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TWIN NAMES: Individual Choices, Same Meaning

bradangtwinsThe recent spate of celebrities having twins (they’re not really just like us, are they?) got me thinking about twin names.  Although the Social Security list of most popular twin names would have you think differently, cutesy pairs like Merry and Joy or Tim and Tom are out.  So how can you find twin names that have a strong unifying element yet are distinct from each other, special in their own right?

One way: Search for names that carry a similar meaning, one that symbolizes something important to you or for your child, and then go on from that list to pick the two most compatible choices.  I love playing with nameberry’s search names by meaning feature, which you should discover for yourself if you haven’t already.  Clicking on any of the larger categories will take you to more specific name meanings: brilliant, for example, or red-haired.  From there you can go instantly to a list of names with twin meanings.

Playing this name game myself led to some surprising and wonderful choices for twins…and beyond.  Here, some great twin name ideas and their joint meaning.  Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, are you listening?

CLARISSA & LEONORA – bright

EWAN & SINEAD – gracious

ASHER & FELIX – happy

FEDERICA & MILO – peaceful

ESME & IMOGEN – beloved (this one is really perfect, I think)

AURELIA & FLAVIA – golden

ARABELLA & CALLISTA – beautiful

BLAKE & FINLEY – fair

JUDE & TAHILA – praise

ORLANDO & LASZLO or RODRIGO – famous

ALDEN or PALLAS & RAMONA – wise

CYRUS & SAMSON or KALINDI & SURYA – sun

CLANCY & KANE or LOUISE & WALTER or SASHA & OWEN — warrior

In case you’re Octomom, or just looking for a broader range of options, some meanings carry a range of compatible names that can be mixed and matched any number of ways.  For instance:

BECAN, KIERAN, GAVIN, LORCAN, REAGAN & RONAN – little

COLTON, DARCY, DELANEY, DONOVAN, LEILA, SULLIVAN – dark

ADA, ALICE, ARTHUR, FREYA, OBERON, SARI — noble

But you don’t need me to spell out the choices for you.  Check out our search names by meaning page and look up some great combinations yourself.  Note your best ones here – we’d love to hear them!

For even more information and a guide to popular and celebrity twin names, go to our twin names advice page.

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22 Responses to “TWIN NAMES: Individual Choices, Same Meaning”
MePregnant Says:

May 27th, 2009 at 1:00 am

TWIN NAMES: Individual Choices, Same Meaning – Baby Name Blog ……

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 at 12:22 am and is filed under celebrity baby names, meanings of names, name ideas, nameberry, naming multiples, sibling names, twin names . You can follow any responses to this entry ……

Corinne Says:

May 27th, 2009 at 7:48 am

Paloma, Callum, Jonah, Jemima — dove (Callum’s a variant of Columba, which means dove)

realpraise Says:

May 27th, 2009 at 8:29 am

Sasha & Owen- nice! And Esme & Imogen- better. The m’s tie them together, phonetically. With Blake & Finley, the only thing is is that they’re both unisex. Great list, wish I’d thought of it for my twins ;) .

pam Says:

May 27th, 2009 at 8:51 am

Love the dove variations. Any of them would work well together, even Jonah and Jemima if you wanted to do the same-letter thing.

Emmy Jo Says:

May 27th, 2009 at 9:24 am

I love the idea of giving twins names that coordinate in meaning. Some of my favorite groupings:

Clara, Helena/Helen, and Lucy — bright, bright, and light

Fiona and Bianca or Fiona and Gwen — white or fair

Samson, Esther, and Phoebe — biblical names associated with sun, star, and moon

Luna and Seren — moon and star

Leila and Nisha — night (in Arabic and Sanskrit)

Susanna and Lillian or Rosabelle — both mean lily or rose

Leta and Rowena — joy

It’s important to make sure the names coordinate stylistically as well, of course. A pairing like Melanie and Rajani, while they both mean “dark,” seems a very poor choice.

I used Behind the Name’s meaning search feature for these, so some of the meanings may not match those listed in Nameberry.

realpraise Says:

May 27th, 2009 at 9:45 am

Felix & Beatrix- both end in x and mean happy.

PunkPrincessPhD Says:

May 27th, 2009 at 11:00 am

As to the Irish list, just want to point out that the only “common thread” (besides the origin) is the diminutive form: e.g. Ronan means “little seal”, Kieran means “little dark one”, Reagan can mean “little king”, etc. They don’t actually share a “meaning” as such

PunkPrincessPhD Says:

May 27th, 2009 at 11:01 am

Sorry Pam & Linda – I’m sure you knew that from “Cool Irish Names for Babies”, but I thought it should be clarified for those who haven’t read it yet!

pam Says:

May 27th, 2009 at 11:04 am

You’re absolutely right, of course. I worried about including this group more because I don’t know how positive it would be for a parent to choose a group of children’s names based on the adjective “little.”

LyndsayJenness Says:

May 27th, 2009 at 12:29 pm

Has that feature been updated? I never knew you could do it like that! Awesome!

Frederick and Humphrey- Peaceful
Edwin and Amity- Friendship
Picabo and Electra- Shining
Roderick and Fulbright- Famous
Edgar and Edith- prosperous
Beatrix and Benedict- Blessed
Waverly and Raleigh- Meadow
Kingsley and Hartley- Meadow
Windsor and Deveraux- Riverbank
Soleil and Elidi- Sun
Daphne and Olive- Tree
Perry (boy) and Linnea- pear tree and lime tree
Patzi and Palila- Bird
Quince and Melora- Apple
Cole and Duff- Swarthy
Flynn and Rooney- Red-Headed
Chloe and Violet- Green and Purple

pam Says:

May 27th, 2009 at 3:44 pm

Brilliant ideas. The feature has always worked like that, but you have to know to click on Search by Meaning, which takes you to the category breakdown. it doesn’t work in the larger supersearch box. I love so many of these pairs, and you’re all so clever to do things like pear tree/lime tree and sun/moon.

Boston Girl Says:

May 27th, 2009 at 6:01 pm

Here’s an idea that may sound outdated, but could have been “out” long enough to be ready to come back “in”. For twin girls, Deborah and Melissa, which both mean “bee”.

Allison Says:

May 27th, 2009 at 6:20 pm

I love Blake and Finley! This is the best post in awhile!

tikicatt Says:

May 27th, 2009 at 7:22 pm

Love this post! And the Octo choices are superb! Wish we would have had this when we were naming the trips!

Rosamund Says:

May 27th, 2009 at 7:53 pm

Thanks for the lovely ideas!
I also love these combinations:
Hope and Esperanza
Pearl and Marguerite
Aurora and Roxanne(meaning dawn)
Stella and Astrid(meaning star)
Violet and Iolanthe
Tuesday and Mardi
Zoe and Eva(meaning life)
Natalie and Noelle(meaning Christmas)

Caitlin Says:

May 28th, 2009 at 12:42 am

Love Asher and Felix!

Sarah Rose Says:

May 28th, 2009 at 2:36 pm

I came up with a list of names that I simply liked, and found connections in them that would be cool for twin names if that should ever happen.

Helen Joy and Clara Margaret use the names of both my grandmothers.

William Ignatius and Manuela Josephine use the names (in one form or another) of both my grandfathers.

William Ignatius and Dominic Aloysius both use the name of Jesuit saints.

Theresa Ann and Dominic Aloysius’ initials together make “Ta-Da!”

Stephen and Timothy are the names of my father and my husbands father.

TWIN NAMES: Individual Choices, Same Meaning - Baby Name Blog … | Twins Article | Uniquely Twins Says:

May 28th, 2009 at 4:58 pm

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aileen Says:

May 29th, 2009 at 4:45 pm

we named our girls skye bella and lily jewel as we loved the names .. middle names were because skye is our beautiful little one and lily is our precious little gem .. but of course both are beautiful and very precious …

jennyforjennifer Says:

May 29th, 2009 at 4:47 pm

I quite honestly can’t stand matchy-matchy names for twins! I met a set named Taylor James and Tyler Jay recenty and wanted to gag.
I do know twin girls aged 4, Flora and Maia, born in April, who were named for two goddesses of springtime and I thought that was a lovely, subtle way to link them without subjecting them to a life being refered to as “the twins”.
I think the pairings Esme & Imogen, Arabella & Callista and Freya & Ada are utterly gorgeous!

Anna Says:

August 31st, 2009 at 5:36 pm

i like names like:

mercy, rhema, hope, patience, grace, love, joy, ashira (means wealth in hebrew), shalom, merry, noel, faith, virtue, charity, lively, victory,

Anna Says:

August 31st, 2009 at 5:38 pm

zoe means love in greek

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