Can I use the same name twice?

[GsMama19]

I have a bit of a predicament...
So with DD1 we found it really hard finding names we really loved until we heard one and absolutely loved it!
We had two names and ended up using them as a first and middle name.
However, the only girls name I really love if we had a second DD is DD1's middle name.
If I have another girl can I give her my DD1's middle name as her first name or is that wrong?
The name is Amara

It won't be unique if you use it twice, she deserves her own name.

I'd say find a different first name and use Amara an the middle name again? Might be kinda sweet ❤️

Thanks everyone!
Boys are a lot easier!
All the men in my family have their dads name as their middle name.
In my DP's family, all the men have the same middle name.
But there isn't any tradition for the girls

Sorry didn't make it clear. The Lees used Ann for their girls' middle names. Sally Ann, Mary Ann, Margaret Ann, etc.

I'm just imagining her grown up, complaining, 'I had all my sister's hand me downs. Including my name.'

I'm sorry, but this could go the way of quite severe resentment. There are so many beautiful girls' names out there. Find her her name.

Miranda, perhaps? Not too different in feel/sound and lovely meaning. Or Maia?

How about Aria as the first name?

I wouldn't It may cause no problems at all but why risk even the possibility that dd2 feels like she got the hand-me-down name?

No don’t do it. Names are special to the individual.

Leave the Amara with Grace Amara - it’s her name.

What about Amalia? Mali (Marley) for short? Very similar to Amara but different enough to be her own.

No.
Give her name that is entirely her own, OP.

A friend of mine had her older sister's first name as her middle name and she resented it fiercely. It also didn't help that her parents had wanted a boy and didn't hesitate to tell her so.

It used to be tradition for the mother's maiden name to be used as a middle name here in Scotland, but that is dying out. I certainly didn't do that with mine. Please give your second child their own name. Re-using a name can make the child seem second best and not worthy of their own name, even if it is just the middle name.

We love unique middle names but classic/traditional first names

But then you would be going against that by using the middle name as a first?

There must be another classic/traditional name that is different yet similar to Grace. And the options for a different unique middle name are endless.

Personally I think you just haven't put as much effort into thinking about a name for DD2 as you do for DD1 and that is going to be a long lasting "second born" reminder.

Hope Aurora
Joy Samira
Rose Ariana

If you like classic names, but want the "a" ending....

Clara, Eliza, Sophia, Eva, Rosa, Cora, Amelia.

Inara or Annora might work?

I have 4 dc. DC1 has the name Mark Richard and dc4 has the name Richard Andrew. There are only a few boys names that I liked. Plus we have the repeated name as a frequently used family name on both sides. *Not the real names.

I think as a child I would have felt quite hurt to have been given my sisters middle name. Like it didn't even make the cut for her first name, but it will do for me. Feels a bit sad.

For me it depends on the age gap I know that sounds a bit weird - but siblings a couple of years apart really need ‘their own’ stuff - if you’ve got a much bigger gap then the young one will feel very special regardless

As an older sister I'm not sure I'd have liked having to share my name with a sibling, especially during the sibling rivalry phases. I could easily have convinced myself it was proof my parents wanted to replace me, especially as a melodramatic teen

What about calling DD2 something similar but different?
EG
Amaryllis
Marissa
Marina
Or one of the suggestions others have made

I wouldn't. My husband's family did this and it's fair to say they don't like it or are indifferent. They don't 'like' it. Good luck :)

I think if it was a family tradition that's one thing but it clearly isn't that in this case and your daughter will know that it's a handmedown name... I would try to find something different. There are loads of pretty girls names that are similar sounding to Amara.

Or you could give the new baby Amara as a middle name too, thereby creating a tradition, but give her a different first name.

This is actually fairly common, the Royals have done it for many years. George has Louis as a middle name for example.

The footballer Harry Kane gave both of his daughters the same middle name, the baffling thing was the fact the middle name is Jane...