Hi Swistle! I’m a longtime reader and obsessed over your blog when I was pregnant with my first. I have a 2 year old named Claire and just found out we’re having twin boys!! We’re so excited but I knew this would be the hardest name challenge for me – two girl names would’ve been no problem for me, but boys name I have such a harder time with! It doesn’t help that I find something wrong with and second guess myself on every name! I still question the name Claire, wondering if we should’ve gone with something more frilly, longer, flowery etc, especially now that we probably wont’ have another girl. If either of the twins was a girl I would’ve gone with Genevieve Ann. Sadly am mourning the loss of that name! Anyways……on to boys names. These are our current contenders:
Andrew
Collin
Aaron
Marshall – family name
Hugh
Jude
Lawrence
Harrison
Christopher
Maxwell
Oliver
Jake
Everett (possible nickname Rhett)
Walt
Edward
WesleyOur last name begins with P and is 2 syllables, ends with -er. Wanting at least one of the names to be at least 2 syllables.
The coming up with two names at once adds an additional challenge for me! I can’t seem to separate them in my mind, but constantly say the pair I’m trying out together. My other problem is that I’ll like something for a couple of weeks, then be “over it” so it’s hard to imagine a name I’ll love forever! Does anyone else have this problem or am I the only one? ;)
I knew Claire was in the top 50 when we named her but since she was born I’ve learned of what seems like a million baby Claires. Being a Sarah of the 80s, I feel like I did the same thing to her! So, am wanting to avoid the super common – strangely, I know no Christophers, and only one each of Andrew and Jake, even though they are high on the popularity charts.
First I would like to give you some comfort about the popularity of the name Claire. You mention she’s two, so I will look at the 2012 statistics. In 2012, according to the Social Security Administration, the name Claire was given to .26% of baby girls. I will guess at your ’80s birth year and pick 1985: in 1985, the name Sarah/Sara was given to 1.92% of baby girls. So there were more than SEVEN TIMES as many girls named Sarah/Sara in your age group as there are girls named Claire in your daughter’s age group. For every ONE girl named Claire now, there were SEVEN girls named Sarah/Sara then. It’s the same ratio if you were born in 1989; if you were born in 1980, it’s EIGHT times as many instead of seven.
I know there will be others who will report feeling that same “like it, but then I’m over it” feeling about names. I had many name crushes, and it was alarming later to see how those crushes had faded; I too worried this meant I might not love a chosen name long-term. So far, though, I’ve found I’m only MORE committed to the names in the long term: regrets gradually fade as it becomes more and more impossible to picture having chosen a different name. A regret such as “I wish we hadn’t chosen such a common name” changes over time to something more like “I wish everyone ELSE hadn’t chosen it,” if you see what I mean. That is, I feel more and more as if we made the right choice, and I am only sorry it was the right choice for so many other people as well; I don’t wish to have made a different choice ourselves.
Because I enjoy a little twinniness with twin names, and because your daughter’s name starts with C, and because twins are referred to during the pregnancy as Baby A and Baby B, I would be a little tempted to go with an ABC pattern. You don’t have any B names on your list, but my mom and I were just talking this morning about how much we like the name Benjamin, so I’ll use that as a sample name:
Claire, Benjamin, and Andrew
Claire, Benjamin, and Aaron
I do think it can be a helpful exercise to pretend you’re not having twins. Pretend you are pregnant with only one boy right now, and pick your favorite name from the list to join his sister Claire. Then pretend it’s two years later and you are pregnant again, another boy to join siblings Claire and ______: which name is your choice this time? I do always go back to trying the two names together as a twin set, but thinking of them as two singleton births helped me avoid some of that overwhelmed feeling that comes with choosing a pair of names.
Do matching initials appeal to you? You could do Claire, Collin, and Christopher: 1, 2, and 3 syllables.
Collin and Oliver make me think of Calvin. Claire, Calvin, and…hm. Collin seems too similar, Christopher too different, and with two C names I’d want a third in this case. (Normally I say the pattern isn’t set with only two, but I feel differently about it when twins are involved.) Maybe Claire, Calvin, and Caleb. Well, but two Cal and one Cla seems too similar again. Maybe Claire, Calvin, and Charles.
Or maybe matching initials just for the twins: Andrew and Aaron, Harris and Hugh, Jude and Jacob.
I think it’s fun to make twin-name pairs from a list. I am going to play with your list a little, pairing up my own favorites, and perhaps the commenters would like to do the same.
Oliver and Wesley (matching number of letters)
Oliver and Everett (matching “ver”—but is that too much “er” with the surname?)
Everett and Harrison (both have a doubled letter)
Edward and Andrew (matching number of letters/syllables, both contain A, D, E, R, W)
I also like Hugh and Walt (matching number of letters/syllables), but neither of those has two or more syllables.
I kept wanting to use Marshall (I love family names), but felt a little reluctant to give one twin a family name and not the other. Maybe something like Marshall [Non-Family Middle] and Collin [Dad’s Name] would work.
Everett makes me think of Elliot, which I like in a very similar way. I like Oliver and Elliot together.
Name update!
Hi Swistle :) Well my babies turn 1 this week so I guess it’s time to update you on our names! Ha! I had decided on Oliver as one of the names but for the life of me couldn’t decide on the other! After a few days in the NICU (yes poor baby B was nameless for a while!), we decided on Andrew Paul for our darling baby B. We had requested a Catholic priest to bless the babies at the NICU, but had no idea when he would come by our room. About 5 minutes after deciding the name, I hear a knock at our hospital door, and it’s the priest who says “Hi, I’m here to bless your babies. What are their names”? And he proceeds to bless them, using the names finally decided on! It was truly a sign from God that these were the “right” names :) Here’s a picture of our precious John Oliver (goes by Oliver) and Andrew Paul. Thank you so much of your input!!
I do not care for twin names that are matchy, but I do like for them to have some connection. I love Swistle’s suggestion of ABC for you. Since your C is the oldest, I’d probably also give the firstborn twin the B name & the younger twin would get the A name. In addition to Benjamin, I also like Bennett, Brendan for you.
Another option I like for twins is to use reverse initials. It’s more subtle than matching first initials, but the connection is still there. So something along the lines of Collin Jake and Jude Christopher.
From your list, my favorite pairings are Everett (Rhett) & Andrew (Drew), Collin & Jude and Lawrence & Marshall. If you do use Marshall, I would try to find another family name as either first or middle for the other twin.
I like the C, B, A idea too.
I also like the idea of having all matching numbers of letters. Claire has 6, like many of the names on your list.
Or what about similar meanings? Claire means “Bright” http://www.behindthename.com/names/meaning/bright,light,shining,white
Oh, I hope you use the name Harrison! My husband and I were going to use that name (I’m due next month) but our friends (who were due yesterday) announced a few weeks ago that was the name they’d chosen for their son. Now since we can’t use it I want everyone else to. What a great name.
I like Harrison and Jude together. Twinny names are fun, but I like that these two names are SO different – almost nothing in common – but they still sound nice together.
For twinny names, Harrison and Holden? Harrison and Hugh?
Harrison and Jude both have a Beatles connection! That’s a cute subtle connection for them :)
I didn’t even think of that! That’s great.
The ABC idea doesn’t win me over towards picking non favorite options. I personally think Marshall and Everett would be wonderful names for your boys. Other good suggestions were Oliver and Everett or Elliott.
I am not for excessively “twinny” combinations like the ABC, or all C’s or sharing first initials. I immediately was drawn to Walt! Such a classic manly feel, yet not even in the top 1000! Names from your list with similar standing are: Hugh, Lawrence, Everett. I do not thing that Hugh and Walt sound/look good together. I really like Walt and Lawrence (love) and Everett and Walt. Congrats and good luck! Claire is a classic beautiful name btw;)
Yes! I’m on-board the Walt Train too! It’s such a classic, versatile name (cute on a little boy and handsome on a grown man) but is hardly used at all. Definitely poised for a comeback, if you ask me.
I’m just going to mix and match from your list in case any of these strike your fancy.
Aaron Edward
Andrew Jude
Christopher Marshall
Collin Harrison
Everett Wesley
Hugh Lawrence
Maxwell Oliver
For Monica regarding the name Harrison-
Do you think these friends will be friends forever and in the same town for the boys’ entire childhoods?
I would hate to give up a name I loved, so I just wondered.
Claire is a beautiful name, my daughter has a Claire in her pre primary class and it sounds so refreshing amongst all the Avas, Lillys, Mias etc
My son’s name is Marshall so of course its my favourite from your list, I like Marshall and Everett or Marshall and Harrison the best.
I also really like Bennett (suggested above), Bennett and Everett have the same ending but not too over the top matchy!
Since you like Lawrence you might like Lawson, Lawson & Harrison are cute together also share the same ending.
If you like Walt what about Wyatt, Wyatt and Wesley are cute. I also like Hugh and Jude together or Hugh and Wesley ( Wes and Hugh)
You have some great names on your list I hope you find two names that you love! Congratulations and good luck.
Many fine names on your list!
Our last name Is P__ _er too (either the same as your last name or very similar). I have grandsons with that last name called:
Christopher Andrew — brothers Alexander and Nicholas
Joseph “Joey”, Ethan and William “Will”
David, Jonathan and Henry
I have a son Edward “Teddy/Ted” P__ _er. And sons named John, Robert and James.
Also in our family are twin grandsons James and Andrew (11); James has his maternal grandfather’s first name as his middle and Andrew has his dad’s first name as his middle. (They are the sons of a daughter so have a different last name from ours.)
Claire is such a classic name that it seems about any of your names would go well with it. However, I don’t think the nickname names — Walt and Jake — coordinate as well as the full names. If you want another one syllable name, I would suggest a classic given name of one syllable like James or a longer name with a one syllable nickname.
We are expecting a new baby in our extended family in less than 3 weeks! If a boy, he will most likely be called either Marshall or Theodore. I like those names together too and also like Marshall and Lawrence or Marshall and Everett (not so much Rhett) from your list as names for twins.
It’s so special having twin boys in our family! Please let us know what you name your twins.
Best wishes!
Some further thoughts:
Claire, Collin and Christopher sound well together and coordinate well with their English (UK) backgrounds. But I wouldn’t choose a name beginning with C unless both twins were given C-names. And there are practical advantages to each child in a family having her/his own beginning initial.
Looking at your other possibilities, my favorite pairing — and especially with Claire — would be
Andrew and Oliver, with second place, Andrew and Hugh.
Claire, Andrew and Oliver
Claire, Andrew and Hugh
Marshall and Walter “Walt” have a vintage sound together, although they tie in less well with Claire stylistically.
Claire, Marshall and Walt.
I hope this doesn’t throw a screw into the works because you have such a lovely list already, but my name is Claire, and my brother’s name is Erik. I always thought the two matched so well! (And my mom didn’t to my knowledge really even think about matching.)
Of your list, I love Marshall & Oliver, Wesley & Oliver, and Maxwell & Oliver.
Good luck!
I love the ABC idea, and wanted to suggest Beckett (my favorite boy name in my daughter’s daycare). I also met an Anderson (nn Andy) and was pleasantly surprised to hear a young boy called Andy.
Claire, Beckett, Anderson
Or from your list:
Claire, Benjamin, Andrew
I also love Jude, Harrison and Marshall from your list.
Claire, Harrison, Jude (love the Beattles mention from another commenter)
Claire, Harrison, Marshall
Also, wanted to say I know zero Claires but was shocked to see two (2!) Colins on the classroom cubbies the other day.
Unfortunately I DO think these friends will be in our lives forever; she and my husband went to high school together and their high school friend group is still very close. Since they’re in a neighboring school district we are still considering the name (especially since we like different nicknames for it) but I don’t want to make them mad. I would be upset if the situation were reversed and they went ahead and used the name after we had, so I don’t want to do that to them. Also (TMI) she and my husband used to hook up in college…and even though it was long before I met him (and there is NO RISK of it ever happening again) it makes me uncomfortable that she’s still part of the friend group and I want to have as little in common with her as possible. It’s bad enough we got pregnant six weeks apart!
What do you think about Alec? A friend has a son named Alec and I think it’s a fantastic, underused name. I think it works well with many of the other names on your list as well:
Hugh & Alec
Walt & Alec
Everett & Alec
Wesley & Alec
Jude & Alec
I’m a twin mom too, but didn’t get too matchy with our girls’ names. I like Swistle’s ABC suggestion, as it’s a subtle link between all 3 kids. Benjamin is a great name suggestion too. Maybe also Bennett/Barrett/Beck?
I love the name Marshall, and love using family names, but to me it doesn’t fit well with Claire. Walt was one of our boy names before we found out we were having girls, so it’s my favorite on your list.
Good luck!
I like the Eric suggestion, maybe Alec and Eric? My favorite pairing is Oliver and Elliot. I think Harrison is a little to close to Claire. I can imagine him constantly getting called Claire-ison by mistake. (I guess Eric has the same issue: Cleric!) How about Edwin and Ethan?
I agree with Swistle. I would choose two names that you love as if you were choosing for two separate births vs. twins. The names don’t have to match… my only criteria is that they don’t sound too close together, but I would do that when naming any siblings.
You have a fabulous list and most names on your list are also on mine. Here’s my thoughts:
When reading your list I automatically was like HUGH and WALT!! I so love these names. I then came across your stipulation of having one of the two names as a two syllable name. I’m not sure why…. but I would still stick with Hugh and Walt. You could either do Hugo (nn Hugh) or else Walter (nn Walt).
We have a 1.5 year old Oliver and we love his name. I wasn’t totally sold on it when we picked it (we really struggled with boy names, every week changing our minds) but as soon as he was here and we had named him Oliver, we were both so glad that we did. SO… on that note, I love using Oliver as one of the names for you guys.
Oliver and Charles (we are currently pregnant, and Charles will be the name if this babe is a boy)
Oliver and Walter (if we can’t use Charles, then we will be using Walter)
Oliver and Walt.
Theodore. Walt and Theo. Walt and Theodore. Ollie and Theo. Oliver and Theo. Lots of good options.
What about Louis (pronounced lou-ee). Oliver and Louis. NN Ollie and Lou. Walt and Lou. SUPER CUTE with either of these names. WOW. Totally swooning over here….
Simon. Walt and Simon. Walter and Simon. Oliver and Simon.
Maxwell was on our list as well, but thought that Max was too common for our taste so we decided that we would want to use the nn Wells. That then lead to, what about using just Wells?? Love it. Another on our top 3 list. Oliver and Wells sounds fabulous together.
Jude is also my other favourite off your list. To make it a two syllable, you could always use Judah.
Judah and Walt are super cute.
What about Oswald? Oswald and Wesley sound and look like a good sibling match. Oz and Wes.
Or Oscar? Oscar and Felix automatically come to mind as good twin names.
I think you have a great set of names. Good luck and keep us posted for sure!!
You have so many good options. No wonder it is hard to choose. Here are some of my favorite combos from your list.
– Edward and Walter. Ted and Walt? Ward and Walt?
– Walter and Maxwell. Walt and Wells.
– Edward and Christopher. Ted and Kit. (I’m not a fan of the two C’s, but love the nickname Kit)
– Edward and Oliver.
– Hugh and Walter. (If you change Walt to Walter, you get the two syllables you wanted)
Both Jude and Hugh have a long U sound. It makes me think of Reuben with possible nickname of Ben.
– Edward and Reuben. Ted and Ben.
– Oliver and Reuben.
At this point, it may be easier to eliminate names instead of adding names. I would eliminate both Aaron and Harrison because the repeating AIR sound (Claire and Aaron, Claire and Harrison) would bother me. I’m leery of the possible nickname of Larry. Normally this would not be enough of a concern to make me eliminate names, but since you have such a fabulous list, I’d stretching to find reasons to toss names aside.
Really any name from this list is going to be great.
Congratulations on your twin boys John Oliver and Andrew Paul!
I love the names you chose (as mentioned in my comments above).
Claire, Oliver and Andrew — perfect!
Best wishes to you all!