On nameberry there is definitely an idea that sibling names need to go together perfectly, and something that I take into when thinking about names also.
But in real life…does it actually matter? I’m just wondering if this is more of a name nerd thing rather than a real life thing- for example, me and my siblings have names that are stylistically different but they sound good together and no one has ever batted an eye.
[name_m]Just[/name_m] looking for general opinions/discussion!
My first thought upon seeing this question was “no, they don’t.” Thinking about it a little more, my view is slightly more nuanced: I think it matters insofar that a sibset with SUPER different names may look or feel kind of strange. I’m thinking of something like [name_f]Aydynne[/name_f], [name_f]Linda[/name_f] and [name_f]Marisol[/name_f], for example - the styles are so different it feels “off.” Then again, it seems unlikely that any parent would have such a broad taste in names :).
Generally speaking, I don’t think sibsets matter that much. When you meet someone, you don’t immediately ask about their sibling’s name, do you? And even if you do, because you’re interested in names (ha), does it really matter if a person called [name_m]Thomas[/name_m] says “my sister’s name is [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f]” or “my sister’s name is [name_f]Kailee[/name_f]/[name_f]Dorothy[/name_f]/[name_f]Noemie[/name_f]?” I don’t think so.
You’re naming individuals, after all.
I am less concerned about sib set then most other nameberries. I think everyone should name their children what they love not what they think “goes”. However you can’t name your children [name_u]Jayden[/name_u] and [name_u]Aidan[/name_u]! Or [name_f]Bonnie[/name_f] and [name_m]Clyde[/name_m]! Some consideration has to be made for sib set but not the end all be all.
It matters to me. They don’t have to match, but [name_f]Tiffany[/name_f] and [name_f]Matilda[/name_f] are too far off. As would be [name_m]Henry[/name_m] and [name_u]Jayden[/name_u].
No to an extent.
I agree with the fact that giving kids rhyming names is ridiculous, or like…[name_u]Bert[/name_u] and [name_m]Ernie[/name_m]. And using the same letter can get confusing if you have a lot of kids (or ridiculous if you’re the Duggar’s and have so many you need to make up names to fit the theme).
If you name one kid [name_f]Hazel[/name_f] and one kid [name_f]Madisyn[/name_f], chances are one is going to complain about their ridiculous spelling and one is going to complain about having an old fashioned name. Or if you name one kid [name_m]Robert[/name_m] and one [name_m]Bartholomew[/name_m] or [name_m]Leonidas[/name_m], someone’s going to feel slighted.
But, when it comes down to it, I don’t think it matters that people find the “perfect” sibset, to anyone but them.
[name_m]Don[/name_m]'t matter to me either, not into having them go together or match. Rather use my favorite names.
I don’t think it’s a matter of names having to “go together perfectly.” I think it’s more that people on Nameberry are more likely to notice when someone is considering names that are a bit all over the place. In real life, it matters to the point of not naming your kids after the Kardashians, but they’re your kids, you should pick names that make you and your partner happy.
No I don’t really think they do. I mean, it’s nice to think of the “perfect” combo and sibsets but realistically I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. It may matter to the individual but people that you encounter generally aren’t going to care.
I don’t think they matter to other people, but they matter to me.
As in, when I look in to someone else’s family from the outside, I don’t care if their kids are named [name_f]Helen[/name_f], [name_f]Marieke[/name_f] and [name_m]Ulysses[/name_m]. But when I consider naming my own children, I want them to mesh together for the sake of my own inner harmony. [name_m]Just[/name_m] like I want their individual names to be perfect when I’m planning. It won’t matter to other people, but it matters to me. Maybe it won’t matter so much when they’re actually here, but when I’m planning, I feel better inside if they work together.
I think it really is a personal preference thing, but I understand why it’s a big deal for some because other people can be really judgey about names… you know, like the baby is announced and all the women get together and cluck over the who, what, and why, of the name (at least that’s what my aunts all do!) I don’t think it is the be all and end all. You should name your baby something that you love and that means a lot to you, foremost. But there is something to be said for a little planning, so that there are no uber-awkie combos/clashes. My partner and I love some older style names and some more unique modern ones - and I would happily call my children from both categories because the names are special to me, regardless of what everyone else wants to think.
I have eclectic taste in names, and I have not problem with mixing it up! Everyone on Nameberry is a name nerd and we all like to make pretty name sets but when it comes down to it, y’know, actually giving a new human being a name, we have to think about who this person is on an individual basis! We probably all like the idea of having a jigsaw family were you fit all the pieces together to make a pretty picture. It doesn’t always work like that.
Pretty much anything goes, just don’t embarrass your kids! Lol!
I think it matters solely in the way it may effect the children involved. [name_m]Will[/name_m] brothers [name_m]John[/name_m], [name_m]Paul[/name_m], and [name_m]Maverick[/name_m] feel they have different expectations on them? [name_m]Will[/name_m] [name_m]Maverick[/name_m] feel like the odd one out or the special one? [name_m]Will[/name_m] [name_m]John[/name_m] and [name_m]Paul[/name_m] feel like they hve boring names and [name_m]Maverick[/name_m] got lucky?
Or what about sisters [name_f]Amelia[/name_f] and [name_u]Scout[/name_u]? [name_m]Will[/name_m] [name_f]Amelia[/name_f] feel like she is expected to be a girly-girl while [name_u]Scout[/name_u] is typecast as the tomboy?
No, there isn’t. The overall consensus is that names should have some connection, whether it be origin, style, common letters, syllables, association, or etc. I have never seen anyone claim that sibsets have to match perfectly. They want their names to make sense together
I’ve seen some pretty judgey threads on here that would indicate to me that a lot of people do care. Take the “worst sibsets you’ve seen” style threads for instance.
Personally I think that they are people, not a clothing line. They don’t need to go together. At the same time, I don’t want one kid to feel slighted. I personally found it difficult to find a name for my second kid that equalled the awesome of my first kid, and so they did wind up with some similarities. But if you know what you love, then no. [name_m]Just[/name_m] do it.
Your kids might not end up with the same names as adults anyway. My dad had a thing going… [name_f]Angela[/name_f], [name_f]Rebecca[/name_f], [name_f]Victoria[/name_f]… but that all ended when I changed my name to [name_f]Miriam[/name_f]! 
I’d like to say that no, it doesn’t matter. But at least to me, it does. I was almost set on using [name_f]Bridget[/name_f] for this baby but it just didn’t go as well stylistically with our sibset as [name_f]Penelope[/name_f]. [name_f]Penelope[/name_f] won out just because it went better with the other kids’ names. Of course now I worry that with [name_f]Penelope[/name_f] becoming so popular, [name_f]Genevieve[/name_f] is going to be the “odd man out” with the more unusual name. 
It’s always something!
I think it really only matters if it sounds good to the parents. Like personally, I think our top girls’ name and our top boys’ name sound great as siblings ([name_f]Beatrix[/name_f] and [name_u]Loren[/name_u], respectively) but I’m sure someone would disagree. I do worry about whether my name choices all have the same relative feel, but even that is subjective. What I think goes together someone else probably thinks is disjointed.
I do think it’s weird when someone named [name_f]Turquoise[/name_f] has a brother named [name_m]John[/name_m], as a random example. Or one brother is [name_m]Giuseppe[/name_m] and the other is [name_m]Vladimir[/name_m] would be sort of odd, to me, unless they were adopted with those names. I know a sibset of [name_m]Teodoro[/name_m] and [name_f]Shayna[/name_f], because dad wanted a [name_m]Jr[/name_m]. and mom only agreed if she could name the daughter without his input (mom & dad each hate the other’s choices btw). It’s a weird sibset but the story behind it kind of makes sense, and a lot of times you don’t get the whole story behind the name, so I try not to judge. Sometimes I can’t help it obviously So I guess what I mean is no, sibsets don’t really matter. Eventually they will grow up and become their own people with their own family, and then it’ll be completely irrelevant.
I guess only to a certain extent. Most names will go nicely together regardless of whether or not they are the ‘perfect’ sibset. Its when there are two completely different styles. Like sisters called [name_f]Edith[/name_f] and Kenlee for example.
[name_m]Just[/name_m] a nameberry thing.
Not very probable, sorry! This irks me the most about these sibset suggestions. You can’t know that! Especially since these “suggestions” are pointing “kid with more unusual name is going to feel slighted, so use ‘normal’ name”.
I think to a certain extent they matter in a couple of ways. To me, they matter to the extent that they don’t seem totally stylistically weird together - it makes me think that in at least one case, someone wasn’t putting much effort into naming a child, because how could they have put a ton of thought into it and arrived at such totally different conclusions each time? To me, you have to pick a name that you feel will serve your child well, and I can’t imagine that the same people would put tons of thought into the process both times and concluded that, say, [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] and [name_f]Jazlyn[/name_f] were the best possible names for their daughters.
To me, sibsets also matter to the extent that they don’t cause confusion within the family, which can sneak up on people. I think it’s functionally important that the names sound different enough from each other that a parent can yell one name across the playground or up the stairs and it’s clear which child they’re calling. (Most of the time the names that I think get tangled up this way are names that share vowel sounds in the syllables that are stressed - they don’t look similar, but [name_m]Asher[/name_m] and [name_m]Sebastian[/name_m] or [name_f]Maia[/name_f] and [name_u]Ryan[/name_u] might be confusing in this way, while [name_m]Joseph[/name_m] and [name_f]Jocelyn[/name_f] or [name_u]Michael[/name_u] and [name_f]Michaela[/name_f] probably wouldn’t be even though they have a lot of letters in common.)
Beyond that, they matter in a totally unpredictable way: the extent to which the children themselves turn out to be name nerds. Some children would sit and pick apart their names and their siblings’ names and how well they feel they go together (like my sister and I did/do), and some would not. If it was predictable, parents of children they knew would be name nerds might be more inclined to make the names complement each other, and parents of children they knew wouldn’t much care might relax about it. I don’t mean that this is useful, prescriptive advice, just that if the question is “do sibsets really matter?”, I’d say that to some children they really do and to some they really don’t.