I was just curious to know what everyone’s opinions are on the amount of letters/syllables/lengths of sibling names. My brother questioned how I planned on using the first name [name]Alexander[/name] with potential brothers [name]Mark[/name], [name]Evan[/name], and [name]Jack[/name]. Would this bother anyone else? Would you question a sib set like this? [name]Say[/name] [name]Luke[/name], [name]Max[/name], [name]Claire[/name], and [name]Gabriella[/name]?
I don’t think many people would notice anything, and if [name]Alexander[/name] is nicknamed [name]Alex[/name], then [name]Evan[/name] balances out the two syllables. I think having the same syllables balances out names, but it’s not a necessity. As for the number of letters, I wouldn’t notice anything unless it was something like [name]Maximillian[/name] and [name]Io[/name]. But [name]Alex[/name], [name]Jack[/name], [name]Mark[/name] and [name]Evan[/name] are fine, and [name]Alexander[/name], [name]Evan[/name], [name]Mark[/name] and [name]Jack[/name] are ok to me.
I’m personally more into syllable count than letter count.
Personally I would not like having a 4 syllable first and a 1 syllable first in the same sibset, but that could just be my personal weirdnesses acting up. I’d prefer to stick to 1-2 or 3-4.
It would not bother me.
I have 2 children with 5 letters and 1 with 4 letters, so I am kind of tempted to get a 4 letter name for this one, but don’t want to restrict myself. I could also go with syllables, I have 2 with 2 syllables and 1 with 1, so could look for another 1 syllable. Or if I could find a 4 letter name with one syllable it would be perfect. LOL
In reality, I’ll worry more about finding names I love, rather than matching such silly criteria. But being a name geek I did notice the pattern.
[name]Alexander[/name] does stick out for its length and number of syllables when paired with the shorter sibling names. My question for you would be this: Being used to calling your boys with short, simple names, will it feel weird (or just too much trouble) to say [name]Alexander[/name] over and over each day? Or vice versa: If [name]Alexander[/name] were your first child, would [name]Jack[/name] or [name]Mark[/name] feel too brief? For me, the simple solution would be to name your son [name]Alexander[/name] but call him [name]Alex[/name]. [name]Alexander[/name] will get plenty of use on official paperwork and in formal settings, but you’ll also get the friendly, simple nn for everyday use.
P.S. I’ve been wondering the same thing! I’ve got a [name]Catherine[/name] nn. [name]Kate[/name], and I only like short, 1-2 syllable boys’ names, but if I were to have another girl, most of the names I like are 3-4 syllables and I wouldn’t plan on using any nns for those. Some thoughts from my own ponderings: 1. When creating a sibset, if your children’s given names are different in length/style from the names you’ll call them every day and by which they will most likely be known to friends and family, match the everyday names over the formal ones. (So, if you plan to call [name]Alexander[/name] [name]Alex[/name], your sibset is perfect.) 2. It’s more important that names in a sibset are stylistically the same than that they share the same length. (Again, your set is great.) 3. Order is important. A great way to incorporate long and short names in a sibset is to have a bridge name (syllable wise, if not also length-wise). So, in your case, ([name]Alexander[/name], [name]Evan[/name], [name]Jack[/name]/[name]Mark[/name]), or ([name]Jack[/name]/[name]Mark[/name], [name]Evan[/name], [name]Alexander[/name]) would go 3, 2, 1 syllables or 1, 2, 3 syllables with [name]Evan[/name] as a bridge, making the transition between [name]Alexander[/name] and [name]Jack[/name]/[name]Mark[/name] less abrupt.
I think it’s more important for the names to ‘go’ stylistically. I agree with @jroflo that the everyday nn’s you use would be better to match because that would be what you would call them, and it would sound a bit off to me if I heard a mother shouting “[name]Jack[/name]! [name]Mark[/name]! [name]Alexander[/name]!” - whereas “[name]Jack[/name]! [name]Mark[/name]! [name]Alex[/name]!” seems to fit a little more comfortably, at least in my view. However, it would bug me if I had, say, boys named [name]Asa[/name], [name]Leo[/name] and [name]Sebastian[/name], because even though I think those names would go together stylistically, they just don’t balance right. It depends what’s more important to you - I’m a little weird in that I feel siblings’ names should be the same length, but I also think that how well the names work as a group is the more obvious thing to most people.
Yeah, the length would bother me a bit.
It’s a dilemma I have with my names!
[name]Alessandra[/name] and [name]Nathaniel[/name] are my number ones, but when you get into the boys names, the letters shrink!
[name]Henry[/name], [name]Eden[/name], [name]Leo[/name] are my next 3 names after [name]Nathaniel[/name]! After [name]Nathaniel[/name], [name]Jensen[/name]'s the longest name on my list. And those don’t match stylistically.
[name]Nathaniel[/name] would likely go by [name]Nate[/name] a fair bit of the time, so perhaps it’d work out. I wonder this myself.
Looks like we’re in the same situation! The next longest name on my list is [name]Connor[/name] (which can never be used) and then [name]Caleb[/name]. It’s a difficult situation!
Yeah, it bothers me. But I also think it depends on the ‘weight’ of the name as well. [name]Arabella[/name] and [name]Daisy[/name] work fine, [name]Persephone[/name] and [name]Grace[/name] do not. So I think the actual name as a lot to do with it.
As for your specific example, [name]Mark[/name] and [name]Alexander[/name] do not match [name]IMO[/name]. I think [name]Alexander[/name] and [name]Evan[/name] or [name]Jack[/name] would be OK.
I have a 4 syllable name for my daughter and a 1 syllable for my son. Their mn are almost opposite though, so that’s something to consider. A lot of my current choices are 2 or 3 syllables. I suppose it will all balance in the end, perhaps 
Not to get off topic or anything but you’re literally the first person to say [name]Alexander[/name] and [name]Mark[/name] do not match. I’ve had people comment that [name]Alexander[/name], [name]Mark[/name], AND [name]Jack[/name] or [name]Evan[/name] together don’t work (Which I partially do agree), but why not [name]Alexander[/name] and [name]Mark[/name]?
It really doesn’t bother me as long as the names fit together.
I once heard a pair of siblings [name]Ella[/name] and [name]Evangeline[/name] and I think it sounds adorable.
Edited for privacy.