So, I have a few favorite names that sound kind of alike and I was wondering if I ever wanted to utilize both if they would be too similar. [name]How[/name] do you determine if sibling names are too alike to coexist?
I think matchy-ness is purely a matter of personal opinion. Really, if you’re comfortable with it, it’s probably fine. But here are my personal thoughts on each of these choices:
[name]Savanna[/name] & [name]Sabrina[/name] Not too matchy, similar sound and rhythm and alliterative. But they seem like different styles to me, with [name]Savanna[/name] being a bit more trendy/contemporary and [name]Sabrina[/name] being kind of retro-cool. [name]Sabrina[/name] & [name]Samara[/name] Same as above, not too matchy but different styles. [name]Samara[/name] is a more exotic choice to me. [name]Anastasia[/name] & [name]Annabella[/name] [name]Both[/name] names are nice, but I would avoid as a sibset because they have the same nickname. [name]Both[/name] are shortened to [name]Ana[/name]/[name]Anna[/name]. You can’t even go with [name]Ana[/name] and [name]Bella[/name], because then you have [name]Annabella[/name] again! [name]Amaryllis[/name] & [name]Annabella[/name] [name]Both[/name] nice, but styles don’t match for me. [name]Amaryllis[/name] & [name]Anastasia[/name] This “A” name combo works best for me. Similar feeling style and different enough to not be matchy. [name]Nylah[/name] & [name]Nyssa[/name] Too matchy for me, though the styles match. I think because the “ny” sound is fairly uncommon, they end up sounding too close to one another. [name]Nylah[/name] and [name]Norah[/name] might be a better match? [name]Hadley[/name] & [name]Haven[/name] This could work. They are similar in style and sound, and they sound like they belong to the same generation. Also, their nickname possibilities are different enough that you could differentiate them easily. [name]Calla[/name] & [name]Caroline[/name] I like this combo best of your whole list. [name]Calla[/name] is a little different in style from [name]Caroline[/name], but I think it still works. And they sound nice together. I would avoid it if you plan on using [name]Cara[/name] as a nn for [name]Caroline[/name], but [name]Calla[/name] and [name]Lina[/name] would be nice together.
I’d say it’s a matter of personal preference. For me, the first four examples are too close. They share too many letters, starting and ending with all the same letter. I can see people confusing the names, and I’d hate that if it were my name.
[name]Amaryllis[/name] and [name]Annabella[/name], being different aside from starting with A, would probably be OK, if you were in love with both names. Ditto [name]Calla[/name] and [name]Caroline[/name].
I think the ‘a’ names are fine to use as siblings because they are only alike in that they share the first letter. The only ones that I think you should avoid are [name]Nyssa[/name] and [name]Nylah[/name].