Whilst I prefer either all-matching or all-not matching, I think you need to go with what you love. If you were to use another R name, you’d definitely feel more tied down if you were to have any more children.
It’s very important to love the name, but I think it’s even more important to consider how your child will feel about the name. Having worked in child care for many years I have noticed that children whose name clearly dont fit in with their siblings usually feel left out. I have also noticed that most adults will assume the odd child out is from a different relationship.
^ Alternately, some kids just don’t notice! An ex of mine didn’t notice his two older brothers had names beginning with B and he didn’t until I pointed out. So he’d made it a full 17 years without picking up on being ‘different’.
Pick which ever name you would have chosen even if you hadn’t realised the older two had names beginning with R. If that’s another R name, so be it. I’d say don’t rule out a name you love because it doesn’t begin with an R and don’t go looking for only R names BUT if you find a name and it does start with an R, then cool.
You should go with a name you love, that’s the most important thing in my opinion.
That being said, I’d personally go with all the same letter, or a different one for each sibling. I’m now composing a list for baby number two, and I’m trying to avoid names that start with h or the yo-sound or yuh-sound, though I love [name_m]Josef[/name_m] for example, because if I had a third child, I’d want to find a third name like that. But that’s just me personally.
I vote for going with a name you love. First of all, oftentimes it’s barely noticeable that two names start with the same letter–[name_m]Richard[/name_m] and [name_m]Raphael[/name_m], for example. Second, if child #3 ever questioned why you didn’t follow the R “pattern” you could assure him that you wanted to give him a name he would love and not one forced on him because he happened to be born third.
There are more characteristics that make names sound similar than just the first letter. There are vowel sounds, number of syllables, style, etc. Use a name you love!