So my husband’s favorite boy name is [name_u]Sterling[/name_u], and my favorite girl name is [name_f]Stella[/name_f]. Supposing we have a boy and a girl some day, would those be too close for siblings in your opinion? I think that if they were, say, the 1st and the 3rd kid, it wouldn’t seem too bad, but I’m just wondering if it sounds funny or just what your opinions are on someone having a [name_u]Sterling[/name_u] & a [name_f]Stella[/name_f]. [name_f]TIA[/name_f]
They sound too close for me, even for a first and third child. Would you consider one of them as a middle name instead?
I find them too matchy as well. I like the suggestion of maybe one being a middle name. I love the name [name_u]Sterling[/name_u]! Although I’m biased since it’s my brothers name. He always get compliments on his name.
I see how these names could work as a pair, but I do think they are too close. I actually think this would become more of an issue with three or more kids as anything deviating from the look and sounds of these names would be very noticeable. Perhaps if you had two kids close in age and waited a while to have a third kid you could get away with this, but 1.) who can easily plan ahead for that, and 2.) anyone seeing your kids’ names together will still see how similar two of them are and how different the others are. Their are a number of “St-” and “S” names that could work without much difference, but I don’t know if you would love these names as much. In addition, too many “S” names could compound any other name issues.
If you really are stuck on these names, I think they could make great middle names that link your kids together. In a similar way, I think one name could work as a first name for one kid and the second name could work as a middle name for the next (given that you have a boy then a girl or vice versa). Like I said, these two names can work as a pair, but the only other name I can think of that is similar and could qualify for a third kid is [name_m]Stellan[/name_m] (which is even closer to [name_f]Stella[/name_f] than [name_u]Sterling[/name_u] in a bad matchy way as opposed to an interesting matchy way), and after that I don’t know how you could continue a pattern, if you would want to maintain the same pattern for all of your kids.
Depending on what your personal naming preferences are and how many kids you want to / plan to have, I would say you would definitely be setting a pattern that’s hard to easily break and will be giving your kids similar names that could cause some minor problems down the line (i.e. yelling one kids’ name down the hall and having them both respond and/or be on edge not hearing exactly who you are calling). If you love your names and this pattern however, and these names fit within your future plans, I don’t think there’s a problem with you using these two names.
[name_m]Just[/name_m] out of curiosity, I would be interested to hear what you and your husband’s second, third, fourth, etc. choices are for future sons and daughters. [name_f]Do[/name_f] they pair just as similarly are both of your first choices?
This is all great advice & opinion so far, thank you everyone. As far as them being middle names, that is a good suggestion. I’d just have to find something I love as much as those names to go with them!!
@mckinha, I actually have a list of his girl favorites, but we don’t have hardly any for boys. Now that you mention it, we do have very similar names that we like! [name_f]Stella[/name_f] & [name_u]Sterling[/name_u]. And then there’s one of my favorite boys names, which is [name_u]Reign[/name_u], and he just asked me the other day if I like the name [name_m]King[/name_m], haha!
Maybe [name_f]Estella[/name_f] or [name_f]Estelle[/name_f] instead of [name_f]Stella[/name_f]?
I think [name_f]Stella[/name_f] and [name_u]Sterling[/name_u] are good together maybe not for twins but for siblings it’s ok. I seem to be in the minority though. But for me they only share the initial “st” sound - St-[name_f]Ella[/name_f] and St-urling 
I find them pretty matchy, personally, but I think a lot of people who are into names wouldn’t have an issue with it.
I have a friend who’s one of 3 siblings, all of whom have names that start with the same 2 letters and are the same number of syllables (think something like [name_f]Cassie[/name_f], [name_f]Carla[/name_f] and [name_f]Cadence[/name_f]), and she’s fine with it- if she had kids she would actually want to use the same initial or rhyming names for them, so clearly not everyone minds! I’ve known a number of other families from that part of the world who gave their kids similar names too, and no one really seems to notice.
I think they are too close because the first three letters come out sounding exactly the same.
[name_u]Sterling[/name_u] and [name_f]Estella[/name_f] gives each a different initial.
I don’t think your choices sound too close, but it’s very useful for each child to have their own initials.
I like [name_u]Sterling[/name_u] MUCH better than [name_f]Stella[/name_f].
I don’t really think you can’t use [name_f]Stella[/name_f] and [name_u]Sterling[/name_u] as sibling names. I do think they’re very close, but as a person who has almost similar name to my brother, I’d say it’s fine! I remember replying to a similar thread about a berry asked about using [name_m]Preston[/name_m] while she already has a [name_u]Presley[/name_u].
So, in my case, I have a really similar name to my brother. Our names are both two syllables and our first syllable is exactly same. OUr second syllable starts with a same letter. If we write our name in English, we share the first four letters. (I don’t live in an English speaking country and btw in my country, it is common for siblings to have similar names.) I despise my name because it is also the name of really really popular actress in my country. But what I only liked about name is that my name was at least similar to my brother which made me feel connected with him.
However, I have to admit that it is really confusing when my mom calls us; I have to re-ask her whom did she call. I like pp’s suggestions of [name_f]Estella[/name_f] or [name_f]Estelle[/name_f], but since you said [name_f]Stella[/name_f] is your favorite, I think [name_f]Stella[/name_f] and [name_u]Sterling[/name_u] is fine!