[name]Hi[/name] all,
We’re trying to come up with a name for a baby boy, and I’d love to hear people’s thoughts/impressions on alliteration in names…in general it’s not something I’m a fan of and we’d been steering clear of first names that start with our last name letter, but we’re really liking one in particular, and I’m just not sure how bad an alliterative name would be. Are we smart to be ruling it out, or are we irrationally eliminating an otherwise good name because of the sound?
These aren’t our names, but the name is something along the lines of:
[name]Gabriel[/name] Goldman, nn [name]Gabe[/name] Goldman
Different names and letters, but same rhythm for the name, nickname, and surname (and same lack of repeated vowel sounds—we quickly ruled out anything that echoed the same sounds). [name]Baby[/name] will have two middles (one his own name, one mother’s maiden), which will start with two different letters.
Good? Bad? I just can’t decide how to feel about this. On the one hand I love the first name we’re thinking of on its own, but I’m lukewarm on it because of the double letter. Would love to hear others’ reactions—thanks!
Well personally I love alliteration. For our first daughter we chose 2 fn beginning with the same letter because they were just the right names for her. Her name sounds like [name]Eleanor[/name] [name]Elizabeth[/name] [name]Amelia[/name]. For our next baby (if it’s a girl) we’ve decided on a double M name even though our last name also begins with M. all the M names have different strong vowel sounds so they don’t flow into one another and we will use a mn. with a different letter. This is working great for us as we love the poetry and flow in these names. Our boys names do not carry the alliteration simply because the boy name we love does not. I think [name]Gabe[/name] Goldman is great. I think it works because the a and o make each name distict while still sounding terrific together. I don’t know that I’d use a name like [name]Arminta[/name] Arbuckle because they don’t distinguish enough for me.
Well personally I love alliteration. For our first daughter we chose 2 fn beginning with the same letter because they were just the right names for her. Her name sounds like [name]Eleanor[/name] [name]Elizabeth[/name] [name]Amelia[/name]. For our next baby (if it’s a girl) we’ve decided on a double M name even though our last name also begins with M. all the M names have different strong vowel sounds so they don’t flow into one another and we will use a mn. with a different letter. This is working great for us as we love the poetry and flow in these names. Our boys names do not carry the alliteration simply because the boy name we love does not. I think [name]Gabe[/name] Goldman is great. I think it works because the a and o make each name distict while still sounding terrific together. I don’t know that I’d use a name like [name]Arminta[/name] Arbuckle because they don’t distinguish enough for me.
I don’t like alliteration in names. It depends on the names of course but usually they sound either like a comic book character or a drama queen mom is trying to hard. I have a picture in my head of a [name]Madisyn[/name] [name]Monroe[/name] McCall being forced into auditions by her mother who never made it as an actress.
That said, I do like the sound of [name]Gabe[/name] Goldman. I think in some instances this kind of name might be a help, maybe for someone in sales or politics… Easy to remember.
I wouldn’t go out of my way to be alliterative, but if a name I loved was alliterative with baby’s surname, I would totally use it. I think of people like [name]Greta[/name] Garbot, [name]Marilyn[/name] [name]Monroe[/name], [name]January[/name] [name]Jones[/name], [name]Brigitte[/name] [name]Bardot[/name], etc etc. These are really memorable names, and not just because of the people attached to them. I think you want to avoid names with similar sounds throughout – [name]Philippa[/name] [name]Peterson[/name] sounds like a celebrity, whereas her brother [name]Peter[/name] sounds like a quickly-invented example on a form.
1 Like
Personally I love alliteration. I just love the way that it sounds as long as the names are not over the top and cheesy sounding. [name]Gabriel[/name] Goldman works wonderfully so I definitely wouldn’t worry about steering away from G names, I don’t find it to be a problem in the least. I’m sure that alliteration helps to make names more memorable too.
Thanks all! The name we’re considering is similar in popularity to [name]Gabriel[/name] so it’s definitely not too out there (in fact that’s the other strike against it!) So half of me says hey, we’re not going to use the names together too often anyway until he’s near adulthood, when he’d be able to have an opinion and switch if he hates it…but the other half says if we pick a popular first name, that makes it all the more likely people will say his last name or initial a lot with it to distinguish him from the other people with that name! Ugh, so complicated!
I think we’re going to keep the name on the list, and plan to go in armed with several names to see what seems to fit best. 
woodensandal sounds like someone who is very good at making unkind remarks. Sorry you can’t be polite.
I like alliteration as long as the first and last name don’t sound too similar i.e. [name]Madison[/name] [name]Mason[/name] or [name]Wylie[/name] White. [name]Gabriel[/name] Goldman is an example of good alliteration.
I agree with this PP. the sounds of the names themselves are not that similar, and i like this combo.
i am considering going with [name]Elsa[/name] [name]Evans[/name] myslef… i just like it. idk why. 