[name]Hi[/name] Berries! I would like to pose a question to everyone… can you explain the sudden horror of matchy-matchy twin names to me? I really don’t like rhyming twin names, but I always wanted to have twins whose names started with the same letter, or at least had some sort of common tie. Can someone give some insight into why everyone is suddenly so against having names start with the same letter?
I don’t mind twin names that start with the same letter, but really really dislike matchy or too similar names. Like [name]Stephany[/name] and [name]Steffen[/name] or [name]Mya[/name] and [name]Mia[/name] or [name]Jayden[/name] and [name]Hayden[/name]. I think [name]Adelaide[/name] and [name]Abram[/name] are just fine.
I’ve always been against it. Personally it’s because I think twins go through enough hardship in terms of always been seen as ‘one’ as it is, giving them similar names just gives them even less of a separate identity. I know I would absolutely hate it myself, I like being able to be seen as my own person and not as a “set”. I also know (or know of) a lot of twinsets with matchy names ([name]Ellie[/name] & [name]Mollie[/name], Averson & [name]Emerson[/name], [name]Jodie[/name] & Jodelle, [name]Riviera[/name] & Rivelino) who all dislike having such similar names, because people get confused so easily.
All the twins I know who have matchy-matchy or rhyming names absolutely loathe it. Like genevie said, they had a hard enough time carving out their individuality simply because they’re twins, and then add a similar name to the mix and it’s awful. However, names that have some sort of tie - same “feel”, etc is perfectly fine with me. My cousin recently had triplets and named them [name]Genevieve[/name], [name]Vivienne[/name], and [name]Levi[/name]. Similar with the “v” sound, but not rhyming.
I think if the names are too similar, than it’s weird. But names like [name]Abigail[/name] and [name]Anna[/name] or [name]Noah[/name] and [name]Nathan[/name] are fine.
If I had twins I was thinking of doing something like: [name]Luna[/name] and [name]Flora[/name], both having a endings.
I think the match names are cute, I know people hate it, but I’ve known twins who love it. It makes them feel closer to each other. You can try matching meanings of the names instead, but I think it’s really up to you. I don’t mind if the letters start the same. The problem with that is when you have another kid though, in order for them not to feel left out, you might have to have their letter begin with the same one as the twins…
Twins are already so much alike and considered a “pair.” I don’t like the idea of matching them all the time. They need to be their own separate little people.
Yeah, I second the idea that twins need to be individuals. I don’t actually mind same first letter as long as they don’t match too much, or rhyme. When twins have names that are really similar, it is even more difficult for people who know them and harder to keep them apart. My husband has a twin brother, and they had enough difficulties with people getting them confused or kind of thinking of them as the same person without adding to it by giving them really similar names.
I might want to connect their names some how, but definitley not by using rhyming names or names that are basically the same like [name]Jolene[/name] & [name]Joelle[/name]. I think that is silly, and I agree, how are the kids supposed to find their own identity?
Mama to [name]Eli[/name]!! 
I am a twin myself, and agree completely that matchy names like [name]Jayden[/name] and [name]Hayden[/name] or [name]Nick[/name] and [name]Nicole[/name] are horrible. However names that only match with the same first letter, or even better their meaning are great. I love my twin, but I want to be an individual but also have something that ties us together. My name is [name]Nuala[/name] which means white shoulder whereas my twin is [name]Gwenda[/name] which means white and good. Though we still don’t understand to this day why we have those particular names, when we’re not exactly fair skinned. Lol.
I agree with most people on here that matching names just aren’t good for twims, [name]IMO[/name]. I think that same first initials is OK but it’s just a very predictable thing to do and almost what some people think should happen with twins. I mean they’re tied together forever with being twins that the should be given their own identify with separate and unique names.
A think sticking to a similar theme is fine, as long as it isn’t ridiculously cheesy like [name]Aidan[/name] & [name]Nadia[/name], [name]Autumn[/name] & [name]Summer[/name] etc. However, I find twin sets like [name]Poppy[/name] & [name]Daisy[/name] (flowers), [name]Isaac[/name] & [name]Jude[/name] (biblical), [name]Eden[/name] & [name]Willow[/name] (nature), [name]Catherine[/name] & [name]Victoria[/name] (classic), I think they are fine because it isn’t ridiculously matchy but their style fits together.
I like twins with names not too matchy, but start with the same letter, like my daughter’s friends: [name]Eleanor[/name] and [name]Edward[/name]. They sound nothing like each other, with only one thing in common.
I don’t mind the same letter thing, but it can cause issues if they’re the same gender. I have a co-worker who’s married to a twin named [name]Paul[/name], and his twin is [name]Peter[/name]. Frequently when they go for loans, or to buy a car or such, they get mistaken for the other twin due to the initial on the credit cards etc.
As for names that are awfully matchy, like [name]Paul[/name] and [name]Paulina[/name] (I knew them in HS), or worse [name]Mia[/name] and [name]Mya[/name]. I don’t like it because it’s unorginal. Twins are already lumped together, and viewed as one entity, and they are not. Their names should be different, because they are different people.
I’ve also known, [name]Aliya[/name] and [name]Aaron[/name], [name]May[/name]/Rim/Merium/[name]Issa[/name] (3 girls/1 boy), [name]Annie[/name] and [name]Henry[/name] (my great aunt and uncle), [name]Elijah[/name] and [name]Isaiah[/name].
I don’t mind the same letter as long as it’s not overly matchy, and I think it’s better on opposite gender as well to avoid administrative confusion. [name]Elliot[/name] and [name]Eleanor[/name] would be too much ell sound, especially as she could nn [name]Ellie[/name], whereas [name]Elliot[/name] and [name]Emily[/name] or [name]Edward[/name] and [name]Eleanor[/name] would be better combinations, even though [name]Eddie[/name] and [name]Ellie[/name] might be too matchy in terms of nicknames.
I’ve not known anyone with awfully bad twinsets, though, but I want to spew when I look at the SSA twin lists ([name]Madison[/name] and [name]Mason[/name], [name]Emma[/name] and [name]Ella[/name], [name]Taylor[/name] and [name]Tyler[/name]… be original, please). Irritatingly I can’t find any twin lists for the UK, at least not on the ONS website, to compare if this matchiness is as prominant over here.
A lady at my university has twins called [name]Harry[/name] and [name]Henry[/name]. I just had to look away when she told me their names. I don’t think she realised [name]Harry[/name] was a traditional nickname for [name]Henry[/name]
I grew up with twins, [name]Grant[/name] and [name]Garrett[/name]. Individually, great names. Growing up, I ALWAYS tied them together. When someone mentioned [name]Grant[/name], I immediately thought [name]Garrett[/name] and vice versa. To me, they were two pieces of the same puzzle. Almost interchangeable. As an adult, I now know how sad that was. They were still individuals, and deserved names that made them so. I do like a small link, but nothing blatantly out there. If twins start with the same letter, it should be because the parents LOVED both of the names and couldn’t give one up over the other.
I actually like twin names that start with the same letter or have theme, as long as the names themselves aren’t too close (ie, [name]Nicholas[/name] and [name]Nicole[/name], [name]Taylor[/name] and [name]Tyler[/name]).
Thanks for the feedback! There are a lot of varying opinions represented here, and some are more extreme with this than others, so I have lots to think about. Thank you!!!
If I had twins, I think I would either link them with common meanings or start their middle names with the same letter. Maybe both!
I would probably match syllables just for balance (I think a very long name and a very short name sound weird together) and I would try to balance either both very unusual names or both very common.
But I don’t think its fair to treat them any differently than if you had kids one at a time. I wouldn’t pick matching, clone-y names for kids born a year apart, i.e. [name]Joseph[/name] and [name]Josephine[/name], so why would I do that to twins?