Name for baby girl too similar to dad's name?

Name Advice
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Hi everyone, I am looking for your honest opinion on if you think that my favourite girl name is too similar to my husband’s name. We love the name [name_f]Kate[/name_f] for a girl. Classic, elegant, but short and cute, not too common. However, my husband’s name is [name_m]Cade[/name_m]. I think that they look different enough, but I fear that the sound of them is too similar. If I am calling one of their names, will the other will turn and look? Also, is it simply odd to have names that sound this similar in the immediate family?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

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Well considering often times children are names after their parents, its totally doable. But I woukdsl imagine it would get confusing at times, and also people would probably assume she’s named after her dad.

I think you would just have to decide how much it would bother you to have their names get confused etc.

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Firstly [name_f]Kate[/name_f] is beautiful.

Yes [name_m]Cade[/name_m] & [name_f]Kate[/name_f] are similar in sound but honestly I do not think it’s a huge issue. You have repeated names throughout family you have [name_m]Robert[/name_m] senior and [name_m]Robert[/name_m] [name_m]Junior[/name_m] living in the same household and it works just fine. Why wouldn’t [name_m]Cade[/name_m] & [name_f]Kate[/name_f] work? Furthermore when your parent around that child you do just call each other mummy and daddy. It’s so rare for my daughter’s father to call me by my name when around [name_f]Lilia[/name_f]. Yes I suppose at moments it’ll get confusing to have [name_m]Cade[/name_m] & [name_f]Kate[/name_f] within the name household but I do not think it’ll be too confusing to rule out your favourite name. I always strongly encourage people to use their favourite name [name_f]Kate[/name_f] is gorgeous go for it.

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[name_m]Welcome[/name_m] to Nameberry!

I don’t think it’s necessarily odd to have names that sound similar in the immediate family. As mentioned above, people name their children after themselves sometimes! That said, [name_m]Cade[/name_m] and [name_f]Kate[/name_f] would be too close for me personally. I think you have to decide how possible confusion compares to your love of the name. If the names were confused frequently, would you regret using it? I don’t think you’d be wrong either way – it comes down to personal preference!

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I know that others have mentioned that juniors are a thing, which is a fair point, but I personally wouldn’t do [name_f]Kate[/name_f] & [name_m]Cade[/name_m]. Like you mentioned, I just think it would get confusing when you call out their names! I also would wonder if it was an honour name after your husband – as in, if you intentionally chose it due to its similarity to your husband’s name, in lieu of having a junior directly named after him, since you’re having a daughter and not a son. Not sure if that assumption is something that would bother you or not, but I thought I’d mention it!

In case you’re looking for suggestions, here are some more ideas that I think are cute, familiar & short like [name_f]Kate[/name_f]: [name_f]Anna[/name_f], [name_f]Bea[/name_f], [name_f]Belle[/name_f], [name_f]Clara[/name_f], [name_f]Cleo[/name_f], [name_f]Colette[/name_f], [name_f]Esme[/name_f], [name_f]Estelle[/name_f], [name_f]Evie[/name_f], [name_f]Eliza[/name_f], [name_f]Etta[/name_f], [name_f]Fiona[/name_f], [name_f]Flora[/name_f], [name_f]Fay[/name_f], [name_f]Faith[/name_f], [name_f]Georgia[/name_f], [name_f]Gwen[/name_f], [name_f]Iris[/name_f], [name_f]June[/name_f], [name_f]Jane[/name_f], [name_f]Joy[/name_f], [name_f]Lara[/name_f], [name_f]Lucy[/name_f], [name_f]Liv[/name_f], [name_f]May[/name_f] / [name_f]Mae[/name_f], [name_f]Maisie[/name_f], [name_f]Molly[/name_f], [name_f]Mila[/name_f] / [name_f]Millie[/name_f], [name_f]Maya[/name_f], [name_f]Nora[/name_f], [name_f]Nina[/name_f], [name_f]Olive[/name_f], [name_f]Phoebe[/name_f], [name_f]Rose[/name_f] / [name_f]Rosie[/name_f], [name_f]Sylvie[/name_f], [name_f]Tessa[/name_f], [name_f]Thea[/name_f], [name_f]Thalia[/name_f]

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They are quite similar and I might wonder if she’s named after him :person_shrugging: and yes, if you do call one or other, I think they could end up answering to each other’s name.

I would suggest trial running it maybe - trying talking about [name_f]Kate[/name_f], see how it feels to you, to [name_m]Cade[/name_m], whether it does feel odd to imagine a rl [name_f]Kate[/name_f] is your life?

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If you were contemplating naming your twins [name_m]Cade[/name_m] & [name_f]Kate[/name_f], I would 100% advise against it. However, for a father-daughter combo, I don’t think it is weird. I probably wouldn’t do it personally, but I wouldn’t think twice about someone else doing it.

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[name_f]Kate[/name_f] is a beautiful, timeless, sweet name!

Visually, C@de and [name_f]Kate[/name_f] are distinct. However, C@de and [name_f]Kate[/name_f] do sound quite similar.

Is it odd?
Absolutely not. It would not work for siblings, but considering that C@de will be the father and [name_f]Kate[/name_f] will be his daughter, I believe it could work. Actually, I think you can see it as a sweet connection between your daughter and your husband. In fact, there are still many families that have Juniors, III and IV. I don’t like the idea of giving a child one of their parents exact same name, but I do like sutle honors. It is not that uncommon for children to share middle names with parents or to be named after grandparents, for example. I have also met families in which the children’s first names are variants of the parents’ first names. For example, Joanna’s father is named [name_m]John[/name_m], Liam’s father is named [name_m]William[/name_m] and Martin’s mother is called [name_f]Martha[/name_f]. Those families make it work, so I think you will also be able to use [name_f]Kate[/name_f], as well, if you wish.

[name_m]Will[/name_m] [name_m]Cade[/name_m] and [name_f]Kate[/name_f] both turn around when you call one of them?
Probably it will happen. Have you tried to test the name [name_f]Kate[/name_f] in your house? For example, calling her for dinner? Why don’t you try to use your husband’s name and [name_f]Kate[/name_f] in the same sentence or conversation? I believe it will help you understand if the similarity between the names bothers you or if you feel comfortable about it.

For example:

  • [name_m]Cade[/name_m], have you seen Kate’s jacket?
  • [name_m]Cade[/name_m], we have a medical appointment with Kate’s pediatrician tomorrow.
  • This is my husband [name_m]Cade[/name_m] and this is our daughter [name_f]Kate[/name_f].

If, at the end, the similarity does bothers you, there are solutions that may help you solve the dilemma. Perhaps you can keep [name_f]Kate[/name_f] as a middle name. Maybe you can give [name_f]Kate[/name_f] an hyphenated first name or call her by her first and middle name. Eventually, you can also give [name_f]Kate[/name_f] a longer full name.

Good luck with everything :four_leaf_clover:

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Too similar they’d get confused a lot

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This would’ve been my answer in a nutshell, but I would’ve added that I have known a [name_m]Cade[/name_m] named after [name_f]Cait[/name_f], so that might be a question you get sometimes.

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Not odd
Definitely will be misheard… I’d imagine [name_f]Kate[/name_f] would be called [name_f]Katie[/name_f] to avoid confusion- the same way most juniors get an -y added (think [name_m]Joe[/name_m] & Joey)…

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I think that they might be too similar. I was [name_m]Ash[/name_m] growing up and we had a dog named [name_f]Sasha[/name_f] and honestly they often sounded similar enough that we would both be confused when our names were called out haha

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I have experienced something pretty similar: my name and my mom’s name rhyme. If someone is shouting for one of us, you normally can’t tell who they are after. Also, my dad and I have the same nickname. (Both situations were accidental).

Normally we can tell by context who they are after. If not I will ask/ shout back “MAMA OR DAUGHTER?”. Funnily I don’t remember ever shouting “papa or daughter?”…

[name_f]Kate[/name_f] is a short and traditional name. You could call her by [name_f]Kate[/name_f] Middle Name if becomes too confusing inside the house.