Do sibling names change your view of a name?

[crabette]

Inspired by two current threads (but not a TAOT!) where I realised that I think sibling names might slightly change my perception of a name - and wondered if others felt this?

Would sibling names change your view of a name?

For example:
Sienna and Brooklyn / Sienna and Sebastian.
Austin and Mercedes / Austin and Anna.

I think the second sets are lovely, but would cringe a bit at the first?

Okay, probably just me but I'm confused by the question 😅 Are you asking if you'd reconsider a name so it matches your first born?

I definitely want a name that flows with my son's name!

In the above example, I prefer the first set of names 😉

Aren't you just saying that you like the names Sienna, Sebastian, Austin and Anna but dislike Brooklyn and Mercedes? Or is there a more subtle point I'm missing?

I get what you're saying - sometimes the name of the sibling contextualises the other name, so it's read in a particular way. So Austin sounds cheesy if it seems like you're naming your kids after cars, but sounds nice if it's clear that you're not.

And yes, I agree!

Oh I see! I didn't think of Austin as a car type tbh.

Yes and no. My eldest step daughter has a name that is also a city (it was a name first though) and if this baby had been a girl we agreed on Sydney, which is another city (but was also a name first). We did discuss how it meant two cities but ultimately since none of our other kids were cities we figured it wasn’t too matchy or cringey (though obviously some people would dislike the name for other reasons, which is their prerogative).

I don't understand this obsession with trying to get names that sound like they match well.

I'm in my 40s with 3 siblings and can honestly say none of us give a shit how well our names 'flow' together! 😂

I know exactly what you mean. For example, on Mumsnet many posters would probably say ‘lovely names, OP!’ about siblings called Lily and Clara, for example, but turn their noses up at a Lily-Mae and Lexi.

I just realised that the names I mentioned don’t ‘match’ like the ones you mentioned, but they both have a certain ‘feel’ to them that MN would scorn, as well as being a commonly overdone pair, whereas the first two names I mentioned have no real connection and sound fine together so would get a positive response.

Saying that, it does depend on the name. Some ‘matchy’ pairs I think would sound fine. Sienna and Brooklyn - yuck. Sienna and Florence would sound prettier to me despite both being place names. Daisy and Poppy would be too cute in my opinion by Rosa and Iris would be nice. So maybe it depends on the names.

That's exactly what I meant @babysharkdoodoodedoodedoo - I've probably worded it a bit clumsily! It's not necessarily about 'matching' as a set (like place names, cars, or colours) - but more that the exact same name could be paired with a typically scorned name, and end up with a negative response, compared to pairing with a favoured name where it might generate a positive response.

I think your example could actually be reduced to:
Lily and Lexi
vs
Lily and Clara

Lily is obviously the same name! But the sibling names give it different connotations. It's weird!

I get you OP and I agree