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 don’t mind same initials all that much.

That said rhymey names are awful and obvious “themes” are just incredibly cringe, especially when they’re completely inappropriate, like very obvious husband and wife names or something (Ike & Tina or Romeo & Juliet) or an obvious conduit for someone’s little fandom. I know someone with twins named Edward and Bella and yes it was totally intentional.

Had a Harley once ( not a twin). No prizes for guessing the surname.

Came on to say this but this is better worded than I could have

The Queen's lady-in-waiting that wrote a book (forget her name) had twin girls, Mia and Ami. Thought that was quite clever.
Rhyming is bad though.

When you have twins, just don't give them those sorts of names.

😂😂

Same initials lead to problems in later life (wrongly addressed mail etc). Rhyming names is tricky for calling someone. I wouldn't.

I refused to give my two sibling cats matchy or rhyming names so definitely wouldn't do it to children!

It's an absolute nightmare for school admissions and qualifications, because they look like the same person and the DfE/local authority/other systems will often merge them or refuse to accept that they are not one person entered twice, due to them having the same initial, often a very similar name, sometimes a hyphenated name with one part shared by both, the same date of birth and the same address. It also flags up as potential fraud in many databases.

Please, have completely different names.

There is a also a very special place in hell reserved for parents who name all of their children practically the same - things on a par with Ellen, Elene, Elese and Elle are actually genuinely seen in schools.

Hello fellow Queen's Nose fan!

My daughters were preschoolers when Frozen came out but I had considered both Anna and Elsa as names for them. DD2 (now a teenager) was very nearly Elsa and she still gives me a hard time about choosing the wrong name and how much she still wants to have the same name as her favourite Disney princess!

Same initials would be tricky at school and beyond I think. (My daughter had loads of problems with her school IT systems because there was another J Smith.)

I have twins (B/G) - they definitely wouldn't like to have themed/matching names at all! We have a common surname, and they look nothing alike, and they've been able to go under the radar as twins some of the time, which they like. (There's only one French teacher at school, who taught both, and didn't realise they were related until I popped up twice on parents' evening!)

I would definitely counsel against matching initials or themed names personally (but fully respect people's right to make their own choices about it, obviously!).

I went to school with a Harmony and Melody and a Lord and Lady (yup - that were their given names).

I think it's messed up. Twins are individuals not a matched set. I also know quiet a few twins that don't have a relationship as adults. I don't think it's great to make a potentially fraught relationship worse.

Mine have different first initials and we’ve still have trouble with the bank mixing them up due to same DoB, surname and address so it would be much worse with the same initial too.

Also hate the thought of them being reduced to halves of a pair rather than separate people so mine were always dressed differently, never called “the twins”, always had separate birthday cakes and were sung to separately etc etc. Ironically it seems to be the mums of non identical twins who are worse and wanting everything matchy matchy to make them
more like twins. Also different age same gender sibling mums.

I know elderly twins named Cecilia and Cecile. They worked for the same firm, and were constantly confused. Choosing the same initial for all siblings means monogrammed clothes can be handed down. It’s as far as one should go with matching names.

It's very cringey isn't it but whatever floats her boat.

At the end of the day, she can name her twins whatever she wants to. However, I have twins and it’s a hard no from me. They are two individuals and not a gimmick. Twins already have to cope with many unique challenges that their singleton counterparts do not - I don’t know why parents would want to add to that.

When I was pregnant with my DTs my tutor group chose names:
Darren and Sharon
Wayne and Dwayne
or Lily and Tilly.
It was back in the 80s 🙂

A nurse told me when I was pregnant that she had twin nephews with the same initials (first and second names) it caused all sorts of grief. Their NI numbers were also one digit apart. It made applying for things look like fraud, I think there had been a big problem with driving license’s especially as their pictures were the same.

My twins (b/g) have rhyming names. In my defence it was not intentional. They rarely get called their full names as both go by a shortened name which have no resemblance to each other. Different initials etc. I loved one of the names in its long form and the others shorter version. I wanted them to both have long name so had opportunities to choose a short/nickname they liked when older. So decided would give them both the longer version and just ignore the fact they then rhymed. Everyone at school knows them as their short names so most people have no idea their names rhyme.

I recently heard of some called Lara and Lana. I thought it was a joke!! Surely asking for confusion and being treated as the same person!!

I worked for a local authority once and all the muslim families who called all their sons Mohammed but used their middle names caused no end of confusion!

I agree with you OP, but then seeing all the suggestions I am not sure.

Love the theme eg Ruby and Jade.
Lone the ano- whatsists - Leon and Noel - that is actually pretty neat and no-one would know really.

but not rhyming and I don't like all kids with one initial but I know some people do.

YABU as it’s nothing to do with you. My twins are boy girl and all along i was adamant i wanted “different” names so different sound, length, initial etc but in the end i gave them both the same initial. Both names were decided early on as we could only agree on one girls name and there were a few boys ones we liked but our favourite is the one we had when our eldest (girl) was born. The names weren’t alike at all then about 48hrs before my elsc i decided i didn’t like the boys name enough - maybe as we had liked it for so long but i didn’t want any of our back up names either. I randomly suggested a name to my husband waiting to go down to theatre and he decided it was “ok” whilst i decided i “really liked it” once he got a glimpse at me in theatre he agreed to the name. Turns out they now have the same first initial & i blame the drugs for not noticing & my husband didn’t point it out. I only noticed when a nurse said it was “cute” it wasn’t cute and it wasn’t deliberate but both babies had had their names for nearly 48hours & we had cards etc using those names. I debated changed my sons name but couldn’t as i really liked both so now they go through life with the same first initial and people thinking it’s a twin thing when they find out but it doesn’t bother me as it’s irrelevant what anyone thinks and has no impact on their lives and i still love both names. I would draw the line at matching names e.g Jane & Kane but wouldn’t judge someone for doing it as thats theur choice.