Thoughts on Joshua and Joseph for twins?

[Tom1989]

Shortened to Josh and Joe. What do people think of this? Thanks

[Feralkidsatthecampsite]

Bit matchy matchy. Ds has friends called Josh and Kai..

[HeddaGarbled]

I like 🙂

[MynameisHappind]

I like them individually but they sound too jo and jo.
Joseph and William, Isaac, Matthew
Joshua and Albert, Zachary, Noah

[ToLongNow]

Bit to similar.

They would be Jo and Jo

[Deardonkey]

Both fantastic names but too similar together.

[PotteringAlong]

No. Too matchy matchy and, at some point, post will arrive for mr J surname and you won’t know who it’s for, which is a small thing but really really annoying.

[bellinisurge]

I know twins with this name set.

[TippledPink]

I don't see a problem with it- my son is Joshua and I am Joanna- it didn't even cross my mind that his name was similar to mine but someone did mention it once. To me they are different names. You would not shorten Josh to Jo.

[Yesyoudoknowme]

It's good - as pp said you don't shorten Joshua to Joe. I have a son with one of those names and it isn't shortened at all - so it's not a foregone conclusion...

[TheCraicDealer]

No I wouldn't do it. I'm a twin and it wouldn't like to share a first initial as well as a birthday, surname, address, etc. It's too matchy matchy, like you're hammering home the point that they're twins. Nightmare with post as well.

If you like Joe, what about Ivo?

[Sk1nnyB1tch]

I like both the names and they don't clash, I've never heard Joshua being shortened to Jo either. I know one who as an adult is still called Yoshi though But you can't predict what characters will be around in your childs primary school days and how this might give them a nickname!

[Spirael]

A view from a software developer: They'll have issues with having the same birthday, same initial, same surname, same address and similar format first names (length and sharing 4 of 6 characters). Automated fuzzy matching processes will assume they are one person and merge their accounts/histories together.

[SleepingStandingUp]

I wouldn't for the same of post, records etc that are initial, surname and dob related.
Both nice, but I'd sun for their own letter

[CornedBeef451]

Nope. Lovely names but they will cause confusion on every database they are ever on including the NHS and whatever your LEA uses for schools data.

[XFPW]

(FWIW I know 2 Joshuas who go by Joe.)

Aside from that however, I do think they are a little too matchy matchy. I have identical twin girls and before we knew they were both girls (before anyone comments - they were DCDA twins so no evidence they were identical until we had DNA testing done post birth) we had picked names for 2 boys and a boy & a girl.

Our boys names both started with E and we had so many reservations about that. We stuck on them in the end because they were still very distinct names and would never have been shortened to anything like each other. (In fact - in the shortened versions only one started with E as the other name would have taken the second half of the name.)

Our favourite girls name alongside our favourite boys name was more problematic though as they both had the same ending when shortened and we really ummed and ahhed about it.

I have 4 DC, and without a doubt, the twins names are said together more than any other. I do think 2 matchy names would be a pain in the ass. My two are ID and best friends. They choose to be in the same class at school, have the same friend group and often like to coordinate their outfits (although I think this is more a girl thing than a twin thing), but their distinct names mean a lot to them. I do think it would be harder to form distinct identities with such similar names.

(I do recognise the problem though as we really debated giving up one of our favoured names if we’d had one of each, as the names just didn’t work together. And fwiw - I love both Joshua and Joseph!)

[LetsHearItForTheBuoy]

Ahh these names are fab twin names

[Holyrivolli]

Such a daft thing to do. You’ll have two children with the same initial, surname, date of birth living at the same address and going to the same school etc.

Give them a bit of individuality and avoid matchy matchy names.

[CaptainMyCaptain]

I wouldn't do it, it will be confusing later when they receive mail, official forms etc. I taught a pair of twins whose names were so similar County Offices phoned school to check if the name had been put on the roll twice in error.

I think it also takes away their individuality as people a bit. Friends will probably get their names mixed up (tbf this can happen anyway).

[1990shopefulftm]

How about a different name beginning with J? DH is Joshua and it's always shorted to josh , we re thinking of naming our son Jack so it ll be similar but with their middle name their intials will be different.

[FluffyEggsontoast]

Really great combination
The names compliment each other well but aren't too matchy matchy

[NeedToKnow101]

Too similar

[OwlBasket]

I used to babysit for a family with children called Jo, Jake, Josh and Jordan. It was fecking nightmare - they were ‘good’ kids but calling for one of the 4 in a rushed or emergency situation was impossible. It used to go “j,j,j, aargh. NO. Stop” awful.

[daisypond]

I wouldn’t.

[VinoOlive]

I just wouldn't have same initial. They'd both be Master/Mr J Surname. Could get confusing for letters etc.

The names themselves are fine though.

[sashh]

I was also going to mention the letters thing.

My brother's friend was called John after his dad, his mum was called Joan - lots of opening the wrong letters / bank statements etc.