To think matching twin names are cringy?

[AfricanRain]

My friend’s pregnant with twins and is excitedly shortlisting names in our group chat. Quite a few of her suggestions have either matching initials or rhyme, or both.

Obviously it’s her and her husband’s choice and I’m not going to piss on her chips, but AIBU to think matching names are a bad idea?

I agree, they could be more imaginative. I’m related to non-identical opposite-sex twins and they have completely different names and unless you know they’re twins you wouldn’t be able to tell.
If they want some link they could look at pairs in history and mythology but Jack and Jill is just lazy

Will it lead to the children being picked on or getting a lot of jokes? If so, then it is cruel to name children thus.

I think she should call them Esmerelda Aphrodite Persephone and Jane if girls, Xavier St John Montgomery and Jake if boys. If one of each she should call them both Sam.

I love it - I wanted Harmony and Melody if I ever had twins!

Can’t see anything especially cringy with matching initials: Leon and Luca / Alice and Amelia are completely different names despite beginning with the same letter.

Rhyming is a bit twee but twins don’t spend their entire lives together. They’ll likely be in different classes at school, have separate friendship groups, and then go on to entirely separate lives, where their names just stand alone. A cute pram full of Tillie and Millie or Charlie and Harley is going to pretty short lived.

I have twins. I don’t think “cringy” is the (main) issue. You’re dealing with two individuals, and there’s plenty of research which shows that just lumping them together as “the twins” or calling them Jayden and Brayden (or Tim and Tom) is detrimental.

I have identical twins and I’d agree with you. They are individuals and should be treated as such. Also what is cute at preschool is cringey by highschool / adulthood.

You can match them in different ways. I know an Emily/ charlotte after the Brontë sisters also a Harris/ Iona ( Scottish islands). It’s perfectly possible to have connected names without it being a source of amusement/ sympathy forever more.

And & Dec
Bob & Dylan
it's bad

Harmony & Melody, cute.

This. My friend has twin boys and they’re well into junior school age now, but they’re still dressed in matching clothes. I feel sorry for them, they never get a chance to express their individuality.

There's so many ways to make it cringey.

Pretentious - Romulus & Remus, Castor and Pollux
Worrying - Jaime & Cersei, Tristan & Iseult
Twee - Salt & Pepper, Daisy & Meadow
Eeeks - Rum & Coke, Syrup & Lean
American - Braydyn & Aydyn
Nested - Savannah & Anna, Bellamy & Ella
Anadromes - Nora & Aron, Leon & Noel

I know of someone who named her girls after the sisters in Frozen.... at the height of Frozen fame.

Memories of a Bill Bryson book where he wrote of a family with children Lonnie, Donnie, Bonnie and Connie, there may have been more that I forget!

My aunt and uncle M/F twins in their 70s have kind of matchy names, it could be worse apparently they were nearly Paul and Paula

Harmony and Melody were the names of the sisters in the Queen’s Nose! I loved that book as a child, and the CBBC adaptation.

I know of a number of siblings (not even twins) with matchy names, it seems quite in at the moment, but I wouldn’t do it personally.

My friend has identical twins (now young adults) and was determined to raise them as individuals. Before they were even born, she made it clear that they were to be referred to as 'the girls', not 'the twins', and she gave them non-matchy names and was adamant that she would never dress them alike. Let's just say that they had other ideas! As soon as they were old enough to express their opinions, they insisted on exactly the same clothes, hairstyles, shoes, school bags etc., and they invented a mash-up of their two names and both used it, just switching the order! They've always been very much individuals, but they also absolutely revel in being identical twins.

Meh, as long as they don't rhyme I think a similar theme or matchy is cute. They're twins afterall, make the most of it

I think creating a Mumsnet thread with the purpose of mocking a 'friend' is cringe, but each to their own...

Ooh anadromes! Now that is cool!! 😅 I almost want to have twins just so I can do this!

At my school there were a brother and sister called Murray and Mary. They weren't twins, just different age siblings, but even as a child I remember thinking it was very silly and felt sorry for them. Even though I never said anything like that to them!

They were full siblings and everything so it wasn't an unfortunate coincidence in a blended family.

My eldest went to school with twins Caroline and Carolyn and youngest went to school with twins Mary and Joseph. I'm sure there were many more twins but I don't remember their names tbh.

Not a twin story but this reminded me of something my dad told me -

He knew a couple who called every dog they ever had the same name. Then when they had their son (only child), they gave him that same name too. They continued this tradition with dogs after their son was born as well.

When the son grew up, he changed his name and doesn't contact his parents much.

True story unfortunately!

For some reason, themes don’t seem as bad to me? Ruby and Jade feels much better than Harley and Marley or Luke and Lila.

I once knew a sibset of Bonnie, Clyde and Jack, to add to your ‘worrying’ list!

Nooooo! 😱😱😱

I know a Cali & Mari. Their mum craved squid in pregnancy.

As for the twin name thing, the only problem I think with having rhyming names is that people will always mix them up, and it will add to difficulty people may have in telling them apart (if they're same sex). It would just be annoying for the twins themselves.

Names that at least kind of match or sound nice together makes sense to me.