I have a lot of language/culture specific names on my list, and I’m undecided about whether I could ever use them together. For example…Fionualla, [name_f]Gioia[/name_f], [name_m]Sacha[/name_m], Rhys… could these ever be siblings?
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I love an eclectic sibling set, but throwing in a [name_m]Rhys[/name_m] with [name_m]John[/name_m] and [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] seems different than the above described scenario. The letters follow different pronunciation rules, the name origins are wildly different and potentially unknown to the American midwest…maybe it only makes to have one “wildcard” name per sibset.
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What are your thoughts? I know I can do whatever I’d like, but I also want to entertain the pragmatic perspective. Is it just going to be too much, too intimidating for the average person who encounters our family? What’s your general philosophy when it comes to this sort of thing?
I’d say the opposite! [name_m]An[/name_m] eclectic sibset with multiple names of different non-English origins seems more stylistically cohesive to me!
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Also, something to consider beyond origins is trends! [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] & [name_m]Rhys[/name_m] are of different linguistic origins, yes, but [name_m]Rhys[/name_m] is becoming trendier in the US so it wouldn’t feel weird next to a sibling with an [name_f]English[/name_f] name. Take a trendy name like [name_m]Luca[/name_m] for instance! It’s Italian and Romanian, but it’s so popular in the US at the moment that I wouldn’t bat an eye at a sibset of [name_m]Luca[/name_m] & [name_m]Oliver[/name_m] or something along those lines, because they’re cohesive in the sense that they’re both very familiar/popular.
I think it could work - the fact they’re all eclectic actually helps! Surprising, yes, but you’re not tying yourself into any corners, if that makes sense. Like sure, Gioia, Elizabeth and John sound at odds, and Gioia, Alessio, Flaminia and Rhys might do too - but Gioia, Fionuala, Sasha, and Rhys? They’re just an eclectic sibset
For what it’s worth, I have met families with names from a whole variety of languages/cultures. As some examples (using equivalents)…
Altin, Elijah, and Maryam
Dylan, Yasmin and Remy
Carlo and Emi
Sakura, Benoit, and Ronan
Taia and Marcus
Silvie, Ingrida, and Eleni
Shauna, Esther, Caoimhe, Finley (g), and Clara
Andreas, Liel, and Farrah
You know… [name_f][/name_f] this has never once occurred to me. [name_f][/name_f]
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I have defined my list as eclectic for years and years; I actually love that about it? [name_f][/name_f] tbh as my child bearing years are slowly slipping away and I still don’t have any kiddos of my own, I’ve shrugged it off even more. [name_f][/name_f] If I’m blessed with any kiddos, probably only 1 or 2 at the most would be biological, if not all adopted… [name_f][/name_f] and I’ve taken the attitude “I like what I like and it makes sense to me” LOL.
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Also, @kachenka[name_f][/name_f] gave me this wonderful advice in one of my other threads and I love it so much, that I wanted to pass it on:
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I like country music and classic literature and writing stories and am one of the girliest people I know, but I also love[name_f][/name_f] American football, and I love some fantasy stories but not most, I’m fascinated by history but find there is just as much creativity in 2025 as there was in 1725 and there is beauty everywhere you look [name_f][/name_f]- I could just as easily have children named [name_m]Schuyler[/name_m], [name_f]Eleni[/name_f], [name_f]Masha[/name_f], and [name_m]Simao[/name_m] as I could [name_f]Adele[/name_f], [name_f]Evangeline[/name_f], [name_m]Ambrose[/name_m], and [name_m]Sebastian[/name_m]. [name_f][/name_f] I love what I love. [name_f][/name_f] And that’s messy, but it’s also beautiful, and somehow I find [name_f]Adele[/name_f], [name_m]Rafe[/name_m], [name_f]Olivet[/name_f], [name_m]Cyrus[/name_m], [name_f]Tess[/name_f], [name_f]Lydia[/name_f], and [name_m]Soren[/name_m] to work together, even if it might not for literally any other family on the face of the planet. [name_f][/name_f]
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[name_f]Cookie[/name_f] cutter perfection is nice for some people, but genuine love is so much better. [name_f][/name_f] At least for me. [name_f][/name_f]
This reminds me of decorating my old flat. [name_m]Bear[/name_m] with me! I bought some curtains with a beautiful floral print, pretty bold. And no matter what colours I tried, I couldn’t get the cushions/pillows on the sofa to blend in. They have to be plain, I reasoned, because the curtains are so bold! But nothing looked right. One day, in [name_f]Ikea[/name_f], I saw some cushions I loved which were two different prints, but looked great together. And it hit me. The answer was actually more print![name_f][/name_f] And it was. Adding more[name_f][/name_f] somehow looked more cohesive. I am currently sitting on an old chintz sofa with multiple cushions: two plain, two (different) floral, one check. [name_f]My[/name_f] other sofa is striped with two floral cushions.
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[name_f]My[/name_f] love of [name_f]English[/name_f] country house style aside: sometimes more is more, and I think that can work for names, too!
[name_f]My[/name_f] husband and I both have quite a mixed heritage, and for our children it’s double the fun [name_f][/name_f] We have 5 children together (and I have son with my ex-husband), and their names are honestly all over the place: Icelandic, Biblical, Ancient Greek, Hebrew, Russian… Their names are a reflection of their heritage, the things we care about and the things we went through in life, and that’s all that matters to us.
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People really don’t care. To them all our names are just “unusual” and yes, maybe we get a raised eyebrow sometimes, but that’s it. And I agree with the others, if your set is cohesive apart from one name, that is kind of odd. If it’s eclectic to start with, then anything goes.
As someone who’s spent a lot of time doing genealogy research, I can tell you that parents of days gone by did not give a flip about sibling name cohesiveness when naming their large broods. I’ve seen historical records of families that used the same name for multiple kids, families that went from [name_m]William[/name_m] to Vaseline to [name_f]Jettie[/name_f] [name_f]Exa[/name_f] [name_f]Mae[/name_f], families with mixed heritage that picked names from multiple languages and cultures. [name_f]Do[/name_f] what you want. If the names are chosen with love, who cares?
[name_f][/name_f] We have 5 children together (and I have son with my ex-husband), and their names are honestly all over the place: Icelandic, Biblical, Ancient Greek, Hebrew, Russian… Their names are a reflection of their heritage, the things we care about and the things we went through in life, and that’s all that matters to us.