How much emphasis do you put on sibling names when naming a new baby?

Question

I have two daughters and I feel like I locked myself into a naming pattern with them. Both of them have the same style, sound, origin, etc.

So, I was wondering how much emphasis do you put on sibling names when naming a new baby? Do you even consider the sibling names or just go with what you like?

Examples are -

Styles:

You have two children with classic names such as Grace and Emma. How is little Nevaeh going to feel as a sibling?

Origin:

You've decided to go French with Celeste and Pascal. How is little Nadia going to feel as a sibling?

Sound:

You have two children Madison and Grayson. How is Eric going to feel as a sibling?

Have you followed a naming pattern when naming your children? Or have you broke out of a pattern and how did it work out?

Thanks!

Answer 1

I named all 4 of my children out of the Bible,so I guess I got into a trend with them, for ex: Khrystyna(only girl), 3 boys ex: Michael, Timothy, Jonathan, they are had different nicknames they could go by all thru school, and now when they're grown up.

Answer 2

We're naming our baby's middle name after my sister's middle name.  My husband and I think middle names should be family names.  It just happens that my sister's middle name works best with the first name we picked. :)  

Answer 3

I don't think I have a pattern.  My oldest is Kristan, which is a traditional name with a long established meaning.  My younger daughter is Jarzi, which is a name I made up.  So....no naming pattern for me.

Answer 4

Well, I guess I just went with what I liked....

I gave my son my initials and my sons middle name is the same as my fathers middle name....

my name....Jolyn Kay

my fathers name....Joseph Carl

MY SONS NAME....Justin Karl....he is 25 years old

My kids are 11 years apart, so maybe, I named them the same "style" as what was "in style" at the time of their births....

I gave my daughters everyones middle names....

my daughters name....Kaylee Ann Lacy....she has 2 middle names....she is 14 years old

my name....Jolyn KAY

my older brothers name....Terry LEE

my moms name....Patricia ANN

my younger brothers name....Shawn LACY....his middle name is the same as his grandfathers first name....LACY Earl....he always went by "Earl"

Answer 5

I think you should pick names that you like, but not rhyming names or names beginning with the same letter.

I once knew twin girls names Whitney and Brittany who didn't feel at all like individual's and felt stupid because their parents had done the 'cutesy twin factor' thing.

One of my cousins has 5 daughters, Jessica, Jasmine, Janaya, Jacinta and Jaclyn. Now that they're all a bit older they get mail address to 'Miss J Smith' and none of them know whose mail it is!

I have 4 sisters, our names are Jemma, Alannah, Zoe, Claire and Bridget. All from different origins and all completely different.

Answer 6

I really care about siblings names "matching" in style but I am a huge name nerd and I don't have any kids yet.

I think as long as the name isn't drastically different or if you really love it enough than I think it is fine. I mean you kids are only going to be grouped like that when they are really young. As they grow older and spread apart they will be less of a unit. They are adults and separate much longer than they are children.

Answer 7

I really think it should be based on the name you love the most. On the other hand I would probably stick to the same style, origin not that much, and I really don't think I would worry about different sounds. Hope that helps!!

Answer 8

My siblings and I all have very anglo sounding names but there's no real distinguishing characteristic among them except that we were all named after other family members...

Victoria- for the Roman Goddess of Victory

James- named after our father and grandfather/Kings of Scotland/Biblical

Anna- Biblical/Anglicized version of the universal name Ana

Answer 9

I wouldn't put too much Emphasis on names , you've got to think if they are all playing up which is the easiest to say. :D

Answer 10

I am not a fan of rhyming names but names starting with the same letter should be okay, I really think that once the children grow up and become their own person their siblings names will not be of any importance.

For instance I grew up with 3 girls named Laura, Louise and Lucy. Mail used to come to the house addressed to Miss L Surname and no-one knew who it was for!

My Name is Melanie and I have 2 sisters names Stephanie and Natalie. We all use shortened names now as the humiliation of rhyming was unbearable and we never knew who was being called as they all have the same ending sound. Natalie was born much later and my mother went out of her way to pick a name that 'went' with the other names rather than choosing a name she liked. She almost chose Bethany which is so similar already to Stephanie.

I'm sure no-one would have minded if Natalie had been given a completely different sounding name, it would not have alienated her I think, it really comes down to the individual.

I think it should be considered but not OVERTHOUGHT to the point of rhyming!

My Son's name is Liam and if I had a girl it would have been Libby.

Answer 11

i think that decision can only be made by you

Answer 12

I would say that the only pattern I would avoid is names that sound the same like rhyming names.  

I've known people who named all their boys with D names until the last one.

I've known people who named all their boys with the same first name after the father, then called them by their middle names, but all the girls were totally different kinds of names.

My family I have a kind of unusual name (for my age - it's increased in popularity since I was born) and my brothers are all bible names.

I named my son a classical name that would work in Russian and English because my husband is from Russia, but If we have a girl I want to name her a Russian name and the English people will just have to live with it.

Answer 13

Patterns are for clothing and computer designs.

Names are for living, breathing beings. They should be carefully considered and chosen for meaning--meaning of the name itself or personal meaning to the parent.

Using a pattern and holding to it for the sake of the pattern makes the pattern more important than the child. Frankly, I think it's demeaning and, perhaps, dehumanizing.

My opinion is sure to get all thumbs down, especially from the 15 year olds. By the time they're 40, they'll realize I was right.

Just my opinion but you DID ask.

Answer 14

RubyBenubi said it the best!

Patterns are just plain foolish.  Go with names you LIKE - not names that fit into some silly pattern.  How will Nevaeh feel?  Nevaeh probably won't know that her name doesn't fit in with the "classic" pattern.  Neither will Nadia or Eric.  Nevaeh will be FAR more concerned with who has more toys, more sleepovers, and more driving privileges!

Patterns are just for the parents.  Spend more time worrying about how Nadia's development than fretting about how she will "feel" when she learns she was not given a French name.

Answer 15

Here are some examples I know that didn't work:

Alexandra, Gabriella and Riley, Alexandra is a lawyer, Gabriella is ER doctor and Riley is a waitress, who wants to marry George Clooney. Riley said to me once that her parents must not have had very high expectations for her, to name her Riley instead of something like Christina.

My cousin has three natural children and an adopted black son. Her natural children are named Nathan, Aaron, and Daniel. To Make her adopted son feel a connection to hie heritage she named him Jamaal. She thought it was a good thing . It was not. He feels no connection to his brothers whatsoever. He always tells her she should have named him Samuel.

These are just examples of how I have seen that getting to different with siblings is sometimes alienating for the children.

Good Luck to you!

My name is Colette, my sisters are Danielle, Martine, and Veronique

Answer 16

I think that it doesn't really matter on whether the names go together it's about what you think of each individual name. Imagine that you are naming your first child and setting its own style of name and be a bit original, your child will thank you for it when her brother or sister has a name completely different to him/her.

Feel free to name one child George and the other Alyssa or Addison. Mix names with modern sounds and an old-fashioned ones together. Use different origins of the name and make the child feel unique.

Yes, it may be the odd one out but it will also feel special at the same time.