Three Different Camps and No Firm Ideas!

General Name Discussion
1

SO and I are not planning on having children any time soon; but the planner in me is very confused and a little anxious. I feel like our naming style falls into three different camps and I am not sure how we’d ever really make it “work.” No matter what style we go with, they will have two middle names.

Category no. 1 - The classics (most of these will get double barrelled with a more unusual middle name as you can see in my signature. Or nicknames from classic names)

[name_u]Billy[/name_u]
[name_m]Edward[/name_m]
[name_m]John[/name_m] ([name_m]John[/name_m] [name_u]Ellis[/name_u])
[name_m]Luke[/name_m]
[name_f]Anna[/name_f] ([name_f]Anna[/name_f] [name_f]Lora[/name_f])
[name_f]Laura[/name_f]
[name_f]Mary[/name_f] ([name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_f]Elle[/name_f], [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_f]Belle[/name_f], [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_f]Grace[/name_f], [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_f]Aurora[/name_f] etc. - so many ideas!)
[name_f]Kate[/name_f]
[name_f]Winnie[/name_f] etc.

Category no 2 - The Continental (To reflect our family’s diverse heritage)

[name_f]Amara[/name_f]
[name_f]Angelina[/name_f]
[name_f]Anastasia[/name_f]
[name_m]Conrad[/name_m]
[name_f]Elsa[/name_f]
[name_f]Emmeline[/name_f]
[name_m]Jonas[/name_m]
[name_m]Leo[/name_m]
[name_f]Lucinda[/name_f]
[name_f]Mara[/name_f]
[name_m]Matteo[/name_m]
Sorren
[name_f]Stella[/name_f]
[name_f]Thora[/name_f]

Category no 3 - “The [name_m]New[/name_m] Age” (These aren’t necessarily new age; but they just don’t feel like they fit with the others as siblings really. I wanted to use [name_m]Rowe[/name_m] [name_m]Henry[/name_m] as [name_m]John[/name_m] [name_u]Ellis[/name_u]'s brother, but it seems weird?)

[name_u]Adair[/name_u]
[name_f]Aster[/name_f]/Astor
[name_m]Bennett[/name_m]
[name_u]Clancy[/name_u] (b)
[name_u]Logan[/name_u] (b)
[name_f]Mabry[/name_f]
[name_m]Marshall[/name_m]
[name_m]Rowe[/name_m] (b)

Maybe I am overthinking this, it just feels like nothing really “goes” and it makes it hard to find anything concrete. The only thing we really desperately want is names that reflect our diverse background and so we tend to lean towards English/Irish boys names mostly and [name_m]German[/name_m], Italian or Scandinavian girls names. SO’s last name is ends in -sen and is the last name of well-known American twins. Any thoughts on this? Maybe his last name is what is making me a little stir crazy… Thanks!

2

I can relate to you in regards to wanting to have everything planned out, so don’t worry, I don’t think you’re crazy! I think you could ease your mind by taking a step back from your lists— maybe take a break from looking at them for a day or two so that you can come back to them with a fresh mind— and then try to widen your categories a bit.

There seems to be a lot of overlap between some of the names in the categories you’ve created. Maybe think less of your names as bulleted lists and more like [name_m]Venn[/name_m] Diagrams. For instance, you have [name_m]Leo[/name_m] on your Continental list, but it’s a name that’s been used for a very long time and has a lot of history in many cultures, so you could also throw it in the classics pile.

I think focusing on how your names are similar instead of how they’re different might help you feel better about them as a whole. I’m not sure if I answered your question exactly, but hopefully this can help you in some way.

3

First: calm down. I’m a believer that meaning and love for a name overcome consistency between siblings names. If reflecting your heritage is the priority, so be it.

Second: in sibsets, I normally separate girl names from boy names, because they can diverge a lot. Also, for me, is more important that the names don’t sound too alike rather than being the same style.

[name_m]Case[/name_m] “[name_m]Rowe[/name_m] [name_m]Henry[/name_m] and [name_m]John[/name_m] [name_u]Ellis[/name_u]”: [name_m]Rowe[/name_m] and [name_u]Ellis[/name_u] have a unisex vibe, but are clearly male names; while, [name_m]John[/name_m] and [name_m]Henry[/name_m] are English classics. They go beautifully as brothers without being matchy. But you don’t see that, do you?
Now, from another perspective: wouldn’t they be “[name_m]Rowe[/name_m]” and “[name_m]John[/name_m] [name_u]Ellis[/name_u]” on a daily basis?
[name_m]How[/name_m] common are double names in Australia? [name_m]How[/name_m] common is [name_u]Rowan[/name_u] nn [name_m]Rowe[/name_m] in Australia? And [name_u]Ellis[/name_u], how common is it? I must admit I’m not familiar with name popularity in your country, however I believe [name_m]Rowe[/name_m] and [name_m]John[/name_m] [name_u]Ellis[/name_u] are unusual choices, but not weird.
In this situation, we have two boy combos with the same name styles, but inverted PLUS fun picks for their “daily names”. Let’s add the representation of your heritage and we have an unexpected sibset full of meaning. Perfect!

More ideas…
[name_f]Non[/name_f]-hyphenated double given names are VERY common in my country and in my family. We have a [name_f]Maria[/name_f] Amélia who is always “[name_f]Maria[/name_f] Amélia”, we have a [name_f]Maria[/name_f] [name_f]Sofia[/name_f] who is always “[name_f]Sofia[/name_f]” and we have a [name_f]Maria[/name_f] de [name_f]Lourdes[/name_f] who is “[name_f]Maria[/name_f]” to everyone. Therefore, you could have a [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_f]Stella[/name_f] called [name_f]Mary[/name_f], [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_f]Stella[/name_f] or just [name_f]Stella[/name_f]. She could be a sister to “[name_f]Thora[/name_f] [name_f]Kate[/name_f]” too.
You can get [name_f]Anna[/name_f] from [name_f]Anastasia[/name_f], you can get [name_f]Thora[/name_f] from [name_f]Victoria[/name_f] or [name_f]Mary[/name_f] from [name_f]Amara[/name_f]/ [name_f]Mara[/name_f] (also… [name_m]Jonas[/name_m] nn [name_m]John[/name_m]).
[name_u]Billy[/name_u] and [name_m]Leo[/name_m] are nicknames, [name_m]Luke[/name_m] and [name_m]Leo[/name_m] share the simplicity and the L, [name_m]Leo[/name_m] and [name_m]John[/name_m] share the O and the shortness.
[name_m]Marshall[/name_m], [name_m]Jonas[/name_m] and [name_u]Logan[/name_u] are surnames. [name_m]Ben[/name_m] ([name_m]Bennet[/name_m]) and [name_m]Luke[/name_m] ([name_m]Lucas[/name_m] or alone) are great brothers (too much [name_f]Star[/name_f] Wars?).
[name_m]Leo[/name_m] and [name_f]Aster[/name_f] are celestial names. [name_f]Angelina[/name_f] means “angel”, while [name_m]Bennet[/name_m] means “blessed”.

Sincerely, style it is a lot about perspective. Some would say that [name_f]Mary[/name_f] and [name_f]Eva[/name_f] are incompatible, because “[name_f]Eva[/name_f]” is too foreign/ Latino, while others would say that [name_f]Rose[/name_f] and [name_u]Blaise[/name_u] are a great sibset, after all, both could be interpreted as word names (rose and blaze) and both represent the color red.

My advice is: name one child at time. When/ if you have a second boy, you will see if you and your partner are comfortable with [name_m]John[/name_m] [name_u]Ellis[/name_u] being [name_m]Rowe[/name_m] [name_m]Henry[/name_m]’s brother or not.