Poll:do you think this is weird? Sibling names

[Niel]

Now usually I would keep this in the Family section, but I need help, and this gets more traffic.

Do you think its weird in a family of 4 to have 3 people (both kids and a parent ) with the same first initial? M.

Would it change your mind if ALSO the dogs name started with that same initial?

 

[baby monster]

Not weird to me. I know a lot of families where parents' and kids' names begin with the same letter. Parents think it's cute and more family-like.

 

[packrat]

I don't think it's weird. It doesn't strike me as a "forced" thing, like if you HAVE to have a name that starts w/a certain letter. I worked w/a woman who's husband was a teacher and they HAD to have kids whose names were A, B, C. She wasn't really finding a name for C, and I said well who cares find a name you DO like. Nope nope nope it HAD to start w/a C or it messed everything up.

Sometimes a person just likes M names. Can't say I blame 'em really...M names are pretty awesome..

ETA, my brother has the same initials as dad and I have the same initials as mom. (well, I did until I got married I mean)

 

[Lady_Disdain]

My sister and I share initials, so I think it is pretty normal. It turns out that the two names my parents liked happened to start with a B.

I have to admit I am not a "theme" person, so I would find it strange if the parents were deliberately choosing the same initials and discarding names they liked better simply because they have the wrong letter.

 

[mochiko42]

In Chinese culture it's common for sibling to have a common Chinese character in their names. Eg the famous Soong sisters were Ai-Ling, Ching-Ling and May-Ling. So not exactly the same as having the same initials but it's the linguistic equivalent I guess.
Usually it's done by generation so it might be weird to have the parents with the same character in their names too.

 

[kenny]

I find it VERY annoying when people do 'cute' things with names, like Phrank.

"But our son is so unique and special we just CAN'T spell his name like all those ordinary Franks."

Considering the teasing the kids will face some of the names border on abuse.

If the names of everyone including the dog happen to start with the same letter, no biggie.
If it was intentional ... yeah, weird.
No harm done though.

 

[movie zombie]

my husband and his two half sisters names all begin with the same letter.
we, their spouses, all have the same first letter......

 

[monarch64]

I'll tell you something very personal.

My brother married a girl (this is 14 years ago now) with the same name as me. "Heather."
They got pregnant the first and only time 7 years ago. (He had a vasectomy a few years later)
My mom called me and said "do you have a list of names you'd like to suggest?"
I said "let's just call her "Heather" because that's what we're all used to.

They named her (my niece) Heather Haley.
I love it. They love it. My parents love it. Her other grandparents love it.

HH likes to go by Heather these days. She's only 6. Someday, she might like to go by some other variation.

She does sometimes wonder why she "doesn't have her OWN name." Understandable.

My thinking was: men in families do it all the time: naming their children so and so Junior, or so and so the 2nd or 3rd. Why not women?

Our family agreed. It was nice. We had a point in common and there hadn't been one before.

Hope it all works out with your second, Niel. I'm sure it will. Glad you feel PS is a good place to inquire.

 

[Karl_K]

No its not weird it is pretty common.

 

[armywife13]

We have two kids and they both have names that start with the same letter, Hailey and Hannah. It was unintentional though, the names that "fit" our little girls just happened to both start with H.

I don't think there is anything wrong with children(and parents) in a family having names that start with the same letter. The only thing I would dislike about it is if someone decided against picking a name they love and that "fits" the child, for the sake of sticking with a specific letter.

 

[VRBeauty]

Not weird - I've seen it before, particularly when both parents names started with the first letter too. Personally I'm not crazy about it, but in my book, it's not weird. Pets too...? That's getting there.

What is weird to me is when two kids are given a variation of the same name, like Michael and Michaella, or Brian and Brianna, especially when they're both named after one of the parents.

 

[KaeKae]

No, but my brother and I have (had now, except on facebook) the same initials. I know it wasn't fully by design, though we do have the masculine and feminine versions of the same name for our middles, because mom's due date with me was on a certain holiday and the middle was chosen for that. It was coincidence that the first names begin with the same letter. They kept the boy name for #2, and chose another girl name, and yes, then by design, had I had a sister, we would have had the same first initial (not sure about middle for that one, didn't happen.)

For our house, it just worked out that DD1 has the same initials as DH. Again, coincidence on the first name, and her middle is for my mom, whose first name begins with the same letter as DH's middle. Then again, by coincidence, DD2 has the same first initial as me, but her middle is different.

FWIW, having grown up with parents (especially my father) tripping over our names, supposedly because they began the same, I swore my kids would not have the same first initial. Yeah, well, as I said, they don't, and I still trip over their names. I've even called them by the dog's names when in hurry. Poor doggies!

Now, if you come back years from now and tell us you have 19 kids and they all have the same first initial, then I might think it's a little off But, that's a whole 'nother story, isn't it?

 

[Niel]

I find it VERY annoying when people do 'cute' things with names, like Phrank.

"But our son is so unique and special we just CAN'T spell his name like all those ordinary Franks."

Considering the teasing the kids will face some of the names border on abuse.

If the names of everyone including the dog happen to start with the same letter, no biggie.
If it was intentional ... yeah, weird.
No harm done though.

See but how do you know if its intentional? It's absolutely no. I really hate the idea but my husband and I like ONE baby name. That's it. If I could name it something that didn't start with an M I wouldn't in a heartbeat but I just don't like a single one. It just happened this way, but people won't know that, KWIM?

 

[packrat]

You like an M name. Name her an M name. People can suck it if they think dumb things about it.

 

[Niel]

You like an M name. Name her an M name. People can suck it if they think dumb things about it.

See isnt it easy to say that? lol. If it was my name id be all "shove it tools!" to anyone who would say anything. But Its really not mine, you know. I dont want my son made fun of or something because of me. A little kid doesnt always have the same self confidence.

 

[Circe]

You like an M name. Name her an M name. People can suck it if they think dumb things about it.

See isnt it easy to say that? lol. If it was my name id be all "shove it tools!" to anyone who would say anything. But Its really not mine, you know. I dont want my son made fun of or something because of me. A little kid doesnt always have the same self confidence.

No, but ... it's how they develop it. Confession: I was way bullied as a child. Way. And it wasn't because of my name (normal, if a little old-fashioned in translation), or my eyebrows (yes, they're dark compared to my hair; no, it didn't make me a mutant, as the other kids claimed), or my liking to read a lot (though being a smart kid does seem to be a common cause for bullying in a fairly anti-intellectual culture). I just apparently had a polarizing personality. I've been thinking about it a lot recently, expecting my second kid, and having watched my first start socializing. At that age, they don't care about names. But he acts so much like I used to that it hurts sometimes.

My theory is that some kids just have sociable personalities. You can name them Little Lord Fauntleroy Smith Jr., and nobody will pick on them. And then there are kids named Robert, who, for some inexplicable reason, will immediately find themselves having to field jokes about battery operated boyfriends. And there's not really much any of us can do about that, outside of loving them, reassuring them that it's not going to be that way forever, and signing them up for judo.

Tl: dr, kids will always make fun of other kids, the names are just an excuse, if you love the name, grab the name! On the other hand, if it makes you feel weird, or if you think you are going to get an undesirable degree of flack for your choice from adult peers (which, hey: I gave my kid an unusual name and I know what that's like ... still worth it, though, since I love the name). Just don't let anybody in the family give them a weird nickname. That one seems to stick ....

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,

I have a friend that did name her children that way , intentionally. Jackson, Jordon, Jodie, and Janet. They were all lovely.

Annette

 

[Cozystitches]

I read the posters about this subject and wanted to chime in:

I'm not a fan of parents who intentionally choose to name their children all similar variations. However, there are names that make me wonder (I'm a teacher so I see some very unique names). Now, with a child with a "weird" name, I don't care what others say. We did not share the name of our son (child #3), because it was quite different. We love the name, but you can tell when others do not. His name is a biblical name that is not commonly used although now I know of 2 other little boys with the same name, none at the school I work.

I say to use the name that you love. Instill confidence in the child for their name. Another option is to give a "normal" middle name, that is what we did with our son. As someone else said, kids will often make fun for arbitrary things. You can also use some of the odd nicknames for your child as they grow up, and so they are used to the odd nicknames.

 

[momhappy]

I find it VERY annoying when people do 'cute' things with names, like Phrank.

"But our son is so unique and special we just CAN'T spell his name like all those ordinary Franks."

Considering the teasing the kids will face some of the names border on abuse.

If the names of everyone including the dog happen to start with the same letter, no biggie.
If it was intentional ... yeah, weird.
No harm done though.

Not just annoying, but highly impractical. I always feel sorry for these people who's parents thought it cute to create their own, unique spelling (especially for common names). That poor soul will be forever correcting the spelling of their name.

As far as same initial for sibling names, I didn't vote because I would fall somewhere in between. I actually come from a family where our first and middle names all begin with the same letter. I think it's fine to a certain extent, but it can get a bit odd if it's a large family and they are making up names to fit the initial (like all of the "J" names in the 19 Kids and Counting tv show).

 

[Niel]

^ well we won't be having 19 kids. Only 2

 

[amc80]

I think it's fine. The only time I would say it isn't is if both parents and all but one kid had the same initial. I would think that one kid might feel left out.

 

[Rhea]

Not weird. My sister and I have similarities in both our first and middle names that neither of us noticed until we were told. M names are so common no one is going to notice a Molly and Melissa, or Meghan and Matthew.

 

[SMC]

You like an M name. Name her an M name. People can suck it if they think dumb things about it.

See isnt it easy to say that? lol. If it was my name id be all "shove it tools!" to anyone who would say anything. But Its really not mine, you know. I dont want my son made fun of or something because of me. A little kid doesnt always have the same self confidence.

I have never heard of a kid being made fun of because his name started with the same initial as his sister's. And/or his father's. That's not to say that it won't happen, but it's a pretty weird thing for a kid to make fun of another kid for.

 

[jaysonsmom]

I find it VERY annoying when people do 'cute' things with names, like Phrank.

"But our son is so unique and special we just CAN'T spell his name like all those ordinary Franks."

Considering the teasing the kids will face some of the names border on abuse.

If the names of everyone including the dog happen to start with the same letter, no biggie.
If it was intentional ... yeah, weird.
No harm done though.

You would find my son's name annoying then. I named my son "Jayson". The spelling was intentional, because hubby's name is Jay. Hubby wanted to name him Jay Jr. but I put my foot down. Didn't want to have to call him Junior to differentiate him from hubby. We live in So Cal, where most of the Latino population have a "Junior" at home. Jayson was the compromise, and I find it unique and not annoying. Most people have told me they like it. My son is just annoyed that he can never find mugs, keychains etc Jayson spelled OUR way.

 

[momhappy]

You like an M name. Name her an M name. People can suck it if they think dumb things about it.

See isnt it easy to say that? lol. If it was my name id be all "shove it tools!" to anyone who would say anything. But Its really not mine, you know. I dont want my son made fun of or something because of me. A little kid doesnt always have the same self confidence.

I have never heard of a kid being made fun of because his name started with the same initial as his sister's. And/or his father's. That's not to say that it won't happen, but it's a pretty weird thing for a kid to make fun of another kid for.

We (3 siblings) were never teased for having the same initials (first name and middle name). Most kids don't even know (or care) about the names of your siblings. There's plenty of things your kids get teased for, but sharing the same first initial as a sibling isn't likely to be one of them.

 

[TooPatient]

We were never made fun of in our family. In fact, the people who knew our family thought it was great! The people in school or casual acquaintances only really knew my brother & my mother plus me so I never heard anything negative there either.

It started accidentally and was kept going. It actually kept going somewhat accidentally too.

My grandparents -- Bill, Betty
Their kids -- Bill, Brad, Beverly
me -- Bridget (DH is Bruce)
my brother -- Bradley
my mother -- Brenda
my cousins -- Billy, Brice


My grandmother loved to do fun messages on her answering machine. One of the last ones I remember before she died was fun -- "You have reached the _______ family of bees. We aren't in the hive right now..."

 

[packrat]

I know, and I didn't mean for it to sound like I was making light of your concerns at all, I just feel like it's not something people would really notice, you know? We had a Mary Ann, Mary Lou, Mary Sue set of sisters and nobody thought a thing of it. If it hadn't been pointed out to me about the coworkers name needing to absolutely be a C to go along w/the ABC theme, I'd never have noticed it. Sometimes the names that sound good together, cuz obviously we want siblings names to sound good together, start w/the same letter. What is that, alliteration or something?

 

[Jennifer W]

It's honestly not something I would notice, far less think badly of. I don't think it's weird, in that I wouldn't think about it at all. Also, in the longer term, as adults, most people don't know what peoples' parents and siblings first names are unless they know them fairly well. If you like the name, I don't think the first letter would have any relevance at all (for me).

 

[Niel]

I know, and I didn't mean for it to sound like I was making light of your concerns at all, I just feel like it's not something people would really notice, you know? We had a Mary Ann, Mary Lou, Mary Sue set of sisters and nobody thought a thing of it. If it hadn't been pointed out to me about the coworkers name needing to absolutely be a C to go along w/the ABC theme, I'd never have noticed it. Sometimes the names that sound good together, cuz obviously we want siblings names to sound good together, start w/the same letter. What is that, alliteration or something?

Oh I knew you weren't making light don't worry.

I mean I wish I could give my kids a head strong "don't give a damn what people think!" Attitude but that took me many years to cultivate.



Everyone that's commenting is helping. Thank you! I'd love to hear some more from the people that did vote it weird.

I promise I had my dog before I met my hubby! I'm not collecting M's lol

 

[JewelFreak]

I'm with Kenny on cutesy spellings. Not like yours, Jaysonsmom -- that makes plenty of sense. Names like Bettye, Lori, Abegayle. Be different in your life instead. All names starting with the same letter, okay. Seems like a waste of effort if the family is very large, and again, I just don't go for cutesy myself, but of all the subjects to get wired about, that one is waaaayyyy down the list!

--- Laurie