Should we stick to four-letter names for baby #3?

[hangonwhilstioverthinkthis]

We're a family of 4 who all have names which either have or shorten to 4 letters. Expecting baby #3, gender unknown. Do we continue the trend?

Currently the front runner is Alexander/ra (Alex), but it's more common than my other two (Rudy and Leonora aka Nora) so am still overthinking

For boys I quite like Peter (Pete), Drew and Jacob (Jake) (however we're a half German family so J names are often vetoed pretty quickly).

The only 4-letter girls name on the list currently is Cleo, and I don't love it. I quite like Dorothy (Dot), Connie and Lottie. Though we already have 3 names ending in an 'ee' sound so also totally overthinking whether to avoid continuing adding anymore names which share that sound.

When reading What Katy Did with DD recently I was reminded how much I loved the name Clover, but idk if I'd go so far as to use it.

Any all suggestions welcome!

A couple of ideas:

Penelope nn Nell (or Penny if you step away from the 4 letters)
Kathryn nn Katy
Jessica nn Jess
Cassandra nn Cass
Anabel nn Anna

Theo (on its own or as nn for Theodore)
Noah
Luca

From Alexander/ra you can also have Sacha which is less common than Alex and works for a boy or girl (I knew a German boy called Sacha.

Not keen on Clover personally.

How about:
Otto
Wulf
Leon
Noah
Olli
Theo

Lara
Lyra
Anya
Rosa

Mine all have 4 letters - proper names, nicknames is something we never did, I love their full names so why shorten?

Anyway:

Rudy, Nora and Esme
Rudy, Nora and Kate
Rudy, Nora and Tess
Rudy, Nora and Jade
Rudy, Nora and Fern
Rudy, Nora and Iris
Rudy, Nora and Leah
Rudy, Nora and Wren
Rudy, Nora and Opal
Rudy, Nora and Zoey
Rudy, Nora and Vera
Rudy, Nora and Sian
Rudy, Nora and Mila
Rudy, Nora and Tara
Rudy, Nora and Dana

Rudy, Nora and Adam
Rudy, Nora and Liam
Rudy, Nora and Seth
Rudy, Nora and Chad
Rudy, Nora and Eric
Rudy, Nora and Gage
Rudy, Nora and Lyle
Rudy, Nora and Wade
Rudy, Nora and Owen
Rudy, Nora and Theo
Rudy, Nora and Drew
Rudy, Nora and Zane
Rudy, Nora and Judd
Rudy, Nora and Clay
Rudy, Nora and Trey
Rudy, Nora and Dane
Rudy, Nora and Cole

Alexander (Alex) and Cleo are my favourites from your list. If you went with those, you'd be able to carry on the theme. Also know a little Cliona, nn Clio which is sweet.

But really I don't think you need to carry on the theme, especially if this is just baby number 3. Different if you already had 4 or 5 kids with the same theme, then it would be weird not to follow it. But 2 is just a coincidence, doesnt need to be a running theme you have to stick with.

I would go with Alexandra. I think it’s a lovely name.
I really dislike Peter- serial killer- so an absolute no for me. Drew is nice though.

Serial killer has led me on a google!! Had never noticed that trend before.

The current kids have names from books I loved when I was younger. Rudy from The Book Thief, Leonora Alice from Lissamor's child and Alice in Wonderland.

Following the book association Peter could be Peter Pan or Peter Penvensie. I love Alice as well but have sadly already used it as a middle name. Pete and Nora also feature in Pete's Dragon <3 which we watched recently so perhaps that's also where it popped ip from. Drew is more Nancy Drew rather than any notable Andrews, Clover from What Katy Did, Dorothy from Wizard of Oz, Lottie was the Lottie Project....I can't think of where Connie comes from right now....but writing all this out of this has reminded me of Lorna as well.

Alex also isn't from a fave book of mine, it's just a timelessly classic name which works for both genders (as we don't know what we're having), goes nicely with the other two and happens to follow the theme. So ticked a lot of boxes. But as a few people have said choosing a name doesn't have to/shouldn't be a box tick exercise and I figured if I was still thinking about it I'm probably not overly sold on the idea. Probably keep it in reserve. Rudy was going to be William until we saw him and decided it didn't suit him at all, so good to have a few on the list imo!

We didn’t try for a 4 letter theme with our kids but we have a Nora, a Jakob who also goes by Jake, a Theodor who is mostly Theo and a Martha who goes by Mattie (could also do Mart or Matt as boy names for girls are pretty trendy currently). We are also half German by the way 😄.
I’m not a fan of Alexander. It’s too common and somewhat boring to me as I’ve known so many in my life. It’s kind of like Anna. Technically a nice name but I’ve heard that name so much that I can’t get excited over it. Cleo is cute and would certainly fit the 4 letter theme but I find it too modern next to Nora and Rudy who are very classic old school names. I really like Jakob (Jake) and Theo with your sibset but I’m biased haha. Peter (Pete) is also great.
I would suggest
Boys: Charlie/Charles (Karl), Otto, Jude, Christopher (Kitt), Hugo, Oscar (Ozzy), Owen, William (Will/Liam), Frederick (Fred), Jonathan (John/Nate), Walter (Walt), Anton (Toni).
Girls: Frances (Fran), Vera, Elisa/Ella (Elly), Romy or Rosemary (Romy), Lena/Leni, Etta/Edda, Rosa/Rose, Alma.

Fern

Alys

Rosa

Zena

Zara

Tara

Lena

Nina

Vera

Rudy, Nora and Opal is seriously cute.. I love how they sound together.

Rudy, Nora and Lyle gives the same vibe for boys suggestion.

you’re good at this 🫶🏼

I wouldn’t pay attention to the four letters.

I love Peter - it’s classic yet unusual these days and works well in English and German.

You can’t go wrong with Alexand/er/ra but it is popular.
Conrad, Frederick,
Camilla/Kamilla, Marianne

I wouldn’t worry about how many letters and just go for a name you love.
Clara, Indiana (Indi), Felix

Oscar/Ozzy
Isaac/Ike
Christopher/Kit

Larissa/Lara
Zoe
Stella

Stop overthinking! DBro has a 7 letter name; DSis has 3. We’re in our 50s and 60s now. No one has ever cared how many letters are in our names!