See the results of this poll: Is this sibset tolerable? Gabrielle Claire (nn Bea) and Raphael Jude (nn Raf)
Respondents: 50 (This poll is closed)
- Cute together: 22 (44%)
- Tolerable together: 12 (24%)
- No way!: 16 (32%)
I think they are so cute together. They’re foreign names that flow perfectly. I think you did a great job with the sib set!
I voted for ‘tolerable together’, mainly because I think it is always important to pick the names you love the most, regardless of how well they go together (unless, of course, you were considering naming [name]Juliet[/name]'s brother [name]Romeo[/name], or the like).
I also only noticed the repeating ending on my third read of the names, and for the majority of their lives, siblings lead mostly seperate existences … so, people who work in [name]Gabrielle[/name]'s office when she’s older are never going to notice that her brother’s name has a matching ending.
My one hang up would be that [name]Gabrielle[/name] (and the general br- sound) is quite popular at the moment, and [name]Raphael[/name] is much more unusual (at least, here in [name]England[/name] I have never met a non-Hispanic [name]Raphael[/name], other than my son). But like I said, I think how much you love them is what is most important, and the [name]Bea[/name] nn for [name]Gabrielle[/name] does make it much more unusual (you may also like [name]Beatrix[/name] or [name]Beatrice[/name] for the [name]Bea[/name] nn, plus I think you could get it from any B name. As for [name]Ella[/name], [name]Eleanor/name, [name]Helen/name, [name]Elodie[/name] and [name]Eloise[/name] are all options.)
Good luck!
i voted no. sorry : ( i really like both of your names and nicknames BUT i’m just really not into the rhyming sibling names. i wouldn’t worry about feeling sad to “let a name go” yet, as it sounds like it will be a little while before your second child arrives, and who knows if it will be of the opposite sex as your first. you may change your mind about which name you love best by then. and if you still REALLY [name]LOVE[/name] the name then who cares what i say anyhow!
I said no way…because of the rhyming. [name]Gabrielle[/name] and [name]Raphael[/name] to me are like naming kids [name]May[/name] and [name]Faye[/name], or [name]Kay[/name] and [name]Jay[/name]. There are definitely better options! They are both beaaauuuutiful names though, so I understand your feeling of letting one go. That said, I did not find out what my baby was before he was born, and the name we selected for a girl - that I had actually picked out when I was like 7 and stuck with it all these years - we are not going to use now if we have a girl next! So it just shows you how things can change. You NEVER know what name you will see tomorrow that can change it all.
:o) [name]Sheridan[/name]
All of your votes and comments are much appreciated. I am still very much torn about how I would handle this situation should we have a boy AND a girl. I appreciate your points of name tastes changing with time…and I will try not to get too sad, should using both seem like a bad idea. [name]Glad[/name] to see a larger percentage of you think it’s at least tolerable 
[name]Just[/name] a thought, but if you used [name]Rafe[/name] as a nn, then you could use [name]Elle[/name].
Thanks Esha - I really like rafe as a nickname if only it was not for the word rape. I just can not bring myself to use that as a nn for that reason only. It’s frustrating. But I like Raf too. I think I would stick with Raf as the nickname.
As for [name]Gabrielle[/name]'s nickname…I was thinking [name]Elle[/name] initially, but I actually think I like [name]Bea[/name] even better. Not only because it is cute. And not simply because I think it works better with [name]Raphael[/name]. Also, I really am not a fan of nn “[name]Gabby[/name]” and I see the world inevitably pushing that nn. With [name]Bea[/name] as her chosen nn, anytime my future daughter is called [name]Gabby[/name] by someone, she can tell them to drop the Ga and just call her [name]Bea[/name]. It’s almost a nickname for the forced-upon-nickname of [name]Gabby[/name]. We will see if my clever solution works in the end 
I’m not generally bothered by repeating first name endings. In this case, they don’t even seem the same to me, because I say an -elle name with more stress on the last syllable than an -el name.
Why not [name]Gabriella[/name]? That solves the problem imo.
Well, I personally wouldn’t use them together because of their endings, but they aren’t too bad (I pronounce -elle names and -el names differently, like Triplicate). I agree with Twinkle that [name]Gabrielle[/name] is a lot more popular than [name]Raphael[/name], though. If they went by [name]Bea[/name] and Raf/[name]Raffy[/name] most of the time, I don’t think it would be too much of an issue.
I had to vote no because I just can’t handle rhyming sibling names, even if they will be going by nicknames. Sorry!
[name]Leah[/name], thanks for the suggestion. Does making it [name]Gabriella[/name] really change things? I feel like [name]Gabrielle[/name] is prettier, more streamlined, and less common. Plus we have a long last name so I like that it is one syllable briefer. But if using the form [name]Gabriella[/name] really means I avoid offensive sibset naming, maybe it’s worth considering…
To me my names at least have a fairly weak rhyme with both end in the L sound. I say [name]Gabrielle[/name] as Ga-[name]Bree[/name]-[name]Elle[/name] and [name]Raphael[/name] as Raf-aye-el. Everything before the final “L” sound is quite different. ([name]Bree[/name] and Aye are not similar sounds to me)
I don’t think that is quite as bad as the [name]May[/name] and [name]Fay[/name] example. It would be more like [name]Michael[/name] and [name]Isabelle[/name]. Would that be a terrible sibset too?
Thanks for all your help with this.
Thanks for all your input! If any one has any other feedback, let me know. I am still totally undecided about whether these names work together or not. This naming business is hard work
I don’t think it’s impossible at all. If those are the names you love, and especially if the nicknames don’t rhyme, it does not ruin a person’s life to have a rhyming name with a sibling. Siblings spend most of their lives apart. I do think that [name]Gabriella[/name] is better in my opinion, and generally fits better with [name]Raphael[/name] than [name]Gabrielle[/name] does. I wouldn’t worry about the extra syllable even with a long last name. Style-wise and popularity level seems more similar with [name]Gabriella[/name] and [name]Raphael[/name] to me. Then you could still have the [name]Bea[/name] nickname, or [name]Ella[/name]. Either way though, even if you go with [name]Gabrielle[/name], it’s most important that you just love the names.
Frankly, I think it would be fine to use [name]Gabrielle[/name] and [name]Raphael[/name]. Like you pointed out, they are distinct names, and do NOT rhyme to the extent that names like [name]Ronald[/name] & [name]Donald[/name] or [name]Fay[/name] & [name]Ray[/name] do. Since (1) they are names you really love, (2) they are distinct names that just happen to weakly rhyme, and (3) you plan to use very distinct nicknames… I don’t see a problem.