Why on mumsnet do people think their children’s names have to “go” together ?

[Smallhorse]

I’ve never come across this in real life. Eg “ suggestons for name for sister for Toby and Freddie? “ I really don’t get it.

Well I had a girl but if I ever have a boy then I will use the name I wanted back then. I can't imagine not using my favourite boy name just because it was originally for the first yellow bump I had

It is critical for the Christmas cards to have a nice name flow.

I don’t think it matters

I think it's nice for names to have a similar feel to them and often think about how well siblings names go together when I meet children. That said, my dcs names are quite different, one quite popular and one far less so, but I love them both. I know sisters Sophie and Ophelia and always think they are a strange combination.

I think it's odd. Just pick names you like. Who's really going to question you on OMG their names are so DIFFERENT sounding, WHY did you do that? Similarly no-ones going to care/most won't even realise (unless they're family to you anyway) that your DCs names are a family brand or pattern or whatever. How likely is it that their names are going to be called aloud all at the same time anyway? & even if they were...Who cares. Children are individuals I think most people are aware of that.

I don't get why people ask a bunch of strangers for name suggestions at all. They must have come across a few people with names before they got pregnant and there are books,endless sites etc. It can be unintentionally funny though!

Is it not just to see if they flow when saying them. Maybe I'm weird but if I met siblings like 'Tarquin Atticus and Jaidyyn' or 'Tabitha and Kayciee-maii' (exaggerated for effect) then I'd find it unusual. Normally people tend to find the names they like fall into certain patterns so if one really stands out and doesn't fit then it would be unusual. I'm not saying it matters as such but that's my logic.

I've never understood this either and find it ridiculous. Just choose a name you like and run with that, as long as it isn't outlandish.

I call all my kids by name one after another quite often - mainly because I hated it so intensely when my mother used to call "gerrrllllls!" across crowded rooms/ open spaces/ up the stsirs instead of using our separate names.

But the thing is that the names you like will probably all be quite similar to one another. It's not impossible that if you like Tabitha you'll also like Kacey-Maii but it's unlikely.

I always use my children's names together.

Mine first two have quite unusual names, so I think it would have been a bit odd having a top ten name for my third.

On mn it’s cause there are no other clues - nobody knows your ethnicity location or if you’re trendy arty hippy traditional etc so a shortcut to narrow down options is surely to say what your other children are called. I would be stunned stunned if someone introduced their children as Rainbow, River and John.

I kind of like the fact that my kids' names don't at all go together! DD has one of the less-common 'granny names', which you'd expect her brother to be Alfie or Oliver or Freddy or something to 'go with' but actually it's quite contrasting.

I know of a sibset with the names: Quentin and Taylor. Named after Quentin Tarintino and Taylor Swift. I was extremely WTF when I heard their names.

I think because people are too bothered about what other people think, instead of picking a name they like and sticking with it they need approval from everyone and anyone!

I did a thread asking for ideas based off my dd’s name- in my case it was just shorthand so people knew what kind of names I liked. There was no point people suggesting Elizabeth and Philippa when I was thinking more along the lines of Aoife and Orlaith.

What's unusual about Taylor and Quentin ?

You're going to yelling those names, one after the other, often in public, for years if not decades. Having names which aren't actively hostile to each other is quite helpful really.

I don’t get it either. Sounds a bit daft and pre-occupied to me. Against what others are saying: I have an unusual name, my sister has a very common name, the names trip off the tongue together nicely. I don’t know why people have to get others involved in what they call their children IRL or online. (Am clearly v grumpy today.)

I don't get it either.

I get that some combinations might sound daft like Sam and Ella or Doris and Boris.

But most names shouldn't be a problem.

Well to me it just sounds a tad daft if you had a Martha Rose and Kortnee-Paige.

This.

I grew up with someone who had a traditional african name. Her sibling had a traditional Welsh name. It sounded so odd, like they weren’t anything to do with each other and didn’t belong in the same family. It also caused some animosity because one had to spell her name to everyone and the other didn’t. I wanted my children to have names that worked together and even though my children have names from different languages they are similar in ‘feel’

But a parent who likes Martha is unlikely to like Kortnee. So that's very unrealistic.

In itself there's nothing wrong with the combination

I wanted names with a similar feel so that none of the children felt like the odd one out. If I'd had Matthew, James, Thomas and Tarquin, poor Tarquin would always have been wondering what he did to deserve it. // Ditto Tarquin, Sebastian, Hugo, Darren.

LovelyBranches I know someone like that too.