These surprising twin names have got people talking
A recent post on a parenting forum about twin names has caused a little bit of controversy. And we have to wonder if these parents were so wedded to a particular moniker they had to use it twice… or if they just can’t think of another name? Either way, these anecdotes prove it really takes all kinds.
Same-same names
“I work in a school. we have twins coming. TWIN 1 is called: Roseanne and TWIN 2 is called: Rosy. No lies. Why would you do that?” a Mumsnet user wrote.
Let’s take that in. Roseanne and Rosy. Pretty much the same name wearing different hats.
“That is not the way to go when naming twins,” another forum user piped-up. “People think of twins as a set when really they are two completely separate human beings who are individual and deserve to be named and treated that way.”
It’s hard to know why parents might name already matching babies with names that pretty much result in the exact same nickname. Perhaps they are keen to stress how similar their babies are? Perhaps they are named in honour of two pals who had similar names? The mind boggles.
Matchy-matchy
While other commenters thought Roseanne and Rosy were weird, they didn’t view the choice as super unusual because they had also encountered similar name combinations.
“My ex mother-in-law was Gwendolene, her [sister] was Lynn! Both got Lynn!!” one commented.
“I knew a set called Marie and Maria at school!” someone else wrote.
“I knew twins called Tim and Tom,” another commenter posted.
“I know of some twins named Dave and David.” Which, hang on, is exactly the same name.
Same, same but different
Some were keen to tell the tale of multiple siblings dubbed with similarly-themed names.
“I know someone with 5 girls: Shanika, Shalika, Sharika, Shamika and Shatika. I kid you not!” a forum member wrote.
Another commenter explained: “I went to school with a Shiraz and his siblings were Shahbaz, Shahana and Shabana.”
Heavy repetition
This reminds us a little of former boxing great and famous grill maker, George Foreman, who named his five sons George Jr., George III (“Monk”), George IV (“Big Wheel”), George V (“Red”), and George VI (“Little Joey”). On his website, Foreman explains, “I named all my sons George Edward Foreman so they would always have something in common. I say to them, ‘If one of us goes up, then we all go up together, and if one goes down, we all go down together!”
One could argue that having the same dad means you already have something in common, but in the end, what a parent decides to call their kid is really none of our business – and there’s something liberating about that.
Need some support to be the best parent you can be? Our Parent School parent coaching experts can help. Click to find out more or book a one-on-one session.