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Help[Opinions] Matchy Twin Names and Types of Matchiness.
A lot of people really seem to like giving their twins matching names. This practice has always irked me, because I feel that matchy twin names encourage people to see the twins as a set, rather than individuals. I've classified some types of "Matchiness" here.
Giving the twins a variation on the same name
For opposite sex twins, it ends up being stuff like:
Julian and Julie, Juliana, Julia
John and Joanna, Joanne, Joan
Joseph and Josephine
Alexander and Alexandra
For same sex twins, it's more like this, and more common on female twins than male twins:
Nadia and Nadine
Claire and Clara
Ella and Eleanor
Richard and Ricardo
None of these are bad names, but when put on twins in a set, it looks kind of lazy and basically says: "you two are just slightly different versions of the same person", and while perhaps in appearance they are, in personality they definitely aren't.
Rhyming the twins' names
Works on twins of all gender combinations:
Tim and Tom
Lillian and Jillian
Ned and Ed
Christina and Marina
Paul and Saul
Ellie and Kelly
Demi and Remy
To me this is the worst sort of matchy twin name. Fortunately it's also the rarest.
Names that fit in a set/pair
Works on twins of all gender combinations:
Artemis and Apollo
Castor and Pollux
Victoria and Alfred
Mary and Joseph
Sunny and Luna
Skye and Meadow
Winter and Summer
Michael and Gabriel
Honor and Justice
I think this is the least terrible twin naming convention, because depending on the names chosen, it might not even look like a set. Sets that don't look like sets or aren't obvious don't bother me so much, but blatantly "pair" names do.
I think twins should be named like any other children-pick two names you like and give them to your kids. You can try to balance them out and make sure they sound good together, but ultimately twins are two individual children and their names should reflect that. What do you guys think?
Giving the twins a variation on the same name
For opposite sex twins, it ends up being stuff like:
Julian and Julie, Juliana, Julia
John and Joanna, Joanne, Joan
Joseph and Josephine
Alexander and Alexandra
For same sex twins, it's more like this, and more common on female twins than male twins:
Nadia and Nadine
Claire and Clara
Ella and Eleanor
Richard and Ricardo
None of these are bad names, but when put on twins in a set, it looks kind of lazy and basically says: "you two are just slightly different versions of the same person", and while perhaps in appearance they are, in personality they definitely aren't.
Rhyming the twins' names
Works on twins of all gender combinations:
Tim and Tom
Lillian and Jillian
Ned and Ed
Christina and Marina
Paul and Saul
Ellie and Kelly
Demi and Remy
To me this is the worst sort of matchy twin name. Fortunately it's also the rarest.
Names that fit in a set/pair
Works on twins of all gender combinations:
Artemis and Apollo
Castor and Pollux
Victoria and Alfred
Mary and Joseph
Sunny and Luna
Skye and Meadow
Winter and Summer
Michael and Gabriel
Honor and Justice
I think this is the least terrible twin naming convention, because depending on the names chosen, it might not even look like a set. Sets that don't look like sets or aren't obvious don't bother me so much, but blatantly "pair" names do.
I think twins should be named like any other children-pick two names you like and give them to your kids. You can try to balance them out and make sure they sound good together, but ultimately twins are two individual children and their names should reflect that. What do you guys think?
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