So a friend of mine just recently gave birth to boy/girl twins via in vitro.
[name]Aoife[/name] [name]Ellery[/name] & [name]Apollo[/name] [name]Duke[/name]
My question is does it bother you when twin names start with the same initial? Is it too matchy? are there times when matchiness actually works?
I think it is more matchy when the names rhyme or only vary by a few letters. My sister goes to school with a set of boy/girl twins named Lorik and Lorika. But I think using the same first initial can definitely work for twins.
Exactly this! [name]Cora[/name] & [name]Cyrus[/name] is very different from [name]Charles[/name] and [name]Charity[/name].
I think [name]Aoife[/name] and [name]Apollo[/name] are fine. I believe the matching initials is only bad if they had a similar sound.
I’m so ashamed to say that until only very recently (just prior to my Nameberry days), I was fond of same-initial, matchy-matchy twin names. I had written a couple potential pairs on my names list, almost thinking that because they were twins, they would HAVE to match with alliteration. What was wrong with me?!
I pretty quickly changed my tune once I really started putting more thought into my names. I now despise almost all same-initial twin sets, but in a case like you mentioned, it’s acceptable because they are different sounds. That I like. That’s the only scenario in which it “works” for me.
Yeah I kind of thought the same thing too. Since the sounds are so different, it seems to work.
I think it’s okay as long as they use sound fairly different. By the way I love that used an Irish name!
[name]Just[/name] going to echo everyone else and say that it works as long as they sound very different. My mom’s best friend from when she was at school got pregnant at 14 and ended up having 3 daughters named [name]Kayleigh[/name], [name]Keeley[/name] and [name]Kylie[/name] and even though they weren’t triplets I still think it is ridiculous for any sibset to have matchy names.
I knew a twin set in school named [name]Toby[/name] and [name]Tina[/name]. I don’t know if they were named specifically to have alliterative names or if [name]Toby[/name] and [name]Christina[/name] just wound up that way.
I’m not a fan, but I also do not want any of my kids’ names to sound remotely similar. I like sibs to have very distinct names. They have to share enough with each other already, so I feel like it’s important to give them their own unique name. I may be making too much of it though. My sister and I have “ee”/“ie” name endings and it never bothered me.
I think it’d be best if they sound like they don’t have the same initials even though they do. Names like [name]Tiffany[/name] and [name]Teresa[/name] sound like they go together (I know a pair of identicals with those names). Though sometimes one twin renames himself/herself so they don’t match anymore. I know one pair of fraternal twins where one twin goes by his middle name ([name]William[/name]) because his first name is [name]Johnathon[/name] to his brother’s [name]Joseph[/name]. I also know a boy-girl pair with the given names [name]Alyssa[/name] and [name]Alexander[/name]. [name]Alexander[/name] resents the nickname [name]Alex[/name] and instead goes by [name]Jax[/name].
But then again, I very much like certain letters. Two of my favorite girl names are [name]Serenity[/name] and [name]Shayla[/name]. [name]Serenity[/name] can only be paired with [name]Jade[/name], [name]Shayla[/name] with [name]Jane[/name]. I also love the names [name]Leah[/name], [name]Leila[/name], Leira, and [name]Leiana[/name]. For boys, I like [name]Dylan[/name] and [name]Daniel[/name]. So you can see the letter trends I have…
If I had twins, I wouldn’t give them names that matched at all. They’ve already got the same birthday and maybe even the same face, so I’d think that they’d probably want to have their own initials. At the very least. Plus, I don’t want people to get them mixed up. And if they’ve got the same first letter for their first name, they’ll probably get mixed up a lot more. So if I had B/B twins, they’d probably be [name]Seth[/name] and [name]Drew[/name]. B/G would be [name]Seth[/name] and [name]Erica[/name]. G/G would be [name]Rose[/name] and [name]Nora[/name].
Personally I think its great when twins have names that are somehow linked. I dont think I’d even mind if FN and MN initials were the same, but in hat case I’d ensure that the names sounded very different from one another to give them individuality.
Example:
[name]Prosper[/name] [name]Emmett[/name]
[name]Phoebe[/name] [name]Eloise[/name]
Hmm, interesting. Which would you all prefer: twins linked by similar initials, twins linked by same sound/different sound, twins linked by similar meaning of names, twins linked by style in names, or not linked at all?
My sister and I (three years apart) both have “K” names and I’ve never really liked it. Maybe it would be different for a brother-sister pair, but having dealt with it myself, I can say I am not a fan.
Depends on the names. Combos like [name]Elias[/name] and [name]Elise[/name] are way too matchy. But [name]Aoife[/name] and [name]Apollo[/name] are pretty cute as they aren’t too rhyme-y.
Personally, I also think its cute to match twins names. Not too match-y like I’ve heard, but with the same first letter of their names is cute. Or if they had matching/themed middle names (Example: Everly and Everett; Everett and Ellery; Laurel and Birch; Forrest and Willow.), I think that’s cute and okay too. I read that someone mentioned Noah and Noelle, I do think it is cute for babies or little kids, but as they grow up and become their own person, it’s a little too much.
abm_smm: my preference would be to share a style. I feel this is more important in sibsets in general than the other factors. It feels out of place to me when the style of name is really different among siblings.
I always planned to give my kids their own first initial. [name_f]My[/name_f] oldest is [name_f]Nancy[/name_f]. I used to think the perfect twin names for girls were [name_f]Heather[/name_f] and [name_f]Erica[/name_f] because they both mean the same thing but sound drastically different. But my twins were fraternal and I fell in love with [name_f]Ellen[/name_f] and [name_m]Edwin[/name_m]. I didn’t want matchy names and fought it but just decided for family reasons both names are special for me and they just work. Hasn’t been a problem that they are so similar so far as [name_m]Edwin[/name_m] goes by [name_m]Eddie[/name_m]. They are 3 now.
I think it depends on the context and the names, in this case [name_f]Aoife[/name_f] and [name_m]Apollo[/name_m] are really sweet, the matching initial celebrates the fact that they are twins but the differing names and styles give them individuality. Unlike For example twin girls named [name_f]Emma[/name_f] and [name_f]Emily[/name_f] or boys called [name_m]Tommy[/name_m] and [name_m]Timmy[/name_m]