Future sibling names aren’t always top-of-mind when we’re naming a child. But they matter. After all, when we decided to call our daughter Clio, we forever closed the door on another favorite name – Theodore, nickname Theo.
Or did we?
For every family that decides Maya and Milo are too similar, another embraces the sound-alike names.
Or insists that Alicia and Alina are totally different names.
Some parents might never notice that Joanna and Jackson are both related to John.
Or maybe the first time Kelly introduces her daughter Grace, she suddenly realizes that the legendary Grace Kelly is echoed in their names.
Siblings’ names will be said together countless times. The names we like often have much in common.
So how can you tell if your sibling name choices make for a compatible set, or if they’re much too close?
There are no hard-and-fast rules, but here are ten factors to consider. They start mild, maybe-rethink-this kind of considerations. As we reach the top of the list? By #3, it’s best to think long and hard about your choice.
Table of Contents
- 10. The names share the same meaning.
- 9. The names share the same origins.
- 8. You’ve neglected 25 letters of the alphabet.
- 7. The sibling names are (romantically) linked in history or pop culture.
- 6. Your choices can lead to same nickname.
- 5. Your favorite sibling names share the same ending.
- 4. They nest like Russian matryoshka dolls.
- 3. They share the same first syllable.
- 2. The names rhyme.
- 1. A combination of the above.
- So should you choose a different name?
10. The names share the same meaning.
This can be a subtle way to link siblings’ names. Think Lucy and Claire. One means light; the other, clear. Felix and Asher both mean happy.
Sometimes the challenge comes when your family of two ends up a family of four or five or more. Your first two are the nicely paired Hazel and Ivy, but after using Olive and Jade, your choices for #5 narrow to Loden, Fern, and Moss.
It’s not necessarily a problem, but it might feel limiting as your family grows.
9. The names share the same origins.
Name enthusiasts know that Jacob and James are related. A popular combination for twin girls is Isabella and Elizabeth – two forms of the same name, even if it’s not quite like choosing Mary Anne and Marianne.
Origins aside, Jack and Sean make for a compatible pair of brothers’ names. And Charles and Caroline seem different enough to be worn without incident.
Daniel and Danielle, however, probably feel too close. Partially, it’s the shared origin. But the name also check a lot of boxes further up this list.
8. You’ve neglected 25 letters of the alphabet.
Sometimes this is unintentional. You’re naming your sons after their grandfathers – Michael and Matthew. Or you just happen to like the names Josie and Jude.
But let’s say you choose a letter with fewer options.
I remember hearing about a family with four sons – Henry, Heath, Hugo and Hatrick. Are they ice hockey fans, or was Harvey not their style?
And if you’re on the second generation sharing the same initial for sibling names, your options might be very limited.
7. The sibling names are (romantically) linked in history or pop culture.
If the movie was a bust, or we’re talking minor comic book characters, this matters not at all.
(You can safely ignore “But Sami named her twins John and Alice on Days of Our Lives.”)
Some combinations might appeal because of their shared connections. Imagine daughters named for two Jane Austen heroines, as in Emma and Elinor.
Then there’s Gillian Anderson’s threesome – Piper, Oscar, and Felix. Her kids might not know The Odd Couple, and it’s not a negative reference, either – so that’s probably a non-issue.
Some do feel truly unthinkable – siblings named Romeo and Juliet, maybe. The biggest challenge for overly matched sibling names? Probably famous romantic partners. Albert’s sister can’t be Victoria, and if your favorite name for a girl is Bonnie, strike Clyde from your boy’s list forever.
Though, of course, it can happen after the fact – in which case, all you can do is laugh and promise that, no, the Twilight novels didn’t inspire you to name your children Jacob and Bella twenty years ago.
6. Your choices can lead to same nickname.
Sure, you never intend to call Katherine or Kaitlyn by the nickname Katie. But it could easily happen. And how will their sister Annie feel about having an unrelated name?
Not every set of names that shares a nickname feels too close. Amelia and Marianna could both shorten to Mia. Alexander and Natasha might both go by Sasha.
This rule about sibling names mostly applies to the obvious short forms. Bennett and Benjamin, for example.
The harder you have to think about it, the less it becomes a concern.
5. Your favorite sibling names share the same ending.
If you like Isabel, you might also like Annabel.
Ditto names like Parker, Carter, and Harper.
But sharing the same ending is another sign that your favorites might be too close for comfort. In this case, it might not bother your children … but it could make repeating their names together a tongue-twister.
4. They nest like Russian matryoshka dolls.
Does one name fit neatly inside the other? Annika and Julian share an “an” but it isn’t at all obvious.
But Ella and Kellen almost sound like they’re part of the other.
In cases like Anna and Susanna, one sibling’s name is an elaboration of the other.
That can be a little too close for sibling names.
3. They share the same first syllable.
With #10 through #4, it is easy enough to come up with examples that work, despite being close in some ways.
But #3 is tougher to navigate for sibling names.
Imagine sisters named Madeline and Madison? A brother-sister pair called Jordan and Georgia? Twins Miley and Myla?
They’re not impossible, and some cultures prefer sibling names that are as close as possible. But for most families, these feel repetitive.
2. The names rhyme.
Yes, there have surely been twin sisters called Cara and Tara. But most parents – and siblings – would find it a bit too matched.
And yet, this is trickier than it sounds. Timothy and James, Jeffrey and Stephanie and, of course, Benjamin and Jennifer all end up rhyming if you use the most common diminutives.
That means we rule out Emma and Gemma, Hallie and Callie, but also maybe Jonah and Rowan – unless we’re confident they’ll never be called Joe and Row.
1. A combination of the above.
Jackson and Jonathan are close, but probably on the right side of the line. Jack and Sean? Probably fine. Jack and John, though? That inches even closer to the line.
Jeffrey and Stephanie seem less problematic than Benjamin and Jennifer – because the nicknames rhyme and we think of them as a matched pair.
Sarah and Laura are pretty similar as sibling names, but Laura and Maura feel like they cross a line.
So should you choose a different name?
Ultimately, choosing sibling names is completely up to the parents. In most cases, thinking through whether a name is too close is subjective. For everyone who insists that Remy and Romy are way too similar, there’s a family that finds those names exactly right.
This is about testing out your favorites and anticipating problems before you’re holding your newborn in your arms.
What choices have you had to reject because they’re just too close to your an older child’s name?
First published on December 10, 2009, this post was revised and re-published on January 19, 2022 and again on September 7, 2025.
Ummm… I’m guilty. Not only did it never, ever not once occur to me that “Scarlett” and “Skylar” (my stepdaughter who we have every other weekend) are extremely similar in sound, now we are naming our second daughter another “S” name. When we first started discussing names, I was adamant that we would not use an “S” name… and then I fell in love with one and couldn’t like anything else. Then the middle name hubby came up with starts with the same letter as Scarlett’s first middle name, so they almost have the same initials. But the middle honors family members on both sides, and it was so sweet of him to think of it that I felt I could hardly argue. **sigh** Maybe I should get my tubes tied after this one. Just to prevent a Duggar-like disaster.
Then again, Scarlett, we often think that Clio should’ve been Anya – we’re Abby, Arthur, Alex/Alexei/Aly and … Clio.
It’s just as weird to be left out.
At the time, we wanted to honor my mom, and we thought we might have another child – and we REALLY didn’t want to be locked into all As …
Some days, I think we missed out on family unity, even though it can be a bit much.
How odd, my parents are called Andrew and Anya, they called my brother Alex and me Caroline!
There’s a whole question here though about planning- of course when you have a baby boy you have no idea whether you will in future have a girl, another boy, twins or nothing at all! So even the most name-obsessed of us must have our grand schemes scuppered…
Has anyone else regretted holding out on a name, and not giving it as a middle to their first child in case they had another of the same gender- and then they never did?
Now that is the kind of coincidence that makes me hear the theme from the Twilight Zone, Sugar! 🙂
And I love your phrase “our grand schemes scuppered” – so true.
Wow, I have thoughts on just about all of these. What a fun post for us name nerds 🙂
First of all, re: #2, I know a family with a James and a Timothy *and* a Jennifer and a Benjamin! Jim, Tim, Jen, Ben.,.. and Josie 🙂 Fortunately at least James goes by his full name. Somebody just didn’t do the math there!
Re: #4, I know sibs Caleb and Michaela, but Michaela went by Mia, so the repeating “Cale” wasn’t obvious. Likewise, my own first two girls share an “il”. Nice, right? But since our Philippa is almost exclusively Pippa, it’s not a biggie 🙂
Re:#7, we have friends who have a little Oscar (and big sister Tabitha) and say they will use Felix if they ever have another boy. Now they’d not only be referencing the Odd Couple, but they’d be stealing Gillian Anderson’s combo, too! They live in the UK, where both are less likely to be noticed, I guess.
Now, to what we’ve had to rule out: it’s a long, sad list! Felicity: too close to Philippa. Felix: same ending as Beatrix. Cecily: same ending as Romilly. Barnaby ( the *only* boys’ name we both love!): shares initial with Beatrix. There were serious negotiations during my last pregnancy as to how important that rule is. We would love to have more children, and the no-sharing-initials rule is becoming very prohibitive, but we’ve decided for the time being that, yes, we really are that anal. The rule stands. Sigh…
Also, we have toyed with Quincy if #5 is a boy. Are Quincy and June (Juniper) in the same family too Little Einsteins or will no one notice?
I like Quincy quite a bit, and I think he fits right in with your other kids’ names. As for Quincy and June, I don’t know … if her birth certificate read June, I might hesitate. (Shade of JLo’s Emme and Max from DragonTales.) But since her full name is Juniper, I think a) it is different; b) it remains a fairly obscure reference that no one is likely to remember into adulthood.
I love that you used Philippa with nn Pippa. I’ve been in love with it for a while, but no one else seems to understand what I love about it. It’s a beautiful name.
The closest we have come is deciding that, along with some other reasons, Isaac was not doable with Imogen based on the two being “I” names. To be honest, having two I names was not the biggest factor (since we’re not going for lots of kids – two will do), but paired with some other things that weren’t quite right (an Immy and an Izzy? and the other Isaac nn we considered is Zac, and my brother is a Zachary – and it just felt ‘off’), Isaac was eliminated. Had Imogen been an Isla or Iona, with a long “eye” sound similar to Isaac, the two Is would have been more off-putting.
Just have to mention this – yesterday I saw on Dr Oz a trio of 30-something sisters: big sis Poppy, and twin little sisters Lovey and Dovey. #2, #5, and #7.
Lovey and Dovey?! Yikes!
My daughter is Phoebe, which rules out my newly-adored Daphne, and also Penelope, which my husband likes. Also, my husband recently suggested the nn Effie after his grandmother. I DETEST than name, and wriggled out of it by saying that the FEE-be and Ef-FEE sound too close to me. We are, however, considering Helena, which shares both Greek origin and the meaning “bright” with Phoebe.
Note to Sara: I worked with a Genevieve…the Americans pronounced it Jen-eh-veev, but the Canadians called her Jen-vee-ev. I do love Vivienne…beautiful name for a baby or adult.
Haha! Kelleita we posted at the same time! I’m not copying you I promise! We do love the name Juliet with any spelling. It’s on the very short list of girl names along with Genevieve and Vivienne (or Vivian).
I am so frustrated. My son’s name is Titus. My absolute favorite name for another boy is Jude. However, I CANNOT have a Titus and a Jude. Then we are just the offbeat book-of-the-Bible name family. But what about Titus and Juliet for a girl? Yes, I know Juliet is a sad sad character, but it is a lovely name. However is that too much of a Roman emperor reference for one family?
FWIW, I don’t think of Julius at all when I hear Juliet.
Our daughter is Juliette — so we’ve ruled out Violet, Charlotte, Annette, etc., and of course — Romeo! 🙂
My daughter is Joanna, which eliminates Susannah; otherwise I’d’ve liked to use that to honor my sister, Susan.
We call my daughter Josie, and my son’s name ends with -en. Mash the two together and you sort of get Justin, which is another name I like that’s now out of the question.
I haven’t had to reject any based on your list, but aside from Madeline and Madison (plus dog Maddie, and did I mention Madeline is pronounced MAD-a-lyn, so the sisters’ names basically rhyme, too?) I grew up with Timmy and Tommy. I also have a friend who named her first son Parker and her second son Charlie, and when I asked if she was a jazz fan, she had no idea what I was talking about. 😉 I know a group of sisters, Amanda, Miranda, and Samantha – and meet mom, Sandra. (Okay, I’ll let this out of the bag: one of those girls is mommy to Madeline and Madison.) I know someone who named her sons Bryson and Brady (maybe Brody, can’t ever recall) and I never remember which one is which. They’re about a year apart in age. But those are close names. There’s also the set of names that are just too distinct: sisters Sarah and Morgan, for example. Sarah, a classic princessy name, and Morgan, a boy’s name. Hm. One could argue Morgan Le Fay was a woman, but still…
Interesting post, as usual!