Sibling Names  

Plan on having more than one child?  Naming one child can be a tough job, let alone naming all of the others that you add to the family afterwards.  Certain names are chosen because they sound similar to one another and work well for siblings.   

Parents tend to get creative with siblings.  If they have more than one child, they want to link them together in some way other than just the brother or sister bond.  The easiest way to do this is through their names.   

Now, you don’t have to give each child the same first name to accomplish this.  Besides, most kids won’t like that very much.  One idea is to start each name with the same letter of the alphabet.  If you have more than one child, male and/or female, use a certain letter to choose the names.  Two siblings can be Julie and Justin or Trinity and Tristan.  The names go together without sounding too sappy or childish.  While the beginning letter is the same, each name has its own meaning just as each child will have their own personality. 

When the siblings are of the same gender, you can be a bit more creative.  For boys, you can give them the same middle name.  Try Timothy Jason and Michael Jason.  The main identifier (the first name) is different.  Most kids never reveal their middle names until it is announced at their high school graduation.  This way, the parents get to have fun with the names in a way that won’t hurt the kids. 

When it comes to twin siblings, many parents feel the need to make the names as similar as the children’s looks.  Twins will want to establish their own identities.  Because they look alike, they will want their names to be different.  Names like Tammy/Timmy or Lily/Layla are nice, but too close together for twins.  Once again, the names can start with the same letter but be quite unlike each other.  Twin boys named William and Henry may get along better in school than twin boys named Larry and Lenny.   

A drawback to giving siblings the same initials is identification of their things.  Most people label their items with their initials.  If all of the initials are the same, kids will have a hard time knowing what is theirs and what belongs to their brother or sister if the siblings are of the same gender and close in age.   

Parents, suspend the need to be different and be practical.  Traditional names don’t have to be boring.  They also don’t mean that your children will be ordinary.  Find new ways to pair traditional names to create strong and noble names for your children.  Try to resist the modern pitfall of sameness for siblings or twins too.  Keeping these tips in mind when naming siblings will help everyone stay happy with the name they are given at birth well into their adult lives.