Halcyon and Octavia for my twin girls

[newtwinmummy]

I'm expecting non identical girl twins in September.

What do you think of the names Halcyon and Octavia? I know they are rare names and not everyone will like them.

Any ideas for middle names? I have to include Joan as a family name or something like this.

The drug that has been mentioned has a different spelling and pronunciation to the name. It's pronounced Hal see ah nee, a bit like Hermione.

Thanks for ideas, I'm liking Aurelia for one of the middle names. Joan is afamily name, so we won't be using it as a first name. Octavia and Joan sound funny together too.

Halcyon will be abbreviated to Hally, possibly.

Sedgie - I don't care if people think my reactions are rude. I rarely venture onto the names board and when I do I will be brutally honest - because I cringe inwardly when i hear children being addressed as (for eg) Halcyon - and I'd rather spare a poor child of a lifetime of a dreadful name that makes people cringe, if I can. Sadly most people don't listen and use the dreadful name anyway.

Assuming this is not a joke thread I remember a book I loved as a child with twin girls named Ophelia and Cordelia. A bit better than Halcyon (sounds like a pharmaceutical) and Octavia, imo.

halcion is an old school benzodiazepine.god no thats vile
octavia is trying TOO hard

congratulations on babies but give those names a wide berth

I don't mind forthright opinions as long as they're informed ones. The pharmaceutical has a different spelling and pronunciation to the name Halcyon.

Halcyon is absolutely dreadful. Why do people feel the need to lumber their kids with this sort of name?

upon hearing halycon people will be too busy laughing to differentiate spelling or pronunciation

Octavia is the name my circle of friends uses as shorthand for 'spoilt brat', it just sounds so horsey and Conservative and jolly hockey sticks. Sorry . And this is coming from people whose children mainly go to private school so no inverse snobbery I don't think.

Halcyon was a nightclub in Manchester wasn't it?

And as for the both together for twins its just horrible, sorry. But surely from the amount of people asking 'is this a joke' then you must see that this is a Bad Idea.

up to you if you want to burden them with daft names,but if you are so sure why seek opinions

in rl people may be circumspect.but ask online you will get truer response

OP - I think you could be accused of trying too hard. The trouble with twins is that when you add too trying-too-hard names together, you sound terribly pretentious.

not keen on Halcyon really.

I really really thought this was a joke thread, tbh.

I really am not a fan of names-that-aren't-names, iykwim, though I realise that all names probably used to be not-names once upon a time. But still, Halcyon is well across a line for me. Octavia sounds poncey to me but it doesn't make me want to snigger like Halcyon does.

Well hang on, if nobody has said so, Halcyon is a Kingfisher.Which I love.

• side shortens to Hal which is nice

• side everyone will spell it Halycon

Surely this is a windup, no?

Those names make the parent sound like a total poser, IMO. Bourgeois wannabe social climber connotations.

Hyacinth and Bucket. Those would be more honest.

Totally agree Expat.

halcion benzo drug is pronounced hal-see-on.

Have to say these names are no more in that category than some which are almost universally liked on MN though, expat.

SM, I actually took that stuff! I was in the US at university and suffering dire insomnia when a friend got back from Mexico and gave them to me.

I lost an entire day of my life. I was awake, too, but I can't remember FA.

Slept like a rock, though