matters.

I have a relative that named her oldest daughter a very "frilly" name (think along the lines of Priscilla or Isabella) and then her next daughter a very gender neutral/masculine name that has turned into a female name (think along the lines of Tyler or Evan.)
I think it almost puts pressure on each girl to live up to some stereotype.

Well... has it? Here is a case study. But do those girls have trouble because their names don’t “match”? Sometimes we imagine problems for children that truly do not exist.

I know a family with Olivia and Alyssa. I just feel like they are hard to say together. I am always stumbling a bit.

We have relatives that gave three of their boys a traditional Arab name and then named the fourth one William. It sounds really strange!

Anonymous wrote:It doesn't really matter.

+1

I think it matters.

I have a relative that named her oldest daughter a very "frilly" name (think along the lines of Priscilla or Isabella) and then her next daughter a very gender neutral/masculine name that has turned into a female name (think along the lines of Tyler or Evan.)
I think it almost puts pressure on each girl to live up to some stereotype.

Obviously they aren't going to be a matched set their whole lives, but you do end up saying their names together quite a lot during their childhood. So if it bothers you, it's going to come up quite often during your parenting time.

But how bad can a set of names sound together? They made Moe work together with Larry and Curly!

It mattered to me. Is that rational? No, but there are a million names out there and I needed to narrow it to one each time, so it was an easy way to make a cut. I made cuts for other reasons, like whether I liked the meaning, or what I thought of the kid in my 4th grade class with that name, or whether I could imagine the name on a Supreme Court Justice.

If there's a name you love that doesn't go, you can select it anyway. It's up to you.

I also feel like I say my kids names together a lot "John and Mary, come to dinner". "I'm John and Mary's mom." "John and Mary are well, thank you"

-- Mom whose kids aren't really named John and Mary

It truly does not matter. They aren't marrying each other. And I think the risk of giving the new baby a less than ideal name simply because it "goes" with your older kids' names is more of a concern. I know multiple people who have given their kids ultra-popular names (including Charlotte and Sophia) because they fit perfectly and sounded great with their other kid. Why would you do this?! That kid's going to be one of five Charlottes all the way through school just because you thought Charlotte sounded good with Emma (who will also be a dime a dozen). People need to just stop.

It doesn't really matter.

I'm pregnant with my 3rd and feeling like my first 2 kids' names are constraining the 3rd b/c so many don't sound good with them. Does this really matter? Especially once you get past 2 kids, how often do you say all your kids names together? Anytime beyond xmas cards?