Naming a new baby is one of the joys of parenthood but finding the name that will fit for a lifetime can be a bit challenging, too. When twins are expected, the name game changes a bit. For a while, perhaps during your grandmother’s baby-naming time, rhyming names were expected of twins — Sharon and Karen, Bill and Phil, Mary and Larry — but rhymes aren’t the rule anymore. Actually, there simply aren’t any rules. The HuffingtonPost Parents section recently published an article full of suggestions for choosing baby names for twins, written by Pamela Redmond Satran of the Nameberry website, where baby names are the only rule.

Satran offers these inspiring suggestions:

  • Match First Initials — Twins Romulus and Remus, mythical founders of Rome, share a first initial as do up-and-coming twin politicians Joaquin and Julian Castro and Olympic athlete twins Terry and Tom Brands.
  • Match by Sound — Think number of letters or syllables or how the sounds of two names complement each other. Pop girl band Triple Image features twins Bridgett Lynn and Brittney Lee Livingston and their little sister Brianna. Actor Jon Heder has a twin named Dan.
  • By Style — Reality TV’s Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar have made the letter “J” their own, christening all 19 of their children with names that start with the letter, including twins Jana Marie and John-David and their twin brothers, Jedidiah Robert and Jeremiah Robert.
  • Match Meaning — Give the twins a variation of a name with similar meanings: Dawn and Aurora, Daisy and Jasmine, Hunter and Jaeger, Alex and Cassandra. Entertainment industry superstars Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon named their daughter Monroe (after Marilyn) and her brother Moroccan (after the romantic hideaway in their home where he proposed) but the twins are known affectionately as Roc and Roe.
  • Match Origins — Honor the babies’ Native American heritage with names such as Alyana (eternal blossom), Algoma (valley of flowers), Jacy (moon), Lallo (little boy), or Shilah (brother). Parents have been turning to the Bible forever for timeless names such as Leah, Eli, Caleb, and Rachel.
  • Match a Theme — Get colorful inspiration from a rainbow: Rose, Scarlett, Azure, Erin, Cyan, Indigo, Neela, and Blanca / Bianca. From nature, consider Sky / Skye, Celeste, Stone, Flynt, Calder, Brook, Mariposa, Sage, Rowan, or Willow. Gemstones and precious metals may prove auspicious for wealth:  Opal, Topaz, Ruby, Sterling, Crystal, Coral, Jade. Dreaming of travel for your children? Consider Brooklyn, Denver, Dallas, Dakota, Georgia, Morocco, Asia, Jericho,  Sydney, Adelaide, Sonora, or Isla. Honeymooned in France? Consider Paris, Nancy, Marseille, or Lille. Literary or movie buffs? Think Catniss, Zelda, Atticus, Hemingway, Holden, or Huck.
  • Match Names by Popularity — Baby names are as trendy as just about anything else. Websites such as Nameberry track trends to identify which names are most popular each year. Commemorate the year of their birth by choosing names of the corresponding popularity rank, such as the names at 15 and 20 for twins born in 2015. Twins born on the 4th of July? Look for names that rank 4 and 7. Boy-and-girl twins born on the 18th could have the 18th most popular boy and girl names.
  • Family Names — Family names inspire generations. First Family twins Barbara Pierce Bush and Jenna Welch Bush Hager are named after their grandmothers. Names for newborn twins Princess Gabriella Thérèse Marie, Countess of Carladès, and her two-minutes-younger brother, Jacque Honoré Rainier, Hereditary Prince of Monaco, born on December 10, 2014, pay tribute to a long line of European royalty.

Many parents express bewilderment at the many baby names from which to choose but they almost always say that when they came across the perfect name, they knew it instantly. With twin names, expect perfection times two.


Sources:

  1. Satran, Pamela Redmond. "7 Ways To Choose Baby Names For Twins." HuffPost Parents. TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc., 8 Jan. 2015. Web. 13 Jan. 2015.
  2. Satran, Pamela Redmond, and Linda Rosenkrantz. Nameberry. Nameberry LIC, 2015. Web. 13 Jan. 2015.
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