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.
Congratulations!
I’m afraid the spelling makes Mila too close to Lila. Eva seems like a perfect solution! It seems like it’s short enough it shouldn’t need to be nicknamed Evie.
Or what about:
Clea
Nora
Pearla
Pippa
Sela or Selah
Vera
If you pronounce Sela to rhyme with Mila, perhaps that’s an easy compromise!
Here are other names that don’t end in a:
Daphne
Iris
Juno
Phoebe
Sally
Thisbe
Please do update us. I’m dying to know what you go with!
We have a 3 day old daughter with no name!!!! Luckily in Australia you have 60 days to register, but really we’d like to choose as soon as possible.
Our problem is that the name we are in love with, Mila, is just so similar to our 3rd daughter’s name, Lila. They are pronounced completely differently but the spelling is so close! Our eldest daughters are Halle and Edie so I guess we’re not adverse to a similar ending sound as we feel as though we should now have a 2 syllable ‘a’ ending name to complement Lila and complete our sib set. The question is, is Mila too close? Should we compromise with Willa? Is it too close too? Wow, we are stuck!!
Hi, Just my opinion … and I do like the names a lot. BUT, I will say I think for me anyway one reason why I liked Serena (potential sister name to Sabine) was because I was so familiar with it as a name of someone I adore.
I didn’t really come to see that until after a few months, but now I do think it is the case. I was so accustomed to having a kid with the name Sabine … I think it just reverberated into the naming of number 2.
I wouldn’t do it – I would go for something much more different. I see now, hindsight being 20/20 I am so glad I named my second girl something radically different because they are so different from each other. I think there would have been some weirdness implied somehow with such similar names.
Of course you have more experience than I since you have already 2x more kids than I:) A BIG congrats on your new little baby girl. I do like the name Willa incidentally quite a bit.
I know just what you mean by familiar names, I am honestly calling my my little one Lila 10 times a day! Great advice x
Gosh – that’s tough. Mila and Lila do sound different, but I think the spellings make them too close. And some do pronounce them so they rhyme, so that’s a challenge. I’m not sure Lila and Willa completely fix that, either, though I think it is a better fit. Let’s see …
Other short ends-with-a names slightly farther from Lila:
Ada
Kira
Gemma
Calla
Mika (pronounced mee KAH)
With a -y ending
Lucy
Sophie
Sylvie
With neither an -a or a -y
Cleo
Marlo
Violet
Maren
Congrats on baby #4 … this is a tough one!
Another idea (as I also love Mila) is a name like Mila. My faves are Milana (mee-laa-nuh) or Milena (mee-lay-nuh). They are used often in Eastern Europe and we almost used Milana for dd.
Thank you for the great suggestions.
We have also courted the idea of Marlo, I love Giolet but it is terrible with our surname and Kira is actually our dogs name!!! She is named after a famous surf beach here in Australia as my husband is a surfer…
Other names I have liked along the way are Eva (but I’m sure she’d get Evie which is almost Edie!), Willow, Ivy, Ella & Mia (too popular), Zara (DH said no) and Vanna which is my husbands grandmother’s name and we don’t have the wheel of fortune last here in Australia ;).
And thanks for the well-wishes Nicole! We are very excited
Thank you for putting my mind at ease! What a great resource! My husband and sibs are Michael, Matthew and Marcus…and one of them used all B names for his three boys…so I was avoiding this but after the struggle to find a name, I’m ok with it!
Question! I am due in 5 days…have had a rough and not very fun time at finding a name (mostly bc hubby’s taste and mine don’t match). Our daughter is Finley, we’re having a boy, and out of the many options I love, Felix is the only one we both like. Are Finley and Felix too close? No plans for mor kids and didnt intend on same initial…just love the name!
My other faves are:
Mateo (hubby’s bother is Matthew, says they’re too close)
Leo
Enzo
Theodore (Teddy)
Soren…my most favorite
I think Finley and Felix are fine together. Both names are great, and both are current. Some parents are opposed to sharing a first initial, but my observation is that two kids can happily share a first initial. It is when you get to 3, 4 … or 19 that it can be a bit much. (And that the names inevitably start to sound too close.) I wouldn’t hesitate to use Felix!
I LOVE all the names in your list. No matter which one you choose, it will be great! I live in France and Enzo is quite the trendy name right now. I particularly love Soren. How completely elegant and charming.
My girl’s names are Sabine and Leonora and I for one am glad that I didn’t end up naming Leo Serena. I already have a bit of a hard time not calling one the other.
Anyway, happy happy birthing!
We have many who have fallen to this trap in our area.Sisters Ella & Yael. Ie Ellie & Ellie. The Isaiah & Ayla. Ay much!? I think so. I also went high school with sister:brother Hahna & Hahn.
We have an Eli and an Ivy, which would be too matchy for some. But I LOVED Ivy and we thought she may be our last child, so we went with it.
However, now that she’s here, I’m feeling like I would like another one or two in the future if finances allow (and DH has always wanted a bunch of kids).
So have we named ourselves into a corner? Do we need to stick to vowel-bookended names? Is something like Ezra or Anna our only option or is it enough to only start or end in a vowel sound, like Oscar, Judah or Penny? Or can we just do away with it altogether and use Jasper or Hazel?
It’s not a pressing issue since another baby would be at least a few years off, if we have one at all, but I’d love some opinions!
Personally I could see Ivy and Eli with most two syllable names.
Aaron, August, Aidan, Emmett, Ezra, Owen, Orin / Anwen, Erin, Esther, Opal, Uma have the vowels at the front – I would not sweat the vowels at the back one way or the other.
Fox, Leo, Rex, Zev / Liv, Mae, Noa, Rue, Zoe make it about the 3 letter thing and not the vowel thing and I think they still work cohesively with Ivy and Eli, too. But I worry that being more noticeably cutesy-thematic than the vowel thing.
I love both Ivy and Eli btw.
I don’t think you’re in a corner. Eli, Ivy, and Jasper strike me as well matched. Ditto Eli, Ivy, and Hazel. I think it changes how I’d perceive your style. I know a family with kids named Zoe and Max. If their next child was, say, Vera or Viva, I’d think – okay, they’re about the stand-out letters, not the three-letter names. In your case, I’d think “oh, what great vintage names” and the fact that two of them are three letters and vowel intensive would fade away for me …
Swistle always says that it is the third child that sets the pattern. So Eli, Ivy, and Ana would be a pattern that would be tough to break with baby #4.
I am the frist of four daughters.. we are Nadia, Lydia, Melea and Talia.. all ee-ah. I don’t think the same ending ever really mattered to any of us, except that no one ever remembers which of us belongs to what name.. 🙂 I married a Timothy, who has two older brothers, one Thomas, named after their father, and the other Matthew. Grandpa goes by Tom, brother goes by Tommy (even in his late 30s) and hubby goes by Timmy. Poor Matt is the odd ball. But I think he likes it that way. We named our daughter Teagan, and as it turns out, the ending must be our favorite part, because every name we like for #2 has the same ending. Fine for my mom, but I don’t care for the matchiness..
There were twins in my high school named Tim and Tom.
My mother named all of her kids with multiple a’s in them, and me and my older sister with an ‘na’ ending. Aarika, Shayna, and Breanna.
Fraternal twins I grew up with were named after major cities, Cheyenne and Austin, but they spelled Cheyenne as Shyanne.
Matthew and Michael were twins and a sibling set during high school.
We did the matchy thing kind of by accident. I’m Kate, my husband is Aiden. We have
2 daughters. One starting with K and the other with A. Both with the “Ee” sound at the end. Their middle names are both named after characters in our favourite movies. And K’s name is the the name of a character that A’s middle name is the name of actor that played the part (did that make sense at all?!). My husband is IMPOSSIBLE!
If it was me naming alone, my kids would have completely different names.
I know of a family with the cutest kids that all start with vowels. They have Ethan, Isla and Oliver. I thought that was a bit matchy – but I think that is just because I’m a bit of a name nerd.
Went to uni with one of a family with 2 girls – Joanna and Jacinta (forget the big brother’s name). Dad’s name is John.
A sibset Tyson and Jackson.
Katie, Karley, Karmen, Kayden. (UGGH!)
John and Jack
B/G Twins Ronald and Reagan
Addison and Maddison
Little boy with the middle name Oliver. His sister’s name is Olivia.
Daisy, Rose and Violet.
Eva and Ava
(as a teacher, I came across a lot of interesting ones)
I’ve been trying to figure out what your daughter’s names must be, but WOW, that is a puzzle! Addison and Maddison? That’s not fair. I love Jacinta! If I were Joana, I think I’d feel a little bit left out.
Ah, I am an enigma, surrounded by riddle, wrapped in bad denim 😀
Oh my! Lots of baby naming don’ts! The 4 K’s (Kardashian Klan wannabes, much?), Addison/Maddison and Ava/Eva (they must really REALLY love those particular sounds or have very little imagination)…But the one that just horrified me was Ronald and Reagan for TWINS. The kids must love that now! Say it isn’t so!!!!