Erin writes:
I’m Erin and my husband Hayden and I are expecting twin girls after years of TTC. The girls are due on the 28th of February, but in reality they could come much earlier than that, so I would really like to get their names sorted out. However my husband and I can’t agree on names!
The only name that we both love (I have always loved it) is Sophia. I am pretty set on it, but we have a dog named Ciara. Do you think that Sophia and Ciara are too similar?
We have decided that the girls middle names will be Jane and Isobel after family members, but we will just sort that out later.
Anyway, we want a name that:
– Does not end in an ‘a’ or an ‘uh’ sound.
– Does not start with an E, H, C or S.
– Sounds good with either Isobel or Jane as the middle name.
– Is not misspelled, masculine or ‘trendy’ (like Camryn).
– Sounds good with Sophia.We don’t care about the popularity of the name, but we want a name that is similar in popularity to Sophia (ie. We would prefer something like Alyssa [but we can’t use that] over something like Audrina).
Names we have considered/like but are out are:
– Isabella
– Ava
– Madeleine
– Mia
– Chloe
– Olivia
– AudreyOh and our last name is similar to McKenzie.
No, I don’t think Ciara and Sophia are too similar.
Your “out” list is devastating, because most of those are the very names I’d suggest. Sophia and Isobel would be perfect, for example: similarly common but similarly exotic; same number of letters and syllables; so good with your surname. One of the few remaining in the Top 10 is Emma, but that starts with E and ends with A.
It would be helpful to know whether the restrictions (starting letters, ending sounds) are actual restrictions or just preferences in search of the ideal. Are you trying not to repeat the parents’ initials as well as not repeating the children’s? And are you trying not to repeat the DOG’S initial? And so very many girl names end with -a, especially the ones that are a similar level of femininity to Sophia. It seems like you could be unnecessarily eliminating huge groups of names that might contain a name you’d love enough to be willing to compromise on the beginning or ending.
It would also be helpful to know how set you were on those middle names if you found a first name you LOVED that didn’t work with either of them. In general I think it’s significantly easier to choose the first names FIRST, then go looking for middle names that work with them.
[Note: I initially ended at this point, because I considered the restrictions too…restricty…to work with. But then I thought maybe I was just too tired, and I should try again in the morning. So the first two comments in the comments section on this post are BEFORE my suggestions: if I make a suggestion and they appear to be re-making it, it’s that they hadn’t yet read anything after this point.]
Names that work with your restrictions (no E, H, C, or S; no ending in -a or similar sound):
Abigail McKenzie; Sophia and Abigail
Alice McKenzie; Sophia and Alice
Annabel McKenzie; Sophia and Annabel
Grace McKenzie; Sophia and Grace
Lillian McKenzie; Sophia and Lillian
Lily McKenzie; Sophia and Lily
Louise McKenzie; Sophia and Louise
Lucy McKenzie; Sophia and Lucy
Molly McKenzie; Sophia and Molly
Natalie McKenzie; Sophia and Natalie
Noelle McKenzie; Sophia and Noelle
Rose McKenzie; Sophia and Rose
Ruby McKenzie; Sophia and Ruby
Violet McKenzie; Sophia and Violet
Zoe McKenzie; Sophia and Zoe
Names that break some or many of your restrictions but I want to mention them anyway:
Catherine McKenzie; Sophia and Catherine
Cecily McKenzie; Sophia and Cecily
Charlotte McKenzie; Sophia and Charlotte
Claire McKenzie; Sophia and Claire
Clarissa McKenzie; Sophia and Clarissa
Elena McKenzie; Sophia and Elena
Elise McKenzie; Sophia and Elise
Eliza McKenzie; Sophia and Eliza
Ella McKenzie; Sophia and Ella
Eloise McKenzie; Sophia and Eloise
Hailey McKenzie; Sophia and Hailey
Hope McKenzie; Sophia and Hope
Lila McKenzie; Sophia and Lila
Marissa McKenzie; Sophia and Marissa
Some of these are not really in the same popularity ballpark as Sophia, but I tried to stay with names that felt more popular than they were. For example, I’m always surprised at the ratings of Catherine and Eliza, because they feel much more common than they are.
For the most part I disregarded the dog’s name.
Updated question! Erin writes:
I wrote to you not too long ago about naming my twin daughters. I’m the one who had all of the ‘restrictions’ LOL, I’m sorry I was such a hassle! But anyway thanks for answering it, as we have decided on names! However, now that we have decided on first names, we are struggling to decide which baby should have which middle name.
So the girls are going to be Lily and Sophia. We have the name Jane and Isobel chosen, but my problem is that I love Lily Jane and Sophia Isobel, but then I feel as though Lily Jane is sweet and short, and Sophia Isobel is beautiful and long. I don’t mind Lily Isobel and Sophia Jane, but I don’t like the sound of Lily Isobel as much.
Does Lily Jane and Sophia Isobel sound okay for twin sisters?
Name update! Erin writes:
I am happy to announce that the girls were born on the 2nd of Feb, and are doing wonderful!
Now for their names. After reading the responses from my second question, I was sure that the girls would be Sophia Isobel and Lily Jane. A couple of days before they were born I just fell out of love with Lily (mind you, this was after we had ordered letters for their names for the nursery). I read over my question, Swistle’s answer, and everyone’s comments, THEN I made my hubby do the same ;-) However we then both decided on a name for Sophia’s sister, and we are very happy with it!
So, the girls are Sophia Jane and Grace Isobel. We are calling Sophia, Sophia, and Grace, Gracie. We are in love with our Sophia and Gracie, and I believe they are the perfect names for them!
Thank you everyone for helping us!
I don’t think Sophia and Ciara are too close. Luckily Sophia sounds good with both Isobel and Jane. Maybe a tidge better Jane, but not so much that it’s worth missing out on something that doesn’t work with Isobel.
With your last name, I’d also avoid any B- names.
How about?
Grace
Abigail
Lucy
Lillian
Lauren (hm. or not)
Lily
Ivy
Violet
Juliet
Josephine
Rachel
My favourite combos are
– Abigail and Sophia.
Abigail Jane and Sophia Isobel.
– Grace and Sophia.
Grace Isobel and Sophia Jane.
– If it weren’t for Sophia Loren, I really like
Lauren and Sophia.
Sophia makes me think of Greek names, even though I guess that spelling’s Italian? Anyhow, here are some Greek-inspired names I like with Sophia, (even though a couple of them break your limitation rules.)
Leda; Sophia & Leda; Leda Jane, Leda Isobel
Alexis; Sophia & Alexis; Alexis Isobel
Phoebe; Sophia & Phoebe; Phoebe Jane, Phoebe Isobel.
Esme; Sophia & Esme; Esme Isobel
And some others:
If you don’t like Audrey, what about Aubrey? Sophia & Aubrey; Aubrey Jane, Aubrey Isobel
And if Phoebe or Aubrey are too much for you, what about Ruby? Sophia & Ruby; Ruby Jane, Ruby Isobel
(Apparently I like names with “b”s in the middle. Heh.)
And finally, what about
Rose; Sophia & Rose; Rose Isobel, Sophia Jane
Claire; Sophia & Claire; Claire Isobel & Sophia Jane
Camille; Sophia & Camille; Camille Isobel
So…my favorite is Phoebe. I LOVE it. It’s great with either Jane or Isobel; it’s different but feminine & it repeats the “phee” sound of Sophia without being too similar.
Phew. Good luck.
Lucy and Sophia sound great together.
Sophia and Isobel is a personal favorite, although you did say you can’t use it. Still, sounds great together.
Sophia and Isla
Sophia and Elle
Sophia and Aubrey
I hardly have any favorites that don’t break some of your rules…
Fun fact- I know sisters named Sophia and Ciarra. True story! And I’ve never thought they were too close of names for sisters.
I too like Sophia and Isobel.
Sophia Jane and Lily Isobel (or Sophia Isabel and Lillian Jane)
Sophia and Violet
Sophia and Alice
Sophia and Zoe
Sophia and Leah
Sophia and Juliet
Sophia and Britt
Sophia and Romy
Sophia and Bryony
Sophia and Darcy
The jewelry company called Lia Sophia, which might rule out Leah. Also, Lia/Leah ends in -uh.
But the last commenter’s suggestion of Darcy made me think of Daphne.
Sophia and Daphne. They’re different enough and similar enough.
Another suggestion: Josephine
Both have the long ‘o’ and ‘fff’.
Sophia and Josephine. They flow well together to me.
I keep wanting to suggest ends-in-a names like Alexandra, Clara and Emma that seem like good sister names for Sophia. Some of these start with proscribed letters to boot.
I think Abigail, Lily and Grace have all been suggested. I like those.
Maybe you could give a little on the letter C. Claire is a nice name, as is Charlotte and Chloe and none of those end in a. Or if you can compromise on ends in a, a whole world of names opens up, but right now Julia is the one that’s speaking to me. Sophia Isobel and Julia Jane if you like alliteration. Sophia Jane and Julia Isobel if you don’t.
I love the suggestions of Julia, and Josephine. If you wanted to give the girls a nn, then Sophie and Julie or Sophie and Josie would be very complementary.
What about Elisabeth? I like the formality of the name next to the formality of Sophia. Plus, spelled with an “s”, there is a subtle connection between the names, and could be Lissa for a nn.
Other ideas:
Anneliese
Faith
Allison
Cora
Genevieve
Bridget
Emmeline
Oh wow, I think Daphne trumps my own love of Phoebe, for the same reasons I listed for Phoebe, except the “phee” is broken up by the “n.”
Love it!
wow, the hardest part is eliminating names ending it -a or -uh sounds.
How about:
Lilith or Lillian (as mentioned already)
Rose (as mentioned already)
Alexis
Zoe (as mentioned above)
Natalie (as mentioned already)
Rachel
Ruby (as mentioned already)
Lauren
Madelyn
Genevieve
Brooke
Anabelle or Annabette
Josephine
Gabrielle
Penelope
Marie
Corinne
Naomi
Iris
Phoebe (as mentioned)
Margaret
Faith
Anne
Adeline
Beatrice
Danielle
Arielle
Jillian
I’m glad you’re using Sophia and aren’t concerned about its popularity. It’s a lovely name! (And I don’t find it at all similar to Ciara — pronounced the Irish way as Keer-a or like Sierra. Either way, I wouldn’t be concerned about the dog’s name unless that was the exact name I now wanted to name my daughter.)
My favorites with Sophia Jane/Isobel that meet all your crieria:
Phoebe Jane/Isobel – Sophia & Phoebe
Lucy Jane/Isobel – Sophia & Lucy
Katherine Isobel/Jane – Sophia & Katherine (or Katharine)
Adding in C names (because I have a feeling your dog’s name is pronounced non-traditionally Irish with a S-sound ??? and because I really can’t see how the dog’s name matters all that much):
Caroline Isobel/Jane – Sophia & Caroline
Clare Isobel – Sophia Jane & Clare Isobel (or French spelling Claire)
Charlotte Isobel – Sophia & Charlotte
Looking over Swistle’s lists, I especially like Abigail. But I have the impression that you intend to call Sophia the full name (not Sophie even some of the time??), so I’m wondering if Abigail would work for you because it’s so often shortened to Abby.
I like coordinating names for twins. As I’ve mentioned here before, my 7-year-old twin grandsons are named James and Andrew, and I think those names are PERFECT together. ;-)
–Both are strong, classic male names
–Both are equally popular
–Both are NT biblical
–Yet they don’t start or end alike
If I were to match Sophia similarly — excluding names beginning with S especially and also E and H, per your preference, and also names ending in ‘a’) — I think my first choices for Sophia’s twin would be:
Phoebe — Greek like Sophia
Lucy — Classic like Sophia
Caroline — Classic, 18th C royal name like Sophia
From Swistle’s list, I love Annabel and Lucy the most. I think they fit great with both Sophia and your last name.
Other names that I think would work well are Margaret, Camille, Evelyn and Vivienne. I know some of those use forbidden initials, but they’re still worth considering
I especially love Ruby(I’m a little biased) and Annabel with Sophia.
Annabel Jane and Sophia Isobel are fabulous. Annie and Sophie– just tops. <3 it! Good luck!
Sophie is out for me because of a dog :(
I love Annabel with Sophia too, but that would mean their full names would have to be
Sophia Isobel and
Annabel Jane
and repeating ‘bel’ in each name might be too matching for the parents’ taste. But if not, I think Sophia and Annabel would make a great twin set! And I like the subtle matching of first name Annabel with middle name Isobel.
Also, I LOVE Annabel with McKenzie — very Scottish combo. Annable Drummond was the Queen Consort of King Robert III of Scotland, and the name Annabel has been a favorite in that country. Isobel (with the ‘o’ spelling) is associated with Scotland too.
A Baby Name Wizard NameFinder search for a name to coordinate with Sophia (“traditional” and/or “saints” name — I had to put in both those criteria to have Sophia come up), using your letter criteria and including popularity (“very popular”, “popular”) brought up these names:
* Allison (girl)
* Amy (girl)
* Annabelle (girl)
* Audrey (girl)
* Isabel (girl)
* Jennifer (girl)
* Jillian (girl)
* Jocelyn (girl)
* Katherine (girl)
* Kathryn (girl)
* Kimberly (girl)
* Lauren (girl)
* Lillian (girl)
* Lucy (girl)
* Margaret (girl)
* Megan (girl)
* Melanie (girl)
* Natalie (girl)
* Paige (girl)
Including “Somewhat Popular” added these names to the list:
* Adeline (girl)
* Alice (girl)
* Alison (girl)
* Bridget (girl)
* Jane (girl)
* Josephine (girl)
* Penelope (girl)
* Phoebe (girl)
* Vivian (girl)
Allowing names beginning with C would add these possibilities:
* Caroline (girl)
* Catherine (girl)
* Charlotte (girl)
* Chloe (girl)
my top two choices are caroline and ivy.
other names that seem to fit:
laurel
natalie
adaline
joy
noel
If you’re calling your dog “Sierra” — spelled as Ciara, then I can see why you might worry that Sophia sounds too similar to your dog’s name. If so, would you consider altering your dog’s name — or giving her a new nickname, thus freeing up both S for Sophia and C (hard c) for names for the other twin? It seems that your dog’s name is an unnecessary complication to naming one twin Sophia and the other a name that doesn’t begin with E, H, or S or end with a.
Why not name the babies first and then decide what to change the dog’s name to in order to accommodate those names? I wouldn’t give up Sophia because of your dog’s name. Depending on the beginning letter of the name you choose for Sophia’s twin, you could start calling the dog Ara (Ciara with out the first syllable), add a different first letter that doesn’t repeat the beginning letter or sound of those that begin your daughters’ names (Tara, Fara, Zara, Vara, etc.), or choose a cute nickname based on some characteristic of the animal.
Thus your family’s names would be, parents Hayden and Erin and twin daughters Sophia and, for example, Catherine, who also have a dog named Tara.
Sophia and Daphne… ah, lovely!
Sophia Jane and Daphne Isobel. They sound so wonderful together!
(And ‘Fee’ and ‘Dee’ are pretty cute little nicknames if you ever feel like it).
Best wishes to the four of you! Can’t wait to hear what you decide.
Just have to weigh in that I think Sophia Jane and Grace Isobel make a lovely pair, and Grace is closer in popularity to Sophia than some of the other wonderful options mentioned (Daphne and Phoebe for example).
I know sisters (not twins) named Grace and Sofia and I feel that is such an elegant sister set.
I think Grace is the perfect fit with Sophia.
Grace is lovely! Sophia Jane and Grace Isobel sounds fantastic.
Further thoughts: if you’re calling your dog “Sierra” (written as Ciara), then it seems that “Sierra” and Sophia could seem too similar for you. Unless you can alter the dog’s name, as suggested above, maybe you should find another name besides Sophia to begin your twin set. You mentioned liking Alyssa. How about —
Alyssa and Natalie
Alyssa and Paige
Alyssa and Melanie
Another thing I just noticed is that EriN and HaydeN end in the same letter – n. So you may want to include ‘no names ending in n’ to your criteria instead of ‘no names ending in a’. If the twins had names ending in the same letter – a, that would balance things out with the names in your family and you could use both Sophia (if you could resolve the issue of the dog’s name sounding similar to Sophia) and Alyssa:
HaydeN, EriN,
Sophi(A) and Alyss(A)
Sophia Isobel
Alyssa Jane
Maybe your dog could be re-named Lady Ciara, and little by little called just “Lady”.
i vote for Evelyn with Sophia!
These will be your daughters- they will carry their names for life. I would pick the names you love and forget about ‘rules’. If you happen to love a name that starts with an E and ends with an a, but not use it because your own name happens to start with an E seems like a silly reason in the bigger picture. No one will pay attention to those details in your daughters’ lives. It would be more meaningful for your children to hear that their parents chose their names because they meant something to you and your husband rather than that they came about by a rule of elimination.
I hope you find two names you simply adore for your wonderful babies to be! :)
From the suggestions above, my favorites are:
Lucy & Sophia
Josephine & Sophia
Daphne & Sophia
Grace & Sophia
Caroline & Sophia
Elizabeth & Sophia
Penelope & Sophia
I think Josephine is my favorite.
I love the suggestion of Daphne with Sophia – love it!
Very well put, Anonymous @January 10, 2011 8:19 AM. I agree, pick the two names you love best for your daughters and don’t worry about whether you happen to choose a name that starts with E or H – like your name or your husband’s name, or ends with an A. Think of all the lovely possibilities if you didn’t have to rule out names just because they begin or end with the wrong letter or sound similar to the dog’s name (which could be changed if need be).
I think your daughters will prefer to know that we named you _____ because we loved the name rather than someday learn that you felt you had to pick names that didn’t sound like the dog’s name (this particular dog may no longer be around) and didn’t begin or end with this letter or that.
It’s wonderful that you’re having twin girls after years of TTC. Give them the names you love most, the names you’ll love calling them in all the wonderful family years ahead.
I have a daughter named Violet Jayne, and people seem to really like her name (I know we do!). I think Sophia and Violet are cute together!
I Love the idea of Sophia and Violet or Eloise! Grace, Lily, Meredith, Molly, Josephine, Jacqueline, Penelope, Ivy, Mary or Olive are all lovely names! Pauline is a lost treasure.
Fiona and Matilda are my favorite names with Sophia, but they break your rules.:)
Best of Luck!!
Sophia Jane and Violet Isobel.
Jane would be a lovely first name. Jane and Sophia.
Sophia and Jane would be lovely for twins — very compatible in style yet distinctive in sound. Maybe Sophia Isobel and Jane Violet?
Perhaps: Vivienne, Alessia or Lilianna?
I love the suggestion of Noelle! Sophia Isobel and Noelle Jane
Adorable!
Sophia and Louisa
Just happened to see a newspaper article about a family whose daughters (their only children) are called Sophia and Louisa. Lovely names, separately and together.
In an earlier comment, I suggested Daphne, but the name of a recent commenter (Helen) sounds so good style-wise with Sophia and is of Greek origin.
Helen and Sophia.
A drawback may be that they are very different in popularity.
Gwenyth?
Sophia and Gwen
Sophie and Gwen.
I like Sophia and Lily, Sophia and Lucy and Sophia and Helen out of the suggestions above.
I like both combinations and I don’t think it matters if one is longer than the other. I’d go with the combination you like best– Lily Jane and Sophia Isobel. Very pretty.
I affirm your choice of Lily Jane and Sophia Isobel. The pairings flow well together.
Both combinations are good but I’m with the others – go with Lily Jane and Sophia Isobel.
Lily Jane and Sophia Isobel are perfect! I really love the way both names sound.
Lily and Jane each have four letters, and Sophia and Isobel six, so if the girls wonder why their names are different lengths from each other (which they probably won’t unless you point it out), you can use distraction by pointing out that their names are symmetrical with themselves, rather than each other.
Or maybe I am being silly.
Lily Jane and Sophia Isobel are lovely! They go together stylistically very well, and each name flows beautifully, so I don’t think the length of the names matters. I wouldn’t have even noticed if you hadn’t asked about it explicitly (and even now, I don’t think it’s a problem). Go with the names you love!
Lily Jane and Sophia Isobel are both wonderful! They are great by themselves and as part of a ‘twin team’. That said, both combinations would work, of course, because you have chosen four great names, but I say go with what you love better. Lily Jane and Sophia Isobel is incredibly pretty. (Send a photo when they are here, please!)
I have a niece named Lily Isabelle (different spelling than your choice) and it seems to flow well for us! Just wanted you to have that data point. :)
All four names you’ve chosen for your twin daughters are fantastic! I think either middle name could work with either first name, but that Isobel sounds better with Sophia because Lily Isobel may be a little heavy on Ls. As for difference in ‘sweetness’, I think each name is darling on a little girl. Too, if you want cute little nicknames for when they’re small, you could call them Lily Jane and Sophia Bel(l).
Hope you’ll let us know when they arrive and if at all possible, a photo of your twins would be appreciated.
Best wishes!
I think Lily Jane and Sophia Isobel sound lovely, and I don’t think that one is too short/long to “go with” the other.
Yes…I, too, think they go well together. If you wanted a longer name you could go with
Lillian Jane and Sophia Isobel nn Lily and Sophie?
I think that the I’s and L’s in both Lily and Isobel make it somewhat of a tongue twister.
Lily Jane and Sophia Isobel gets my vote. :)
TOO MUCH CUTENESS! Love the photo and their names. congratulations!
My daughter is also a Ground Hog’s Day baby! I always thought that was the best birthday. It’s not really a real holiday but makes her birthday easy for others to remember. Congratulations! The picture is too adorable!
Sophia and Gracie are as lovely as their names! I’m glad you found the names that are perfect for you. I like the way the names are not overly ‘matchy’ yet go together very well. Just darling — your twins and their names. Congratulations!