Choosing names for your twins

Ask any parent of twins - naming twins can be a real challenge. It’s hard enough to come up with one good name but two is a huge ask! Especially if you feel the names need to compliment each other in a certain way.

Whether you want to coordinate the first letter (Jonah and Jayden), the end (Eva and Ava), have a theme (Rose and Lilly), or co-ordinate them in no way at all, choosing names for twins can be a real challenge. Compounding the fact is that if you don’t know the sex of your twins, you may need to come up with six possible names, two boys names, two girls names and two boy/girl names.

Lists of twins names

USA
The Social Security Administration in the USA publishes a list of the Top 50 names for twin boys, twin girls and boy/girls chosen each year. Popular names in the US are Faith & Hope, London & Paris and Elijah & Isaiah.

Top Names for Twins 2009 USA

Australia
Names in Australia are quite different, and here at Think Twins we have been working with the relevant government authorities to try and compile a list for Australia – without success. As Births, Deaths and Marriages are managed at a State Government level, unfortunately it is not possible to publish an Australian list, because the fact that twin births occur on a much smaller scale means that privacy can be compromised. For instance, there are only around 80 sets of twins born in the ACT every year, it’s likely that are only one or two sets of names are duplicated so it would not be possible to provide a top 5. Even if we expanded it to the whole of Australia, there is a risk that the names could be so unusual that the people on the top of the list would know who they are. In the USA there are around 138,000 sets of twins born every year - so many sets of twins that a top 50 becomes possible.

Top Baby Names Australia 2009

Developing a brief for your twins names
These are some of the questions parents of twins should consider when developing a brief for their twins’ names.

- Do we choose names which begin with the same letter, such as Rachel and Rebecca? Or the same last letter, such as Emily and Lucy?
- Do we choose names with the same number of syllables, like Ryan and Lucas?Do we choose rhyming, sound-alike or matching names? Like Gabriella and Isabella (the number 1 name for twin girls in the US in 2009)?
- Should the names have similar meanings? Like Rose and Lily?
- Should the names be similar but distinct, or totally different names for each multiple?
- How do e accommodate family names when two babies are involved?
- How do e decide which baby gets which name? Does the first-born twin get the first choice name?
- Will we be able to find personalised items with these names on them? What if one is commonly available and the other isn't?
- What are the likely nicknames for each name? Are the children more likely to be teased at school because of their names?

Twins names – similar or not?
Keep in mind that your name becomes a representation of you and as a twin - identical or not - your individuality is a big deal. So having similar names makes this just that much harder for twins growing up.

Developing a shortlist – Useful links
Baby Name Finder (Essential Baby)
Baby Name Finder (Babycenter.com)
Baby Names for Twin Boys
Baby Names for Twin Girls
Baby Names for Boy/Girl Twins
Short and Sweet Baby Names