Double the trouble.

With the recent post detailing the twins of Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon and her twin boys:
http://babynamerant.blogspot.com/2007/11/thumbs-down-garcelle-beauvais-nilon.html
The question of naming twins appropriately has arisen.
My viewpoint on this is simple. Twins have to share a lot. They'll be in the same year level, share the same birthday and often have to share things such as clothes as they are the same size. Especially in the case of identical twins, the two children are often stereotyped as being similar. People often lump them into one category and think they are the same kind of people when they are most likely to be distinct individuals.
With twins having to carry so many burdens of similarity like this, it is stupid to give them similar sounding names, or names starting with the same letter. Giving the kids similar names restricts them further from having their own identity and also leads to confusion.
Case in point:
http://www.twinsrealm.com/othrpics2.htm
On this link we see names such as:
Caron and Sharon
Kailyn and Kailee
Rajesh and Ramesh
Karthik and Krithika
Ronav and Roma
Rocky and Rocco

And the list goes on. This also brings issues when trying to nickname children. For example, commonly nicknames for both Kailyn and Kailee or "Kai" or "Kails", similarly nicknames for Rocky and Rocco are "Roc". When a parent yells the name "Rocky" from the other end of the house it is hard to distinguish which name he is actually calling.

Furthermore, theres the issue of giving twins completely opposite names which can lead to conflict.
Names on the above site such as:
Madison and Morgan (both girls)
Shannon and Skye (both girls)
Mary and Emmy
Kylie and Shane (both girls)

These names may lead to conflict when both Madison and Morgan end up being both girly girls, and Morgan resents having a more masculine name, or when Shannon and Skye both grow up to be tomboys, Skye may resent having the more girly name. With Emmy and Mary, Emmy may resent having a name which is more informal and often used as a nickname while Mary has a proper name.

For a bit of positivity though, some good combinations on the above link are:
Emily and Megan
Nicole and Jacqueline
Max and Emma
Chloe and Joshua
Cliff and Glenn

Which all allow children to have the best chance of less resentment and their own identity.

(Off topic for one second, theres some real horrors on that site: Destany (yes, spelled like that), Brittanee, Breyona, Kalyna, Kyrsten, Karmon (boy). which are horribly mutilated names)

As a suggestion for parents who'd like names with a connection for their children,

I think anagrams (different names using the exact same letters) are a good way of naming twins if you want something similar or matching. That way they get their own individual name, but you've got that cute association.

Girls

You could try:

Sweet:

Adaline and Daniela

Adeline and Delanie

Allie and Leila/ Ally and Lyla

Alyce and Lacey

Amy and May/ Mya

Celia and Alice/ Lacie

Emelina and Melanie

Hallie and Leilah

Lorita and Tailor/ Loryta and Taylor

Olivette and Violette

Modern/unusual:

Akira and Kiara

Alanis and Salina

Ali and Lia/ Alina and Liana

Alysha and Shayla

Disney and Sidney

Ilene and Eleni

Kamila and Mikala

Marina and Armani

Samira and Marisa

Shyla and Ashly

Traditional/modern combo:

Anita and Tania/ Tiana

Anni and Nina

Ashley and Elysha

Dayna and Nadya

Deni and Enid

Elaine and Aileen

Isla and Lisa

Cute (older style):

Carmella and Marcella

Deeann and Nadene

Diana and Nadia

Diane and Andie

Dianne and Nadine

Elenor and Loreen

Ellyn and Nelly

Nena and Anne

Boys

Sweet:

Aden and Dane/ Dean

Alec and Cale/ Alek and Kale

Brady and Darby

Lukas and Klaus

Corey and Royce

Kaleb and Blake

Traditional/modern combo:

Arnold and Roland

Chaz and Zach

Leon and Noel

Modern/unusual:

Ashen and Shane

Blain and Albin

Darien and Adrien

Dion and Odin

Ewan and Wane

Kory and York

Cute (older style):

Andrew and Darwen

Waldos and Oswald

Boy/ girl

Heres a few suggestions.

Sweet:

Aidan and Diana

Blaise and Isabel

Bryon and Robyn

Clay and Lacy

Neal and Lena

Neale and Elena

Tate and Etta

Traditional/unusual combo:

Alan and Lana

Adan (aidan) and Dana

Liam and Mila

Rolan and Lorna

Roman and Norma

Edna and Dean/Dane

Lyle and Elly

Modern/unusual:

Axel and Lexa

Elias and Liesa

Ian and Nia

Rohan and Norah/ Nora and Roan

Arlo and Orla

Cute (older style):

Erich and Cheri

Andie and Diane

Dylan and Lynda

Erik and Keri

Ernie and Irene

Is there a name you've seen and would like Annie-Kate to comment on? Want advice on naming your child?
Email me at anni.ekate@yahoo.com.au