I have always disliked it when twin names start with the same letter or are almost exactly the same (Luca and [name_f]Lucy[/name_f] for example), but I’ve noticed most of the names I like are nature themed - flowers, animal/ocean related etc.
For those who don’t like matchy twin names, what do you think about twins (or two siblings) having names with a theme but are different in sound.
For example:
[name_f]Violet[/name_f] and [name_f]Zinnia[/name_f]
[name_f]Lillian[/name_f] and [name_f]Rose[/name_f]
[name_u]Hazel[/name_u] and [name_f]Daphne[/name_f]
[name_u]River[/name_u] and [name_m]Silas[/name_m]
[name_m]Arturo[/name_m] and [name_f]Leona[/name_f]
I like subtlety, so I’m with you that things can get too matchy too fast. I’ve also seen people use the male & female versions of the same name for twins, or even rhyme them, and it’s just so unfortunate. But a bit of a theme or association between the two? That can be lovely. I like most of your examples. I would easily use two flower names for girls, or two “ie” endings (because I just love those).
Very much on board with this! I love all of the examples you listed.
I also like going for what I call symmetrical names. Names with the same number of syllables, letters, and vowel-consonant patterns (like in [name_m]Silas[/name_m] and River), and sometimes even parallel meanings!
[name_f]My[/name_f] favorite example of this would be my top twin pair: [name_m]Silas[/name_m] (of the forest) and [name_f]Maren[/name_f] (of the sea) — parallel meanings, same number of syllables, letters, and vowel-consonant pattern.
Also [name_u]Piper[/name_u] & [name_u]Robin[/name_u], both unisex, and bird-related names.
For me, so long as the names have distinct enough sounds, it’s fine. Two very matchy wordy names that aren’t typically names would be a bit much for me too (like [name_u]Love[/name_u] and Peace)
I love a good shared first initial for twins, personally! [name_f]Alice[/name_f] and [name_u]Arthur[/name_u], [name_f]Felicity[/name_f] and [name_u]Florence[/name_u], [name_f]Penelope[/name_f] and [name_m]Peter[/name_m], [name_u]Henry[/name_u] and [name_m]Hugh[/name_m]. [name_f]Lovely[/name_f]. I also like all of your pairs… though aside from the two floral sets, I can’t see how they’re matchy.
I’m not a fan of themed twin names, but I love names that have the same initial like [name_u]Asher[/name_u] & [name_m]Atticus[/name_m] or sound the same like [name_f]Savannah[/name_f] & [name_f]Hannah[/name_f] or something like that
[name_f]Zinnia[/name_f] and [name_f]Violet[/name_f] are a bit too matching for me…Possibly so are [name_f]Lillian[/name_f] and [name_f]Rose[/name_f], but only if they ended up as [name_f]Lily[/name_f] and [name_f]Rosie[/name_f]. And I find the rest of the pairs lovely!
As someone with several sets of twins in my close circle, what I’ve been told (and feel to be true) is that twin names should be LESS matching than two non-twin siblings because you really want to facilitate each twin being treated as their own person, not only/always as half of a pair. So I think I’d be fine with [name_f]Zinnia[/name_f] and [name_f]Violet[/name_f] or [name_f]Lillian[/name_f] and [name_f]Rose[/name_f] as sisters, but I wouldn’t want to set up anything that could lead to “the flower twins” or something that would lump them together more than already happens for twins!
I love all the names you’ve put on your list, I think [name_u]Hazel[/name_u] and [name_f]Daphne[/name_f] for girls and [name_u]River[/name_u] and [name_m]Silas[/name_m] for boys are my favorites!
I actually prefer a “themed” set to a “matchy” one. I love all of your ideas as the names still go but each definitely has their own name still. They feel much more inspired as twin sets than the twins I know with names like L@kyn & L@ryn, [name_m]Jacob[/name_m] & [name_m]Caleb[/name_m], [name_u]Mikah[/name_u] & [name_f]Mikaela[/name_f], [name_f]Zoey[/name_f] & [name_f]Chloe[/name_f], R0bbie & R0byn, or S@ndy & S0ndy.
Some of my favourite examples are:
[name_f]Persephone[/name_f] & [name_f]Freya[/name_f] (both goddesses)
[name_f]Stella[/name_f] & [name_f]Luna[/name_f] (both celestial Latin names)
[name_f]Morgana[/name_f] & [name_f]Cordelia[/name_f] (both have watery meanings)
[name_f]Rosamund[/name_f] & [name_f]Lillian[/name_f] (both have floral nicknames are vintage vibes)
[name_m]Hawk[/name_m] & [name_u]Raven[/name_u] (both birds)
[name_m]Nahum[/name_m] & [name_m]Hosea[/name_m] (meanings that go well together, soft sounding, both “small” prophets in the Tanakh)
[name_m]Gareth[/name_m] & [name_m]Damon[/name_m] (similar meanings)
[name_m]Percival[/name_m] & [name_m]Galahad[/name_m] (both saw the [name_f]Holy[/name_f] Grail in Arthurian legends)
[name_f]Eadlin[/name_f] & [name_u]Auberon[/name_u] (have similar meanings)
[name_f]Helen[/name_f] & [name_f]Phoebe[/name_f] (have similar meanings)
[name_f]Glory[/name_f] & Shine (both unique word names with complementary meanings)
[name_u]Indigo[/name_u] & [name_u]Rowan[/name_u] (both nature names)
[name_f]Marianne[/name_f] & [name_f]Elinor[/name_f] (sisters in Sense & Sensibility)
[name_u]Vesper[/name_u] & [name_f]Yvaine[/name_f] (similar meanings)
[name_m]Isaac[/name_m] & [name_u]Judah[/name_u] & [name_u]Asher[/name_u] (all have similar/complementary meanings)
I think twin names should be similar in popularity and vibe and not easily confused. So [name_f]Violet[/name_f] and [name_f]Zinnia[/name_f] are good with vibe but not popularity since [name_f]Zinnia[/name_f] seems rare to me. I don’t mind names starting with the same letter but definitely would avoid names that start with the same letter and rhyme. Themes are fine but not really my style. I like the idea of [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f] and [name_f]Isla[/name_f] for sisters or twins.
To me, twin names should be treated the same as if they were just siblings. If you wouldn’t give siblings a few years apart matching names, don’t do it for twins!
Generally, I prefer names that go well together but don’t necessarily have some sort of connection. However I think some themed twin names could be cute! I like ones that are a little more subtle and might not be instantly noticeable. From your list, I think [name_u]River[/name_u] and [name_m]Silas[/name_m] and [name_m]Arturo[/name_m] and [name_f]Leona[/name_f] would be really cute
I prefer subtlety. I tend to keep the theme for the middle names. The 1st middle name honours a person or people important to us. The 2nd middle name for each is a nature name (most representing an geographical location or other aspect that is important to us). I’ve been told that I also tend to have an international flair for 1st names, but I’m not as sure on that as they are names that I like (and have meaning to me).
As long as they are not too matchy, say [name_f]Lavender[/name_f] and [name_f]Lilac[/name_f] (which are cute, but too much). Personally I don’t mind multiple flower names or nature names for a twinset. [name_f]Lillian[/name_f] and [name_f]Rose[/name_f] are wonderful.
I love subtle themes ! Of your examples I really adore [name_u]Hazel[/name_u] and [name_f]Daphne[/name_f] !! And @smnthphylls suggestion of [name_m]Silas[/name_m] and [name_f]Maren[/name_f]
Twin names I have considered
[name_u]Leon[/name_u] and [name_u]Noel[/name_u]
[name_f]Elin[/name_f] and [name_u]Nile[/name_u]
[name_u]Wren[/name_u] and [name_f]Birdie[/name_f]
I like names that together and follow the same theme pattern. Like both [name_f]Vintage[/name_f] or both nature or having the same number of letters or syllables. For examples
[name_m]Samuel[/name_m] and [name_m]Joshua[/name_m] (both have 6 letters and 3 syllables but are different names)
[name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] and [name_m]Johnathon[/name_m] (both are more classic with vintage feels)
[name_u]Hazel[/name_u] and [name_u]Jasper[/name_u] (both connect with the nature theme)
Where I have a problem is the really matchy matchy names. Like
[name_f]Bella[/name_f] and [name_f]Stella[/name_f] (rhyming names are cute as babies but get really confusing over time)
[name_f]Jayda[/name_f] and [name_u]Jayden[/name_u] (they are the same name but the female and male versions, this is confusing for everybody and not really creative)
[name_u]Robert[/name_u] and [name_m]Knox[/name_m] (having one more traditional name and one more modern name, these don’t always flow together very well and can look cheesy)
Naming twins with the same first letter can be a hit or miss
[name_u]Luca[/name_u] and [name_f]Lucy[/name_f] (are to close together) whereas something like
[name_m]Ethan[/name_m] and [name_u]Evan[/name_u] (are both different names that flow really nice together)
The twins [name_u]Lindsay[/name_u] and [name_u]Leslie[/name_u] from ‘Unsellable Houses’, they both start with the same letter but the name are totally different that you cannot confuse one name with the other.
I personally feel that there has to be some kind of pattern or theme in the background but there is such a thing as to much theme
I don’t mind a well-done alliterative twin name set, and personally find that can be a more subtle connection than a very clear theme like two flower names. I’d love encountering twins named [name_f]Amethyst[/name_f] and [name_f]Althea[/name_f], for example, but [name_f]Amethyst[/name_f] and [name_f]Emerald[/name_f] feels a bit campy for my taste.
The twin name question seems like a higher stakes version of the same challenge that is choosing names for second or later children. For me, i really like sticking with a similar style for sibling names, with some repeating sounds (but not too many repeating sounds). That’s what sounds best to my ear, and if I ever have twins to name I’d just really think through the “sibling set” factor, but probably wouldn’t set out to create a theme unless something subtle just serendipitously arose.
Thank you everyone for the replies, nice to hear some different opinions! I guess my question wasn’t just about twin names, but siblings in general - it seems it’s pretty normal to have some kind of theme, just some are more subtle than others.
I feel like with the alliteration the names can get very close very fast. I do like alliteration when the starting letter makes different sounds. I don’t think that it is something that I would do personally as I like the being able to label things with just a first initial
I think themed twin names work as long as it isn’t too on the nose. From your example sets, I think that [name_f]Lillian[/name_f] and [name_f]Rose[/name_f] fall into this category (and lily and rose are often grouped together), while [name_u]Hazel[/name_u] and [name_f]Daphne[/name_f] don’t. I think that this is because [name_f]Daphne[/name_f] is translated, so it is two tree names but in different languages so they don’t feel as close. [name_m]Arturo[/name_m] and [name_f]Leona[/name_f] work as while I know the meanings of both off the top of my head they are still something non-namenerds would have to look up.
[name_f]My[/name_f] taste, if you have a lot of word names, is to have a set cross languages or categories --like flowers and animals as opposed to two flowers.
I also like all of your pairs… though aside from the two floral sets, I can’t see how they’re matchy. 
