Help on choosing twin names

This article was kindly provided by Kerry (aka MultipleMummy.com), our ‘Mummy Blogger of the Month‘!

It is always difficult when coming to that point of time in your pregnancy (like the day before your due date) when you think, ‘we really must agree on a name!’ It is a tough decision as you have to love the name forever, you can’t change your mind (well after the 6 week registered deadline you can’t) and then they have to live with it.

The name you choose shapes and characterises them right from the start. The name you choose really is a big deal and you have the situation of not wanting every third child in a class to be called that name, to not wanting it to be so obscure that it could lead to difficult times, and feelings of not fitting in.

When hubby and I found out we were expecting our first-born (a singleton) the name game began. It was like that scene from ‘Friends’ when Ross and Rachel keep on vetoing names. Both of us being teachers did not help. You relate so many names to kids you know, and although you should not assume a personality trait, you do.

The name we finally agreed on in the end was Noah. This was a surprise to me because I had not mentioned this name up until the end as a few years back, when a colleague from work had her baby I fell in love with it. I was telling the story of this name round the dinner table one evening got laughed at and told you could not name a baby after someone that built an ark. Conveniently my husband does not remember this conversation but I am telling you, it happened. Anyhow he was all like ‘Noah, that’s fantastic, why have you not mentioned this before?” Grrr Men! (Just to mention though, if you do name your child after something be prepared for the amount of associated gifts you will get. I cannot begin to tell you the number of Noah’s ark moneyboxes we have!)

We got there in the end. So, imagine both our horror then upon the discovery of twins six months after Noah’s birth! We were not at all worried about coping with two (well actually that is a total lie, of course we panicked) but we were more worried about how on earth we were going to come up with two names!

Not only did the names have to fulfill the above criteria, but they had to compliment each other, they had to match Noah, and we were going to up to come up with at least two boys and two girls names as well!

To rule out the quantity of names issue we decided to have them sexed. We found out we were having a boy and a girl. We started the vetoing scene all over again, and resorted to all sorts of methods.

* Searching names on the internet

* School registers

* Looking at the credits after TV programs and films

* Books

* Family names

Upon our searches we found there are some weird and wonderful ways of coming up with twin names like

* Using anagrams for example Amy & May, Abdel & Blade, Myra & Mary

* Having the same meaning names

* Using names that rhyme or sound the same

* Names beginning with the same letter.

I can tell you, when desperate you have a go at all of these.  Personally because we had gone for a biblical name for our first child, we tried to keep the names for twins as names that could be found in the bible or at least variations of.

I loved a certain boy’s name. I had taught two children of that name and they were delightful little boys. Hubby on the other disagreed and said he had only taught naughty ones! We both liked the name though. Towards the end I managed to tweak the name slightly and suddenly my weirdo husband decided that was totally different and ok.

I do think however, he felt so sorry for me, being so huge with twins, and was in complete awe of me after the birth that actually, he though giving me the name I wanted was fair compensation.

We came up with two superb names, and for some strange reason I have kept these secret on my blog, so will not be revealing them, but let me tell you they are great names!

Crazily we still feel we would like one more and we shall have to go through the whole naming process again. Plus after have non-identical twins first time round the odds go up to have them again. Can you imagine…I really would deserve the title Multiple Mummy if that happened wouldn’t I?

This article was kindly provided by Kerry (aka MultipleMummy.com)