I am a long time lurker and this site has had such a shape in developing our current leaders for names. So, I decided to register and post to see if I get get some valuable insight from this amazing community.
This is my and my husband’s 2nd marriage and my DH and I each have a child from our first. he has a daughter named [name]Madison[/name] and I have a son, [name]Logan[/name]. We wanted to have one of our own and surprise, we wound up with two!! A boy and a girl will complete our amazing blended family.
My husband having a girl first really struggled with a boys’ name while I had always thought of girls’ names so they came easier for us. In the end, we think we are going to go with 2 unisex names with strong tendencies toward the other sex…the girl name has, in the past, been predominately male and vice versa. The thing is that we’ve grown to love them, but we’ve kept them secret…and then when my mom guessed one of the names (for the opposite sex), my face gave it away and we wound up telling her…and she’s been nothing but critical.
So, knowing we have a [name]Madison[/name] and a [name]Logan[/name] (which I have determined to be an amazing sibset…what luck!!), please let me know what you think of these two names for our twins…I am at 34 weeks and they are coming soon…so all this paranoia is really playing with my emotions!
We went through all the name combos with all the kids (so we didn’t wind up with a “[name]Sam[/name] and [name]Ella[/name]” type issue) and we wanted names with limited nicknames and that balance…so a first name that has multiple syllables with a one syllable mn and then a one syllable first name with a multiple syllable mn. Our current children also topped the name popularity charts and while I don’t have any idea how my DH and his ex picked the name, I definitely wasn’t meaning that when I picked [name]Logan[/name], but I didn’t know about sites like this back then either!! So, we wanted to trend towards the less popular. We have played and played with names and though it has been my decision to keep them secret, the lack of feedback is getting me. And no, I don’t just want positive feedback…I do want true feedback. My mom is just ticked because I won’t use a family name [name]Ruth[/name]…so I want to hear others…
anyway…enough rambling
Thanks, berries…
our current daughter, we have [name]Madison[/name] [name]Elizabeth[/name]
our current son, we have [name]Logan[/name] [name]Edward[/name]
for our sweet boy, we were thinking [name]Riley[/name] [name]Chase[/name]
for our sweet girl, we were thinking [name]Quinn[/name] [name]Kennedy[/name]
They’re great names, and i like the whole sibset - they all go well together. BUT i’d seriously hesitate to use such completely unisex names for boy/girl twins; it seems to me that this will increase the amount of confusion that happens over twin names in any combination of genders. Are you prepared to put up with people constantly asking “which is the boy and which is the girl?” If you are, then these names are awesome, especially if you like them. But if that gives you pause, i wonder if there are names that will preserve the style you like, but with a little more clarity.
[name]Don[/name]'t worry about your mom: this is your choice!
thank you for your insight. That is something we quickly determined was going to be an issue…which was which? The little devil…hmm, punk, etc…in me says that it’s part of the deal and that it will hopefully teach people to not make assumptions. That being said, the realist in me says it’s not my job to do that nor will my unisex names teach anybody anything and maybe I will get tired of it. It’s a great point that is worth us revisiting the names that we currently love. The insight on this forum is always really great and I appreciate this, spring.
I love [name]Quinn[/name], but I’ve always seen riley as a very feminine name, and havn’t liked it that much at that! Hmmm… I’ve also seen [name]Chase[/name] used on girls lately, so it makes me a bit concerned! I know I personally wouldn’t give him such an androgynous name, but it is your choice, and if you and your husband love it then thats great!
I would definitely be wary about people not knowing which is which. While yes, people shouldn’t make assumptions, they do, and it’s not fair for the kids to have to deal with that. I would probably quess [name]Riley[/name] and [name]Quinn[/name] were two little girls, the way those names have been leaning as of late.
I agree. I don’t think it is fair for the children to take on the burden of fighting gender issues in society…
[name]Madison[/name], to me, is obviously girl since I never met a boy [name]Madison[/name], and [name]Logan[/name] is defiantly a boy’s name… I also don’t think those names go well with the current ones. [name]Riley[/name] and [name]Quinn[/name] seem so out there compared to the down to earth [name]Madison[/name] and [name]Logan[/name]…
I like the names, although honestly I’d assume [name]Riley[/name] was the girl and [name]Quinn[/name] was the boy. But they are great names and go well with [name]Logan[/name] and [name]Madison[/name].
Thanks kasie…that’s great insight. We will give that some thought. Really appreciate it.
We appreciate your opinion. No one is expecting them to take up gender issues. We’re not naming her [name]Matthew[/name] and him [name]Natalie[/name]. They are truly unisex names as indicated here on this very site. I do understand your point and appreciate the feedback.
Good point elisabeth. [name]Both[/name] could be girl names with the current trending. It’s about the only boy name my husband would even entertain…so funny that’s the current thinking. I greatly appreciate the response. Some more info to think about for sure.
Wow…I hadn’t heard of [name]Chase[/name] being used as a girls name so that does give it some double issues. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.
All great responses and something for us to noodle on as the days get shorter until their arrival.
[name]Love[/name] the feedback. [name]Love[/name] this site.
Your older children’s names pretty well match their genders as per the statistics below.
[name]Madison[/name] - No# 8 in the US for 2011 (12,298 girls)
[name]Logan[/name] - No# 20 (12,913 boys) and No# 483 (546 girls)
Sadly, I think your chosen names for your twins may cause some gender confusion.
Although I prefer it on a boy, [name]Riley[/name] is actually more popular for girls at the moment. It was No# 47 last year (5,002 girls as opposed to No# 111 for boys - 2,427 boys). [name]Quinn[/name] stats are as follows: No# 188 (1,680 girls) and No# 297 (1,117 boys).
[name]Just[/name] something to think about when naming your twins. Personally, I think [name]Chase[/name] (No# 69 - 6,146 boys) and [name]Kennedy[/name] (No# 90 - 3,225 girls) may be better first name options.
I guess the point I was trying to make was that some people don’t see the names as “unisex.” You can claim it’s truly unisex, but I’ve met people who believe [name]Madison[/name] is a girls name. [name]Just[/name] like I know a boy named [name]Riley[/name] who was teased because the people I grew up with thought it was a girl’s name… He eventually became popular on the swimming team and that hushed everyone up.
It also depends where you live. Maybe check and see what the stats are for [name]Riley[/name] being a boy vs being a girl’s name in your area, same with [name]Quinn[/name]… If it seems to lean to one gender, I would use it on that gender, but if it does appear to be “unisex” then it might be fine on either. You can also do a test run with family and friends. Tell them the names, but not the gender, and have them guess.
In summary, yes you’re using names that are unisex, but not everyone thinks that way…
I didn’t mean to offend you, just expressing my opinion.
I’m sorry, [name]Diana[/name], I didn’t mean to give off a vibe that I was offended. Not at all. I was merely meaning our true purpose isn’t to go against the grain just for that very purpose. Though privately, I may enjoy that, it’s not the reason for the names. I greatly appreciate your opinion on the matter.
I like both names. I have a Ryley (girl) of my own but if she had been a boy…I probably still would have went with Riley. Quinn is my top contender for a girl right now. My only suggestion would be to give them a more “traditional” middle name to balance the unisex-ness of the first names. ex: Riley James. Riley Thomas, Riley David…Quinn Amelia, Quinn Alexandra (my personal favorite), Quinn Rebecca.
Riley Chase is cute but I’m not crazy about Quinn Kennedy (way to N heavy imo).
[name]Riley[/name] [name]Chase[/name]- I strongly prefer [name]Reilly[/name] over [name]Riley[/name], to me “[name]Riley[/name]” looks girl and “[name]Reilly[/name]” looks boy. I really like [name]Reilly[/name] [name]Chase[/name] for your sibset.
[name]Quinn[/name] [name]Kennedy[/name]- To be honest, I think both are good names, but I don’t think the combo flows well. [name]IMO[/name], [name]Kennedy[/name] [name]Quinn[/name] is much better.
Thanks, berries for all the great and honest feedback. My DH and I talked a great deal tonight and, while the first names are staying put, there may be some changes to the middle names in the works.
If your DH is especially set on [name]Riley[/name] for a boy (which is totally ok) and you’re having a hard time getting him to express enthusiasm over ANYTHING else, then I’d just make an effort to make your girl name more feminine. A middle name change could be enough if you pick something that’s really unambiguous.
I prefer [name]Riley[/name] on a boy than a girl personally but it does seem to get a lot of girl usage these days. I agree with the pp who said the spelling [name]Reilly[/name] looks more masculine. Names similar to [name]Riley[/name] that may be more masculine:
But not really a fan of [name]Quinn[/name] or [name]Kennedy[/name] for a girl. I know a guy named [name]Quinn[/name] actually so it doesn’t feel feminine to me. The only girl I’ve heard with it is the character on the tv show Glee.
Hello, berries. I recently just read some Nameberry press about name trends for 2013 and the name ‘awards’ for 2012. So that brought me back to this post!
My DH and I had our healthy happy twins on July 9…and we took all the comments and kept the unisex names per our original thread. This post really did make us think hard about the hard sounding [name]Kennedy[/name] with [name]Quinn[/name] and the gender association overall. Alas, our wedding was in Disney so we turned back there for inspiration.
