Help this picky couple figure out names for their twins!

[holyhelianthus]

This is the first time we have ever asked naming advice. I love love love names and have had so many set out since I was about 10. But this time we're having a hard time with names. One thing is the whole possibility (please please PLEASE!!!) of a boy (or 2!) but the main thing is naming twins and that these are our LAST! The pressure is on.

We already have some rules that we made with baby #1 on naming our kids...

• Can't be too common now or in the past 50 years or so (think names like Thomas or Brittney or Caleb or Steven or Chloe etc etc I love love LOVE the name Henry but it is too common).
• None of our kids can have the same first letter (my sister and I are "M"s and my mom and her 2 siblings are "D"s and we hate it)
• They will have Tolkien related middle names.
• The first letter of their first name is the same as their middle.
• All our kids names have to somewhat go together. Flow in a way. Make sense in a group.

Ok so looking at that we seem really anal. But I think we have come up with beautiful names so far. This is the only time there has been any stress or uncertainty. We usually have the names set early on.

We have leaned on the old fashioned first names so far. They are-
Lilith Luthien, Mable Mirkwood, and Olive Onodrim.

We are thinking if we have a boy we might change the rules a bit as we might only have one and give him 2 "regular" names we like and then a Tolkien middle name that doesn't have to be the same letter. We are also thinking the same first letter for siblings rule can be changed for twins.

BUUUUUUT we are afraid of doing the "twin name thing" and matching the names too closely thus making our kids lives miserable (although really at some point they are going to hate us for their names no matter what we do). They are already going to get a lot of stuff for being twins why make it worse?

Basically we want to narrow it down to 2 girls and 2 boys for now.

So is anyone interested in diving in and helping an picky mom and pop name their last 2 kids? It might be a challenge!

Our possibles so far are...

GIRL (DH won't help me with this as he is bent on having boys)
Elanor (spelled this way on purpose. She would be our only girl with both of her names Tolkien)
Byrd
Tessa

BOY (top 2 are my picks. Bottom ones are DH's. We can't agree!)
Hyrum (not 100% on the spelling here. Could be Hiram or Hirum as well)
Solomon
~+~+~+~+
Atticus
Noam

We'll cross the middle name bridge when we come to it. :

BTW- I hope we didn't offend anyone by being so picky. Nothing against the names Thomas, Brittney, etc. All names are beautiful. Some just aren't for us.

[Ianthe]

The first name that came to mind for a girl was Hazel

I'm off to find more :

Girls:
Ruby
Pearl (Ruby and Pearl would be pretty Matchy, but in a cute way)
Clara
Vera
Viola
Stella
June
Nora
Fern
Roxie

Boys:
Walter
Arthur
Eugene
Corbin
Casper
Chester
Everett
Ernest
Edgar
Calvin

[suprgrl]

Okay, I'll give it a go.

Girls:

Sada (SAY-da)
Agnes (nn Aggie?)
Agatha (nn Aggie?)
Edith
Ethne (ETH-nee)
Riven
Lydia

Boys:

Riven
Cassius
Augustin
Lincoln (nn Link)
Atlas
Atom
Basil
Sloane
Mattox
Silas (my ds1 )
Ezrael (my ds2 )
Archer (ds2's middle name)

[holyhelianthus]

Oh I love Hazel!

I snipped up your post a bit, suprgrl...

Originally Posted by suprgrl

Okay, I'll give it a go.

Girls:

Agnes (nn Aggie?)
Agatha (nn Aggie?)
Edith
Ethne (ETH-nee)

Boys:

Cassius
Augustin
Basil
Silas (my ds1 )
Ezrael (my ds2 )

Love these.
I was named for my great grandmother but her name was actually Agnes Margaret. I have always wished my mom had named me Agnes instead. LOVE Agatha. We once thought of going with the "ith"s and having Lilith, Judith, and Edith. Silas is awesome. It reminded me we have a family name I love- Ilsley (don't ask why because I don't know).

[zinemama]

Girls: Alice and Lydia

Boys: I really like your picks, especially Noam and Solomon. Atticus is a little trendy. I like Hiram, too. But please don't spell it Hyrum or Hirum! I realize you're going for kree8tyv (alas, a huge sin in my book). But those versions just scream "I can't spell!"

[holyhelianthus]

Originally Posted by zinemama

Girls: Alice and Lydia

Boys: I really like your picks, especially Noam and Solomon. Atticus is a little trendy. I like Hiram, too. But please don't spell it Hyrum or Hirum! I realize you're going for kree8tyv (alas, a huge sin in my book). But those versions just scream "I can't spell!"

Actually I am not going for creativity. We are LDS and the brother of Joseph Smith spelled it Hyrum. Trust me we can't stand those creative spellings. But Hyrum/Hiram/Hirum has been spelled numerous ways for 100+ years now.

[BethSLP]

Originally Posted by magstphil

Actually I am not going for creativity. We are LDS and the brother of Joseph Smith spelled it Hyrum. Trust me we can't stand those creative spellings. But Hyrum/Hiram/Hirum has been spelled numerous ways for 100+ years now.

I still agree not to spell it Hyrum. Looks kree8tyv to me too. No one LDS will know this spelling. Did the Smiths make it up? Are they the only ones?

Secondly, Elanor falls into the same category. Can't you still honor Tolkien but spell it legitimately? No one will know its from Tolkien, and will mistake you for ignorant parents IMO.

I'm confused about Byrd too. For a girl? For both its a strange choice, but I think Byrd would be a difficult name to grow up with personally.

Tessa is great too, but name snobs will tell you its a nickname and should be a full name like Theresa (which I'm personally not a fan of). I still like Tessa and had it on my list for DD, but some people view it as naming your child a NN.

Eleanor is lovely. Nora would be a great NN. Or just Nora as the name.

I love LizzyQs suggestions.

I also love Alice.

I think Solomon is your best boy choice by far. Atticus is fine, but I think it gets shortened to Atty (and that is becoming common as a NN for both boys and girls because of Adelaide and other names similar to Atticus). Noam is also OK, but I looove Solomon.

I also love your current DC's names. Very cool. I think your MN choices are kind of out there (which I'm sure you know/have heard before) but thats the beauty of middle names. I say MNs are the perfect place for the "guilty pleasure" names

I am a name fanatic myself, so I can't imagine trying to plan for twins of unknown gender. You are having to take this naming job to a whole new level! I'm having a hard enough time trying to figure out 1 boy name and 1 girl name (with only one previous sibling). So I have to give you one of these too!

XOXO
B

[zinemama]

Originally Posted by magstphil

Actually I am not going for creativity. We are LDS and the brother of Joseph Smith spelled it Hyrum. Trust me we can't stand those creative spellings. But Hyrum/Hiram/Hirum has been spelled numerous ways for 100+ years now.

Ah, gotcha. But I have to say...it still comes off that way to those not in the know. I'm guessing ds won't spend his whole life in LDS enclaves, so he might want to have a spelling that is more what folks are used to, that's all. (Or you might go for Solomon!)

[Ellie'sMom]

I love your taste in names! I did want to point out the Eleanor (and Elinor, etc) is actually pretty popular right now. If you don't do nicknames it might not be as noticeable since most of the Eleanors seem to go by Ellie (which is my dd Elizabeth's nickname, so I am very aware of its popularity).

There is a Tessa at my daughter's school, but she is the only one I've heard of. I do love the name. And since you like Byrd, what about Wren?

As far as boy names go, Atticus is actually a bit trendy now (along with Scout for a girl). I really like Noam. I also love the name Noel (rhymes with pole).

Naming twins is hard! We have boy twins, but before we knew the genders we had the girl names Aurora Katherine and Celeste Louise picked out. I am still so sad not to use these names! Boy/Girl would have been Aurora and August (the matching Au beginnings is actually a coincidence).

My boy twins are August and Benjamin. Finding a second boy name we could agree on was the hardest part. I really don't like intentionally matchy names for twins.

Good luck and Congratulations!

[jess_paez]

i loveeeeeee tessa! had it on my list for a while. what about Isla (eye-la) for a girl?

[holyhelianthus]

Originally Posted by BethSLP

I still agree not to spell it Hyrum. Looks kree8tyv to me too. No one LDS will know this spelling. Did the Smiths make it up? Are they the only ones?

Secondly, Elanor falls into the same category. Can't you still honor Tolkien but spell it legitimately? No one will know its from Tolkien, and will mistake you for ignorant parents IMO.

Can't stand Eleanor as a spelling. Bugs me. Plus Elanor the flower has a special meaning to me. I'm not naming her Eleanor the typical name that you hear I am naming her Elanor after the Lorien flower.

Hyrum Smith is also someone very special to both DH and I. We were thinking about changing the spelling just because the option was there but Hyrum is still in the front running. It's funny because if you ask any LDS person how to spell Hiram they will say Hyrum. In my mind that is the correct spelling and any LDS person I have asked. Besides who knows Hyrum or Hiram these days? People don't even "get" Lilith, Mable, or Olive. They pronounce the first two wrong most of the time. Basically 95% of people in the real world aren't going to know the name Hyrum no matter how it is spelled.

What it comes down to is I don't care what people think.

I'm confused about Byrd too. For a girl? For both its a strange choice, but I think Byrd would be a difficult name to grow up with personally.

I guess that would be up to Byrd. Love that name. I knew a little girl named Birdie- that's where I originally found the name and that's what we'd call her.

The thing with names is you're not going to please everyone and the kid will probably at some point hate it. I couldn't stand Margaret forever. Started going by Maggie in my late teens and now I can't stand Maggie half the time and want to go back to Margaret. Then again I have a friend named Creedence who loves his name. Go fig. I could name my girl Stephanie and she could resent me for the rest of my life (or hers!). Then again she could love Byrd. Who knows. Time will tell.

[holyhelianthus]

Isla is gorgeous!

Originally Posted by Ellie'sMom

I love your taste in names! I did want to point out the Eleanor (and Elinor, etc) is actually pretty popular right now. If you don't do nicknames it might not be as noticeable since most of the Eleanors seem to go by Ellie (which is my dd Elizabeth's nickname, so I am very aware of its popularity).

I didn't know that about Eleanor (etc). I'll have to check that out.

And since you like Byrd, what about Wren?

Wren is also very pretty!

As far as boy names go, Atticus is actually a bit trendy now

This is good to hear. I cannot stand Atticus! It's DH's pick.

Good luck and Congratulations!

Thanks much!

[yogafeet]

Originally Posted by BethSLP

I still agree not to spell it Hyrum. Looks kree8tyv to me too. No one LDS will know this spelling. Did the Smiths make it up? Are they the only ones?

Secondly, Elanor falls into the same category. Can't you still honor Tolkien but spell it legitimately? No one will know its from Tolkien, and will mistake you for ignorant parents IMO.

I'm confused about Byrd too. For a girl? For both its a strange choice, but I think Byrd would be a difficult name to grow up with personally.

Tessa is great too, but name snobs will tell you its a nickname and should be a full name like Theresa (which I'm personally not a fan of). I still like Tessa and had it on my list for DD, but some people view it as naming your child a NN.

Eleanor is lovely. Nora would be a great NN. Or just Nora as the name.


XOXO
B

Agreed on all counts. People will just think you're either uneducated or pretentious if you spell the names that way. I had a blast naming my twins. We didn't find out the gender either so we had 4 names to solidify! Enjoy this time.

My bff's father is named Hiram, and so is the guy from the comic strip Hi and Lois. So people who read comics will know the more traditional spelling.

Eleanor and Atticus are popular....

[sunflwrmoonbeam]

Quick question: For boys' middle names, are you planning on drawing from the dwarves in the Hobbit? Because I'm a big nerd, I want to start with the Tolkein names and go backwards. So, I'm thinking stuff like:

Oscar Oin
Nigel Nori
Bryce Balin (a bit more trendy)
Theodore (Ted, Teddy) Thorin

Also, there's:

Elise Eowyn

Incidentally, I have met a baby Galadriel and a baby Thorin.

[holyhelianthus]

Originally Posted by yogafeet

Agreed on all counts. People will just think you're either uneducated or pretentious if you spell the names that way. I had a blast naming my twins. We didn't find out the gender either so we had 4 names to solidify! Enjoy this time.

My bff's father is named Hiram, and so is the guy from the comic strip Hi and Lois. So people who read comics will know the more traditional spelling.

Eleanor and Atticus are popular....

I don't think anyone here is realizing just how much flack we have already gotten for what we named our first 3! Our families have thrown a fit each time.

I'll say it again- I don't care. I'm not naming my kids for the masses or spelling their names for approval. If I cared all that much I'd go to those "most popular" lists and pick a name that sounded ok. The truth is not everyone is going to like what we have chosen. Great. They can have fun with that. I don't do anything in life because of what others might think. Why should I start now?

[yogafeet]

It's true-- you shouldn't care what others think. I just think it's important to think about how your child will be received by those masses.... will her resume be passed over b/c it looks like she came from a family that couldn't spell? That's always on my mind.

Just an idea! I don't mean to come across as a meanie!

[holyhelianthus]

Originally Posted by sunflwrmoonbeam

Quick question: For boys' middle names, are you planning on drawing from the dwarves in the Hobbit? Because I'm a big nerd, I want to start with the Tolkein names and go backwards. So, I'm thinking stuff like:

Oscar Oin
Nigel Nori
Bryce Balin (a bit more trendy)
Theodore (Ted, Teddy) Thorin

Also, there's:

Elise Eowyn

Incidentally, I have met a baby Galadriel and a baby Thorin.

We hadn't really thought dwarf names. I love Balin. Love Moria.

We had considered Nigel before but were thinking Nigel Nazgul. I so love Oscar but we already have an "O". Oscar Orthanc just rocks though. I don't know what is up with us and the darker middle names for boys. Weird.

We named all our girls in relation to things Elvish on total accident, BTW. But each of their first names and middle names were chosen for a reason other than we liked it.

I really love Faramir. We were thinking Hyrum Henry Faramir. It's the only full boys name we have come up with.

[holyhelianthus]

Originally Posted by yogafeet

It's true-- you shouldn't care what others think. I just think it's important to think about how your child will be received by those masses.... will her resume be passed over b/c it looks like she came from a family that couldn't spell? That's always on my mind.

Just an idea! I don't mean to come across as a meanie!

You're not being a meanie and I understand but honestly the boss is more likely to be like "who would name their kid Hyrum?" then focus on the spelling. It's the world we live in. I said I wanted to name my daughter Lilith and people begged me to name her something "normal" like Sarah.

Again thinking about my children and their future opinions and circumstance is futile. It's all up in the air. My name is Margaret Frances. Do you know how many people think I am Catholic? For that matter do you know how many people take the liberty of spelling my name Margarita because they assume the tint to my skin means I'm Hispanic and I am mistaken in my name spelling? I was also called maggot *insert what rhymes with maggot and starts with an F here* in school. With names you're just not going to win.

[holyhelianthus]

Food for thought- concern for what the masses might think or what that future wife/boss/etc might think is the same excuse a lot of parents use to circ their sons not to mention vax. No thanks. It's never a good excuse.

[Ianthe]

Originally Posted by magstphil

I so love Oscar but we already have an "O". Oscar Orthanc just rocks though. I don't know what is up with us and the darker middle names for boys. Weird.

We named all our girls in relation to things Elvish on total accident, BTW. But each of their first names and middle names were chosen for a reason other than we liked it.

I originally put Oscar on my suggestions, but deleted it because it starts with an 'O'

I love your girls' names.. I don't see how anyone would give you crap about them!