To consider if sibling names "match"

[CassandraBarrett]

I commented on a baby name that I had heard to my DH. Not in a negative way, I liked the name.
I said "X's new baby is called Ethan. I like it. The older children are Lucy and Roberta*. I think Roberta doesn't really match the other two" (not real names)

DH said I'm the only person in the world that thinks that way and what does it matter if names match anyway. I disagree. I think a lot of people consider if there children's names match.

Eg Alex, Stephen, Bobby - yes.
Apollo, Chase and Stephen - no

So YABU nobody notices if names match
YANBU people think about it

[quote SendHelp30]@HitthatroadJack my sisters DC surnames don’t match as her eldests dad died. But their first name are all similar. Think Lily, Rosie, Daisy.[/quote]
I was more mocking the idea of matching name, 1st or family, than anything else.

What constitute acceptable "matching" criteria sounds very debatable when it's done for the sake of it. It's a weird concept. You are having individual children, not a bunch of puppies.

Don't you just chose name because you ...like them?

'Matching' never occurred to me 17 years ago. It's utterly irrelevant. Just choose names you like.

@HitthatroadJack I agree it is probably weird but I know I certainly considered it when naming DC 2 & 3. I didn’t want same first initial as my DH has the same initials as his brothers and it caused problems with post. But I did want them to be similar; they’ve all got quite traditional English names. I did have a brief period of loving the name Zephan for DC3 after my dad said it as a joke but I know deep down I would’ve never used it. DS1s name just wouldn’t of “gone” with it.

I do noticed l incongruous sibling names although people probably talk about mine as well as 2 of my kids names are boring and 1 is unusual.

One of my colleagues had a son called Clarence (very formal name & never shortened) and a daughter called Bobbi (not shortened from Roberta - always made me think of cosmetics or Whitney Houston). I always thought that was a strange sibling mix.

Bobby doesn't match Alex & Stephen IMO. My DCs' names kind of match. All Hebrew names and all know by shortened versions day to day.

It would be odd to have Mary, Paul & Destiny, I agree.

It’s on of “those things” where people either like names to “clash” or not.
My kids both have very classic names that sound ok together, but are perfectly fine separate. However I know that if I was to put something like Stuart, Chardonnay or Taylor it wouldn’t look or sound right.
Likewise my friend has girls named (example) Princess Tallulah Blue and Arabella Sapphire Fyre. And then she has a little boy called (example) James. It’s very jarring to hear the simpering of her girls names next to a lovely, plain name like James.

@OneTC

The number of people who know me and know all the rest of my siblings is probably limited to my siblings

This might be important for a little while to some weird people but it's not gonna have any impact on anyone's life

Easy to say when you're not the kid with the weird name compared to your siblings.

My kids’ names both start with the same letter

I thought mine matched until I also realised they were basically the names of two murdered school girls from my youth and that was awkward.

My youngest has changed their name for a gender neutral name now they have decided they're gender fluid, so that helps.

I think it's a little reckless not to consider his DC's names sound together.

After all you'll be yelling the names together across the park for many years.

I have two boys with my ex-husband. He was super boring...I mean, err, traditional, so the boys have traditional names.

I have a new baby girl with my fiancé. He is far less traditional and we chose a beautiful Welsh name which is not at all common in England. Love it. Definitely doesn't "match" the tone of her brothers.

My fiancé, our daughter and my youngest son all begin with the same letter too!

Some definitely don’t go together. “Here are our children, Aristotle and Vikki.” I don’t think people exactly match names on purpose more that they usually end up in a similar taste-zone.

I'm the youngest of five and I doubt my parents gave it a second thought but we are a set of five classic, timeless names which go well together.. We are aged in our 60s and 50s but you wouldn't be surprised to meet a group of little ones with a combination of these names now.

From a logistical (postal) point of view, giving same sex siblings the same initial is badly thought out in my opinion.

@StCharlotte Agree with the postal pov. When my OH and I marry next year my daughter and I will both be Miss Initial Double-barrel (so identical except for first initial).

A woman in my DC’s school has two son’s with rhyming names, think Harry and Barry. I just can’t quite fathom why anyone would do that. I did know someone who named her DD’s Mollie and Millie though, worst part being the fact their surname sounded like both names too.

I know what you mean though, I would notice too. My Mum’s friend has four daughters named after colours then she had a son and named him Albert...

my kids names don't match at all. One pretty classic and the other one foreign where noone is even sure how to pronounce it and if it's a a boy's or girl's name.

Both names are brilliant and my kids are individuals. Why should names match. that is so silly.

Has anyone mentioned Aerith and Bob?

tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AerithAndBob

There was a thread on one of the name boards 10 years ago when I was thinking of names for my DS. Triplets - Faith, Hope and Kevin
I think of those triplets when I hear sibling names that sound like they don’t quite go together for whatever reason

I have 3 older siblings called “Sarah, John and Susan” I’m called a totally different name - think Roman goddess type thing. I hated it growing up as a. Everyone pronounced it wrong or called me the wrong name and b. I felt hard done by not having a normal name like my siblings. Now I’m happy with it (aged 50!) however my DCs are all called relatively traditional names. I agree that names should gel and not leave one child feeling weird - conversely I’ve never asked by siblings if they were jealous I was called something out of the blue - getting on family WhatsApp right now!!

Oh and I also know of someone whose 2 DSs are named the same a a brand of ice cream (not Haagan Dasz!)

Likewise my friend has girls named (example) Princess Tallulah Blue and Arabella Sapphire Fyre. And then she has a little boy called (example) James. It’s very jarring to hear the simpering of her girls names next to a lovely, plain name like James.

That suggests to me that she has some nasty, reactionary ideas about gender, about girls being cute and decorative so they can have ditsy names, while boys, who are going to have Actual Careers, need to have plain names that will inspire confidence whether they become a builder or a High Court judge.

YANBU - I didn’t consciously consider it with my own DC (I think our taste meant that all names would ‘go’ - although we did end up with accidental alliteration!) but have raised an eyebrow at some sibling combinations.

E.g. a family with DC’s names along the lines of William, Talulah and Emerald.

Yes I picked my DC's names to match, they sound nice when say them all. I do think if you have more than 2dcs it's harder to do it but I do notice other people DC's names if they don't match.

I didn't intentionally pick names that match but mine are definitely in the category of sounding lovely together.

Not sure I'd notice other people's names matching or not, though.

I know someone who has five children and all their names are double battled and start with K-C Surname.
She’s desperately trying to create a ‘kardashian’ style brand with her children so there are definitely people who think about matching and non matching.

Our boys name is quite unique and trying to find a name that we find suits, is really hard. So I must be a matching type person too!