Twin Name Opinions :)

I had twins in my high school once. They were girls and their names were Joy and Noel. They got made fun of for that. At least behind their backs they did.

I think it's okay to have "matchy" names, especially if it's boy and girl twins, but Ellie and Eli are a bit too identical. ALSO - my cousin has twins, Devon and Dylan, and she regrets that they have the same initials. I think they will prefer different initials too, when they get older. So I would advise maybe changing the spelling of Elisa, or maybe making it Alyssa, or A. (my name!), or Ali, etc.

Congratulations, and good luck!!

p.s. how about Elijah and Delilah? Similar, but also quite different, especially if you plan on calling the son Eli.

I think Ellie and Eli are great names and good luck with the rest of your pregnancy and rest a lot!!! Congrats!!!

I love the names Ellie and Eli! I love it when parents pick matching names for their twins!
PS, I am not a twin and I do not have twins. I just wanted to tell you that I love the names!!! Enjoy your babies!

Hi there! I think the names sound wonderful together & not too matchy matchy. I am a twin & my sister & I have names that both start with the same letter. Her name is Mary-Ann & mine is M.. But since you're having a girl & a boy I think Eli & Ellie are very cute together. Good luck with your decision.

Dear J.,

Congratulations on your twins! Elijah and Elise are absolutely beautiful names, but my personal opinion is that they are pretty matchy, especially if you call them Eli and Ellie. Here's a short list of names that I think might be similar to both, if you're looking for alternatives:

SIMILAR TO ELIJAH:
Adlai
Isaac
Isaiah
Josiah (Jed is a nickname for Josiah, and Ellie and Jed would be cute)
Levi
Noah
Zachariah

SIMILAR TO ELISE
Adele (Eli and Addie would be cute)
Anneliese (like Elise, but with Anne in front of it -- you could call her Annie)
Cosette
Delphine
Juliet
Lisette/Lisbeth
Margo/Margaux
Therese (Tess for short)

I can probably think of more suggestions if you like; let me know.

Mira

I love Elise and Elijah but not Eli and Ellie. They would be made fun of in school.
I have G/G twins but gave them completely different names, which don't even start with sam letters.I was concentrated on not having them match and also have meanings:
myT win A's name means forest princess
twin B, means sweeter than honey (which she is)
good luck

matchy, no not really.
i have many twins in the school i teach in. and i find that the ones with the 'matchy' names have a bigger chance of being made fun of.

As I always say, 'They are your kids so name them whatever you want. No matter what you decide someone is going to have an opinion on it.'

I have b/g twins and avoided matchy names. My hubby picked out Benjamin because he loved the way it sounded with a gawd awful middle name passed down from father to son on his side of the family. I had my daughter's name narrowed down to 3 and decided to see who she looked like when she was born. Turns out she looked like a Sabrina. Benjamin and Sabrina quickly turned into the nicknames Ben and Brie.

I have b/g twins and their names are not matchy. I think they do sound good together (same amount of syllables) and you will say their names together a lot. I had all these thoughts about how there would not be any of those identity issues with b/g twins...then I read a book and realized I was wrong. It was called "Raising Emotionally Healthy Twins" and I recommend it to any twin parent. The author is a twin, twin parent, and psychotherapist. I don't remember her last name, but her first name is "Joan" and her twin's name is "Jane" and she has a lot to say about having a matchy name. I would say that you should read the first sections of the book before deciding on your names. Good luck.

They are both beautiful names and I can see why you love them.
The only comment I would make is that you will be using these names A LOT, and the more similar they are the more likely you are to say the wrong one/stumble over them. I have kids 5 years apart with very different sounding names and I still switch them round and use the wrong ones!
Also, my brother and I both have daughters with names starting with the same sound (Eve and Emily) and my dad - grandad to both kids - can't keep them straight and is constantly calling them the wrong name. But my other daughter with the different-sounding name he never gets wrong!
Just a thought.

Hi, J.,

Congratulations on the twins. My g/g twins are now 3 and it is such a fun journey. My personal preference was to go with very different names but that are both kind of old-fashioned. So they have the same sense to them, while they don't even share any letters (Nora and Lucy). I wouldn't have thought about this before, but one benefit is that they both really love "their" letters. When either of them see any of the letters in their names, they have a real sense of ownership. And if Nora sees a "Y," she'll say, "There's your Y, Luce." It's not a reason to choose something as important as names, but I can say it's really great that we can spell both their names from one set of alphabet bath toys! And of course, this will matter not one bit in a couple years!

Overall, though, I think with twins you really have to fight the tendency to think of them as a set. And when I hear of twins with similar names, I think it's probably harder for the people around them to do that.

Good luck!
A.

J., congratulations on expecting twins! I do think that the names are too matchy, especially if you plan to call them Eli and Ellie. Pamela Redmond Satran has a number of good naming books, and they do include sections on twin naming.
Good luck!

I like Elijah and Elise, but not sure I would like Ellie and Eli as much. Plus, it will get confusing to say (a bit of a tongue twister). On the other hand, YOU need to like it so it's not as important as what others think.

We have boy boy twins and did totally separate names (Hudson and Noah). You need to think about how the names sound when you say them together. For instance, when we were thinking of girl twin names (before we found out they were boys), we were thinking of Tatum and Shea. Those were easy to say, but our older daughter is Hayden. So try saying Hayden and Tatum a few times together.... doesn't really work. If you can hear yourself yelling in a department store "Ellie and Eli," then it may work!!!

Good luck and congratulations on your pregnancy!

Heh...an age old debate, right?

For what it's worth: I'm an identical twin. We were named after our grandmothers...who happened to have the same first letter (Mary & M.). I've always liked that we were M&M...without being too matchy-matchy (Mary-Jo and Maryanne, for example.)

Congrats on the twins!!!!

I have to say I think it sounds way too matchy. I also love Elijah but what about E.? It is similar and yet if she wants to choose herself at some point to be different there are many shortened versions of the name. My name is E., and I go by that and also Liz. If Ellie is what you really want to call her, you can still. But she will at least have the option to change it later. Also is Elisabeth, from which you get Elisa, etc.

The name game is a really tough one ... but from my experience I have found that you should pick whatever names YOU like and not worry about other people's reactions and opinions. My in-laws were by no means thrilled or particularly supportive when we told them the name of our son, but now they love him and it doesn't really matter. I also find that asking people's opinion (friends and family in particular) about name options does not necessarily bring out the best in people. Choose names that you like, Stick to your choice, and perhaps consider not telling everyone until the kids are born. Whatever names you give them their extended family will love them - so do what makes you happy. And remember - no matter what names you choose they will get made fun of "on the playground" - because that is how kids are. If it isn't the names, it will be something else. You might also consider choosing names but not assign nicknames as yet, because sometimes nicknames develop naturally and they may be different than the ones you assign now.
Good luck!

My mother named my twin and I Robert and Barbara for individuality, but as a match, too. We were called Barbi and Bobby. No matter what you name your child, the little nick names seem to pop up all over from poohbear to buddy. I find I call my kids nick names more often than their well thought out birth names. I wouldn't worry too much about what you name them so long as you like it and it suits them. You'll know at birth if the name is right.

Congratulations!