I’ve been fine tuning my name list lately and am realizing some of the names don’t match stylistically at all. Does anyone else have this problem? [name]Do[/name] you think it’s important that possible sibling names sound good together? Or does an eclectic mix of names make for a more interestingly named family?
Not completely - I have different catagories of names I like lol.
Classic:
[name]Lucy[/name]
[name]Elisabeth[/name]
[name]Margaret[/name]
[name]Susanna[/name]
[name]Alice[/name]
[name]Love[/name] but may be too eccentric to use:
[name]Esme[/name]
[name]Imogen[/name]
[name]Georgia[/name]
[name]Ginevra[/name]
90s but I love them anyway:
[name]Rachael[/name]
[name]Miranda[/name]
[name]Amy[/name]
For boys I am all classic: [name]Henry[/name], [name]Charles[/name], [name]Everett[/name], [name]Thomas[/name]
I think there should be some sort of cohesion but they don’t have to go together TOO well. My family has four kids… three of us have extremely common names and the fourth’s is very eccentric and she always felt left out.
I don’t think it’s overly important. I have a few names on my list that stick out - [name]Cordelia[/name], [name]Maia[/name], [name]Alice[/name], [name]Edith[/name], [name]Rosalie[/name] and [name]Piper[/name]…[name]Piper[/name] and [name]Maia[/name] don’t exactly “fit” with [name]Cordelia[/name], [name]Alice[/name] [name]Edith[/name] and [name]Rosalie[/name], but I don’t mind.
I definitely have eclectic taste. We have three children named Kenten, [name]Julia[/name], and [name]Jack[/name] and are discussing having more children in the near future. Some of the names that are on my list are:
[name]Mabel[/name], [name]Gwen[/name], [name]Maggie[/name], [name]Harlow[/name], [name]Harper[/name], [name]Gracie[/name], [name]Alice[/name], [name]Gemma[/name]
[name]Luca[/name], [name]Samuel[/name], [name]Micah[/name], [name]John[/name], [name]Jameson[/name]
Although I like all of these names on their own, not sure if they would ever fit in with the names we have already used
@elisabeth rae
I think some of your names actually go really well together. For example Lucy, Imogen, and Miranda would make an interesting and lovely trio of sisters.
@flick
I actually wouldn’t think twice if I met sisters named, for example, Cordelia and Piper. Maybe it is because I’m making the 90s fantasy TV connection (Cordelia from Buffy, Piper from Charmed), but both are quirky and musical so they work.
I actually really like Maggie or Samuel for baby #4. The names don’t really “go” together, but something about them just fits. Although I have to say I would not use John, as Jack is a nickname for John…
Ha - you caught me, lol. The only reason he will agree to [name]Cordelia[/name] is because of [name]Buffy[/name] / [name]Angel[/name].
I do have this problem. Hypothetically, I think it’s good if sibling names sound good together, but my idea of what works well together has changed over time. Also, my kids’ names don’t match very well ([name]Asher[/name] and [name]Mila[/name]), so I hope that a mix makes for an interesting family!
Although I like a lot of “J” names, I will not be using another one for a first name. I don’t want my oldest son to feel left out 
With the two younger, it just worked out that they got “J” names since [name]Jack[/name] was the only boy name my husband and I agreed on at the time.
I like a few different styles.
Dividing girls from boys with ampersands
Classic: [name]Catherine[/name], [name]Emily[/name], [name]Hannah[/name], [name]Ivy[/name] & [name]Jonathan[/name], [name]Isaac[/name], [name]Joel[/name]
Old people names: [name]Iola[/name], [name]Minerva[/name], [name]Vivien[/name], [name]Beatrice[/name], & [name]Henry[/name], [name]Phineas[/name], [name]Emmett[/name]
Nature names: [name]Emerald[/name], [name]Opal[/name], [name]Jessamine[/name], [name]Viola[/name], Kestrel, [name]Rosemary[/name] & [name]Fox[/name], [name]Heath[/name], [name]Slate[/name], [name]Flint[/name], [name]Hart[/name], [name]Basil[/name]
Obscure/heavy Biblical names: [name]Kezia[/name], [name]Susannah[/name], [name]Tamar[/name] & [name]Hezekiah[/name], [name]Zebulon[/name], [name]Jethro[/name]
I would say that while you could say there’s a lot of crossover, there’s an overall weirdness barometer? I like to keep the weirdness pretty much on par with each other.
[name]Jonathan[/name], [name]Joel[/name], and [name]Zebulon[/name] all are Biblical but I think [name]Zebulon[/name] would still be odd man out? If that makes sense?
My husband disagrees with my “equal weirdness” thing because, as he said “girls can have cool names. Boys need normal names.”
So he would be down with, for example, “[name]Rain[/name], [name]Winter[/name], [name]Emerald[/name]… and [name]Isaac[/name]…” as a set but that sounds bizarre to me. [name]Even[/name] though I like each of those names. [name]Do[/name] I sound crazy?
Most of my favorites are nature names, while the others are classic. I try not to scream nature but I love names like [name]Lotus[/name], [name]Thyme[/name], Island, and [name]Bay[/name].
Some don’t have nature meanings but are related
[name]Blaise[/name]- means stutter, but prefer the spelling over [name]Blaze[/name]
[name]Shea[/name]- [name]Shea[/name] tree and [name]Shea[/name] butter, not a variant of [name]Seamus[/name]
[name]Piers[/name]- actually means rock but I think of the piers at the beach
I think there should be some link. If you have [name]John[/name], [name]Mary[/name], [name]Seth[/name], and [name]Mackenzie[/name] then that’s weird. Rahab would still be off even though it’s biblical it’s not the same style
I don’t mind if different gender siblings have names that don’t match. [name]Maverick[/name], [name]Pilot[/name], [name]Claire[/name], and [name]Emma[/name] are OK. But if you had another girl and named her [name]Rogue[/name] or another boy and named him [name]Henry[/name], then the set would be odd. I like nature words more so for boys so I’d name “water” babies: Girls-[name]Tallulah[/name], [name]Dalis[/name], [name]Cora[/name], [name]Dorian[/name], Maryn and Boys- [name]Rivers[/name], [name]Bay[/name], [name]Cove[/name], [name]Reef[/name], [name]Brooks[/name]
To be honest my children’s names don’t match at all.
However, years later I did find a subtle theme- they all include a “k” sound somewhere. The girls both start a consonant then an “r”. So I guess I had a “sound” theme going, just didn’t plan it as such.
Personally, I think choosing a name based on whether it matches siblings is a little restrictive for me. I think of children as individuals, so each got a name to suit them. [name]Just[/name] “choose what makes your heart happy”, oh and best to choose something people can see then say, and ideally spell!
Some of mine are so different (especially girls), luckily I won’t be naming any real babies for at least a year or two. Then I’ll feel the pressure of narrowing down somewhat similar styles
Girls:
[name]Prudence[/name] [name]Inez[/name]
[name]Frazier[/name] [name]Leonie[/name]
[name]Ursula[/name] Temperence
[name]Helena[/name] [name]Hazel[/name]
[name]Wallis[/name] [name]Clover[/name] [name]Ann[/name]
[name]Thisbe[/name]
Boys:
[name]Morris[/name]
Lyles
[name]Hodges[/name]
[name]Walden[/name]/[name]Walter[/name]
[name]Ulysses[/name]
[name]Dougray[/name]
[name]Murray[/name]
[name]Calvin[/name]
My list is currently pretty disjointed, but it doesn’t bother me at all and I don’t see it as a problem. I guess what does irk me is that my boy names don’t seem to go with the girl names, or with each other… I can’t get more than 2 boy names that are of the same style (in my mind, at least). I love the boy names so much, though, so the love definitely takes precedence over style matching.
I have names that don’t necessarily match, but I have sibsets that do. For example, one sibset is [name]Nathaniel[/name], [name]Alessandra[/name], and [name]Katerina[/name]. Another is [name]Liam[/name], [name]Alexia[/name], and [name]Victoria[/name]. They’re the same general type, but different feels to me. They tend to pair up like this:
[name]Alessandra[/name] | [name]Alexia[/name]
[name]Vittoria[/name] | [name]Victoria[/name]
[name]Caterina[/name] | [name]Katerina[/name]
[name]Katerina[/name] | [name]Katia[/name]
Each name usually has a variant that’s slightly different in feel, so I have them in different sibsets. I mean, I like the name Briesen on a girl, for example, but I wouldn’t likely pair it with [name]Alessandra[/name], but likely would with [name]Alexia[/name].
I’m not fond of eclectics, so I prefer matching names.