How do you feel about sibling names? Do they need to have something in common - like ending in the same letter? Or just be a similar style of name? Or starting with the same letter? Is it true that it takes 3 to really make it a pattern?
Just curious as to the general consensus on this topic.
0 voters
These can all be beautiful, fun ways to connect siblings names! I don’t think they need to connect at all, but I think every connection you’ve listed would be a very cool one.
What I think is required vs what I think is cute vs what I would avoid are very different answers 
I don’t feel like they need to connect, but they need to work in my head, in some abstract way? I guess the other factor I consider is popularity level - I wouldn’t want to use one massively popular name with a very unusual one.
i prefer sibling names to be of roughly the same style, roughly the same length, and roughly the same popularity !! i don’t get weighed down in specifics though, so i don’t mind different numbers of letters, i just wouldn’t use (for example) eve and magdalena together, even though they work stylistically. i don’t think any of this is a big deal though, and i dont think making a perfect sibset should trump using names you love. i do have some small idiosyncrasies - i always want siblings to have the same number of middle names, and i hate when two siblings have the same starting letter but other siblings don’t !! it doesn’t matter but it feels wrong !!
I don’t think there necessarily needs to be some sort of matching factor but I do think after a certain amount of children of following a certain quality then a pattern is somewhat set. Like if the Duggars who had 20 kids all starting with a J suddenly had another but that name started with a B there’d be a definite noticeable difference and maybe outcast type feeling. I know when we brainstormed for our third and hubby sought out suggestions from others the “something biblical like your other two” was mentioned. [name_u]Or[/name_u] even with our second, having a first who’s name isn’t even in the top 1000 someone mentioned to me “well, there’s no way you’ll name your next [name_m]Bill[/name_m] when that’s what you named your first….” So while matching isn’t required by the third a pattern is likely somewhat established by then.
I like there to be something connecting them, but not all the same way, like 2 with the same starting letter and 2 with a theme etc.
This might not be a super popular opinion on nameberry, but I almost prefer somewhat mismatched sibsets, I think they’re kind of fun in a weird way so long as they’re not so stylistically different that it sounds funny or one sibling is given the short end of the stick. I’d say you should go with any names you really love even if they don’t match perfectly, I don’t think it’s something you should worry about if you don’t personally care all that much, but if you enjoy the idea of using names that go together really well, then definitely go for it.
I think it’s nice when sibling names match stylistically, but not required. I don’t think same number of syllables / letters / repeating sounds are needed to make a cohesive sib set (and if overly done can seem too matchy). For sharing a first letter, I actually think two makes a pattern! Most people may not agree, but I think if your first two children’s names start with M, you are kinda locked into an M name for #3 (unless you are almost certain there will be more children after #3 who don’t share the M initial). For example, if your first two are [name_u]Madison[/name_u] and [name_u]Mason[/name_u], I think [name_m]Malachi[/name_m] would make more sense for a third than [name_m]Oliver[/name_m], even though [name_m]Oliver[/name_m] is closer in popularity, I think the initials would win out in this case.
Excited to read others’ responses!
I like it when the names have a relatively similar style, which doesn’t “clash”.
I also think it’s better when siblings don’t have the same initial, as it gives them a little something extra that’s unique to each! 
For me personally, a similar style/vibe is the most important. But not so important that I would throw out a name if it doesn’t totally fit. The girl names I like mostly fit the same vibe anyway, so that helps me in my reasoning haha. [name_f]My[/name_f] boy names don’t necessarily fit the same vibe as my girl names (especially the ones my husband likes too), but they sound well enough together that I think it would work. And I don’t want to repeat the same first initial for all my kids. We are purposefully postponing using our favorite boy name to use for a later child because it’s the same initial as our only child right now. I wouldn’t mind if 2/4 or 2/3 of our children had the same initial, but I wouldn’t want it to be the first two kids if that makes sense. But I do think 3 makes a pattern (I wouldn’t do 3/4 with the same initial).
I also love the idea of using a common letter in the names, but not the same starting letter. This is especially true of twin names for me! I love the idea of [name_f]Clara[/name_f] and [name_f]Elise[/name_f] for twins because they have similar vibes and both have an L. This is probably more of a preference for twin names though because it’d be too hard to find names that my husband and I both love and that also share a common letter haha.
For other people, I don’t mind what they choose, and I rarely notice unless one kid has a totally different vibe to it than the others (like [name_m]Oliver[/name_m], [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f], [name_f]Amelia[/name_f], then a [name_f]Brynlee[/name_f] or something). I also notice when families use the same initial because that’s more obvious (I know so many families that are all J haha). Other than that, I usually won’t notice sibsets!
[name_f]My[/name_f] personal take is it’s always nice to hear siblings have similar style.
For instance, [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] and a [name_u]Jayden[/name_u] don’t seem like the same style at all.