But we were visiting my parents this weekend, and my Mom was all over the baby names.
In my family, we have 2 traditions for the first born daughter.
1. On my Mom’s side, the first born daughter’s name is [name]Mary[/name]. My mom is [name]Mary[/name] [name]Anne[/name], grandma was [name]Mary[/name] [name]Jane[/name], you get the idea.
2. On my Dad’s side, the first born daughter’s middle name is [name]Elizabeth[/name]. My grandma is [name]Flora[/name] [name]Elizabeth[/name], my aunt is [name]Nanette[/name] [name]Elizabeth[/name], and her daughter is [name]Michelle[/name] [name]Elizabeth[/name].
So, you’d think that my name would be [name]Mary[/name] [name]Elizabeth[/name]. But it’s not. My mom actually broke tradition and named me [name]Erin[/name] [name]Mary[/name] [name]Elizabeth[/name]. And I’m grateful.
I always said that my first daughter would continue the tradition with the middle name “[name]Mary[/name]-[name]Elizabeth[/name]” but if our twins are both girls… what do we do?
My Mom thinks that they should both have the same middle names since they will be born on the same day. I think that’s taking the twin thing a little too far. But I also don’t want #2 to think that she is not as special as #1.
Perhaps give one daughter [name]Mary[/name] in the middle, and the other [name]Elizabeth[/name]? That way, both girls get a piece of the tradition, but also some individuality.
[name]Mary[/name] [name]Matilda[/name] and [name]Eden[/name] [name]Elizabeth[/name]
Each girl would have one simple and somewhat religious first name, and one lacy and royal middle name. The balance and alliteration ties them together as twins.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with giving them the same middle name. I actually think it’s pretty common. My mother and both of her sisters each have the middle name [name]Marie[/name], after their grandmother. I like the idea of using [name]Elizabeth[/name] for one and [name]Mary[/name] for the other. I think the point is that you’re honoring your family with your children’s names, and that’s the only really important part of the tradition. You can find your own way to do that if you don’t love the way your parents and grandparents did it.
Maybe I should have prefaced it with the fact that we have a SUPER Common, 1 syllable last name. So, [name]Mary[/name] would be way too short for a middle and both are too common for a first name choice for us.
But I like the idea of splitting the 2 names between the 2 girls and maybe adding another name in the middle. Lots to think about. And plenty of time to do it.
You could give both girls variations of [name]Mary[/name] and [name]Elizabeth[/name], like [name]Elizabeth[/name] [name]Marie[/name] and [name]Mary[/name] [name]Isabel[/name] (I’m sure there are more creative combos but you get the idea). Or maybe you could use names from your husband’s side of the family too, and each girl gets one middle from each side.
I’d use your mom’s family’s tradition with one twin and then use your father’s family tradition with the other twin. That way they are both “special” and you’re not stuck with a useless extra middle name or a name that you hate.
I’m with the poster who said to give one of the names to each girl, and add onto them - they can each have their own first names that way too, just like you do!
And plenty of time to do it.