[name_m]Just[/name_m] wondered what you berries think of having a subtle theme running through a sibset?
I’m not talking Duggar-style matching initials or rhyming a la [name_f]Polly[/name_f], [name_f]Molly[/name_f] and [name_f]Dolly[/name_f], but something like a nature, literary, mythology or Biblical theme, or names which share the same origin or a similar meaning.
Would you find that kind of thing a nice way to subtly connect siblings’ names, or does it just strike you as corny?
Subtle is great, it ties them together. Overt themes I find corny. So I wouldn’t personally go for something like naming all my kids after birds, or have them all start with the same initial.
I think subtle would be something like a shared meaning, or meanings in the same vein. That way, there is a connection if you want to see it, but it’s not in your face so you won’t get tired of it.
Yeah, there is something about overt themes that reduces kids to a gimmick - it just conveys the feeling that the parents saw naming as a game rather than a serious undertaking where they had to think of each child as an individual deserving of a name to carry them through life. But if it’s subtler it’s not the same - if you have kids named [name_f]Miranda[/name_f], [name_f]Imogen[/name_f], and [name_m]Sebastian[/name_m], for example, people may feel you have a particular style, but it’s not immediately obvious that they’re all [name_m]Shakespeare[/name_m] characters, so I think that works. Basically, I think the key is that when people hear all the names together, it should make them first think about the names themselves - the theme shouldn’t overpower and overshadow the individual names, or reduce them to it.
Well put!
I think the art lies in tying the names together in a subtle way, so that the individual names stand for themselves, and a subtle theme bonus is that the other names somehow help that name sparkle even more. So they each elevate the other when heard together.
I like subtle themes. I have a lot of ‘slightly less common’ biblical names on my list, especially for boys. It would be a little weird if it were something like, all names of the 12 disciples or something similar, but that’s too obvious for my liking. I also have a lot of family-inspired names. I think these sort of subtle themes are great.
Thanks for your thoughts everyone! You’ve basically confirmed what I was thinking - I’ve always found overtly themed sibsets to be pretty cheesy, but a subtle link between siblings’ names is a really nice touch [name_f]IMO[/name_f].
I’m scouting for opinions mainly because all of our favourite girls’ names happen to be mythological! We already have a [name_f]Juno[/name_f], and hope to have three more children. But as it stands, our top three for girls (the only three we both love and can agree on as firsts) are [name_f]Helena[/name_f], [name_f]Ariadne[/name_f] and [name_f]Clio[/name_f]! It’s not a deliberate decision by any means, but we obviously have a very particular style and DH is a Classics major so I guess it kind of makes sense that we would gravitate towards names from ancient mythology. It’s been a big part of our lives to date! But I’m worried that a sibset of [name_f]Juno[/name_f], [name_f]Helena[/name_f], [name_f]Ariadne[/name_f] and [name_f]Clio[/name_f] falls on the wrong side of the corny/cute divide… I think it probably does - does it?
Our top boys’ names aren’t mythological, so hopefully we’ll have at least one boy to dilute things down a little. But then, would a sibset of e.g. [name_f]Juno[/name_f], [name_f]Ariadne[/name_f], [name_f]Helena[/name_f] and [name_u]Kit[/name_u] be just as weird, in a way?
It’s cute, imo. 
I don’t like sibling names that go together at all. Each child should be given a name that is completely independent of their siblings.
See my signature, haha. I don’t think there’s anything problematic with the sibset you mentioned.
I’m coming round to your view too.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with those names as a sibset. I think they’re lovely together actually. A lot of people probably wouldn’t tie them together (with the exception of [name_f]Ariadne[/name_f] perhaps, but if it were shortened to [name_f]Aria[/name_f], I honestly think very few people would cop it, and those who did would think, like I do, that it’s GREAT!
I like sibsets that match subtly, style wise. I think it’s lovely. (Obviously as per my signature!!! :D)
[name_f]Polly[/name_f], [name_f]Molly[/name_f], and [name_f]Dolly[/name_f] would be too cheesy for my tastes.
Some themed sibsets seem like people are trying too hard to me, like [name_f]Blanche[/name_f] and [name_f]Bianca[/name_f], or [name_f]Natalie[/name_f] and [name_f]Noelle[/name_f]. There was a girl who was in my class briefly one year who was part of a large family, where all the girls were “[name_f]Mary[/name_f] ____”. She was [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_f]Margaret[/name_f], and it was never shortened to either [name_f]Mary[/name_f] or [name_f]Margaret[/name_f], it was the whole thing. “This is [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_f]Katharine[/name_f], [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f], [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_f]Margaret[/name_f], … and [name_m]John[/name_m].”
Some themed sibsets work - I know a family with a [name_f]Flora[/name_f], [name_f]Lily[/name_f], and [name_f]Violet[/name_f]. The girls names go together beautifully. I have two girls whose names start with J - not intentionally. My husband had “no opinion” on names, except that he suggested we name our children after his parents. No. I put up a name list, he ignored it, I stuck it in his briefcase, he chose a boy’s name, no girls names. We went to the hospital, and ta-da, an awesome baby girl! He looked over the list and chose [name_f]Jessica[/name_f] (boy name was [name_m]Joshua[/name_m]). [name_u]Seven[/name_u] years later, our daughter and I were discussing names for the baby I was expecting, and he again had no opinion. She and I both liked the name [name_f]Jemima[/name_f], and that was the name that I chose. It had meaning for me, was the name of a brave and smart ancestor of a friend of the family (both died a long time ago), and with the Biblical story tying it in as well ([name_m]Job[/name_m] was out of favor for a long time, after he came back in to favor, his first daughter was named [name_f]Jemima[/name_f]). It’s also a pretty rare name to hear these days. If we’d had a third child, I doubt there would have been another J name. Other names on the list included [name_f]Marina[/name_f], [name_f]Shoshana[/name_f], and [name_u]Ariel[/name_u].
[name_f]Susan[/name_f]
[name_f]Susan[/name_f], I love your girls’ names (& the names you didn’t get to use, too)!
Thanks! I had lots, but that was what I cut it down to [name_f]Jessica[/name_f] [name_f]Alexandra[/name_f] and [name_f]Jemima[/name_f] [name_f]Natalie[/name_f] both love their names, thankfully.
[name_f]Susan[/name_f]
love themed names
Rhyming and same letters is cheesy to me, especially on twins. As a twin just please don’t do that! But themes I like. All kids have color names, fine, all kids have names from marvel comics, fine, animal names, fine. I think it ties the kids together, and I think if parents stuck with a theme or style it says they thought about their names a lot vs [name_m]Caden[/name_m] and [name_u]Jaden[/name_u]. But I’m biased my sister and I both have virtue names and everyone likes it when said together especially.
I love your names and think this is a good example of a theme that works without being cheesy! You’ve got some variation in there too, since [name_f]Ariadne[/name_f] is Greek, [name_f]Juno[/name_f] is [name_m]Roman[/name_m], and [name_f]Helena[/name_f] is not a [name_f]Goddess[/name_f] (correct me if I’m wrong.)
About [name_u]Kit[/name_u], I know many people who don’t feel that names of different genders have to coordinate. It depends on your preferences. I personally would want to find a way to tie them all together- which doesn’t mean I’d confine myself to mythological. [name_f]Every[/name_f] name comes with many possible “themes” it can be connected to- [name_f]Helena[/name_f] can be eg. mythological as well as classic or feminine… And sometimes, having different looking styles in your “sibset” can really bring the spark in.
I agree that if it’s subtle, it’s good. For instance, [name_f]Minerva[/name_f] and [name_m]Alfred[/name_m] might seem like I just like kind of stuffy names but they both mean wise/intellectual. It’s not super obvious but it’s significant to the person who named their child.
I have two brothers and three sisters, and my parents gave us all middle names that start with the letter R:
[name_u]Rain[/name_u]
[name_u]Reese[/name_u]
[name_m]Ryder[/name_m]
[name_f]Rachel[/name_f]
[name_f]Ravenna[/name_f]
[name_u]River[/name_u]
They say it’s a subtle way of linking us together. Nobody seems to think it is cheesy. I agree that themes/connections are good as long as they are not overly obvious.
Subtle is the key, either that or smaller sibsets. [name_f]Geneva[/name_f] & sicily are cute. Expand it to 6+ and it could get weird due to constricting theme.