We finally found out whom we are having (two girls, yay!), and now the name searching begins in earnest. What I would like to ask you all is - when did you settle on your multiples' names? Did you wait until you saw and got to know them a little? Did you say that Baby A will have such-and-such name and Baby B- another? We are worried - what if we settle on names, and then assign them to the "wrong" twin?
Thanks, mamas!
When we found out the genders (boys!) we started looking into names. Pretty quickly we decided on first and middle names, but we aren't going to assign which is which until they get here. We think we'll just know. The plan is to also have another two names ready to go in case one or both we've chosen don't fit...but we haven't put any effort toward it so that makes me think we'll just stick with the two we picked :)
We didn't know gender, only that it was two of the same. So we had two girl names, and two boy names. One baby was seen sucking thumb in utero, so that baby (B) was given the name that included as a middle name my husband's brother, who was also a thumb sucker. THat's how we picked. If they had been girls, the "A" baby name started with the same letter as my older sister's name.
My twins were very different acting in utero so I felt like I kind of knew their personalities. We decided to have several names for each twin that way when we saw them we could pick from their set of possibilities. Their middle names went with numerous first names so we just kind of stuck with middle names without needing to see the babies. That worked out pretty well and I'm glad we did it that way. My husband saw our baby B and immediately announced which name he wanted for her. Since he did that I chose which baby A name I wanted.
With our first daughter it took us 5 days to name her and our midwife was getting antsy, not to mention all the family was too. We just couldn't decide because she didn't look like ANY of the half dozen names we had been thinking about!
We were not going to name them until closer on, but then when we discovered TTTS at 19 weeks (and a severe case that we were given a very poor prognosis for) we decided to go ahead and name them (esp. since we were going to get u/s every other day for awhile, and were ready for the worst to happen at any time). I'm not sure if we lucked out or they just grew into their names, but it was just fine and good fits for both.
My dh picked the name Audrey when we were still ttc. Baby A was Audrey. The next name we picked Sophia was also picked before we knew the gender and that went to Baby B. When we found out that they were all girls we were stuck for a third name. We had assumed there would be at least one boy. My friend suggested the name Nina kind of as a joke b/c thats what her father called her as a nickname. When we started looking at it online & saw that it meant little girl, it was perfect since Baby C was the smallest. It wasn't official until a few weeks before they were born though.
We had several girl names and several boy names picked out that we liked.
We had one boy name that we for sure wanted to use as a middle name.
We didn;t name the boys until they were a few days old. We first chose baby B's name for him. His name has a water theme, and his birth was a "water theme" as he was born in his water and it was a good thing as large veins were running through his membranes so it would have been more dangerous if his water had broken or been broken.
Baby A's name was chosen because it was one name we liked. It also has a water theme and so the twins have a matching name without them being matchy or rhyming.
Their names are Kai and Lachlan.
We found out at 10 weeks that we were having twins. Surprisingly, when we thought we were having one baby, we had trouble coming up with names; when we learned about the second one, we came up with 2 sets of names in no time!
As soon as we found out they were both boys, we assigned names to babies (it seemed so impersonal to call them A and B). When we thought it was just one, we referred to the baby as Junior.
Our doctor was wonderful - he always remembered (or looked up in the chart) who was who, so he'd say "Let's listen to Bryan's heartbeat!" or otherwise refer to them by name during appointments.
As soon as we found out they were both boys, we assigned names to babies (it seemed so impersonal to call them A and B). When we thought it was just one, we referred to the baby as Junior.
We had the neighbourhood kids convinced that we really were going to call the babies A and B!
We thought we had names for them, but once they were born it just didn't work. Baby A got the name we had planned for baby B. Baby B was nameless for far too many weeks before we decided on her a name for her.
The same thing happened with our singletons. The names we had talked about just didn't work once the kid came along!
We had a few names in mind before we found out they were both girls and then chose our two favorites almost instantly. I had the same fear you have: What if we give them the wrong names?! But, I've decided that there are not any wrong names. I think they will embody their names regardless of which one they get.
As soon as we found out they were both boys, we assigned names to babies (it seemed so impersonal to call them A and B).
I LOVE calling them Baby A and Baby B! I can see myself using those as nicknames sometimes after they are born. It encapsulates the unique experience of twins, I think.
We had three sets of names picked out, because we chose not to find out sex beforehand. I had a feeling I knew who was who by temperament, but I didn't officially decide unti I looked at the both of them. So A waited for her name for a whole hour until B was born. We nearly swapped middle names, because of B's miraculous entry into the world; A's middle name is Faith. But we liked the flow of the names as we had intended. Also, I want each of my kids to have a patron Saint as part of their name, and that is B's middle.
Thank you, everyone, for your replies! They are all very helpful, in seeing that there are so many different approaches out there... Sorry I didn't respond earlier - my schoolwork load is crazy busy nowdays, since I am trying to work ahead in anticipation of the girls' arrival.
We are still playing the alphabet game, although my husband started saying things like "I probably will have to see them before I could name them." I'm more with macrandall on this - I don't think there are really wrong names because the name will adjust to the baby and the baby to the name, but I don't want to be pushy about it.
So just in case - does anyone know if you have to name them before they leave the hospital?
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Thank you, everyone, for your replies! They are all very helpful, in seeing that there are so many different approaches out there... Sorry I didn't respond earlier - my schoolwork load is crazy busy nowdays, since I am trying to work ahead in anticipation of the girls' arrival.
We are still playing the alphabet game, although my husband started saying things like "I probably will have to see them before I could name them." I'm more with macrandall on this - I don't think there are really wrong names because the name will adjust to the baby and the baby to the name, but I don't want to be pushy about it.
So just in case - does anyone know if you have to name them before they leave the hospital?
You don't have to, but the hassle in paperwork is a little harder if you take them home without names. I've been "checked-out" of the hospital, and sitting on one of the benches, forcing myself to pick a name before we left because I didn't want to have the extra paperwork. I've always been like that with deadlines.
Which is why I picked out my twins names before they were born. I was in the hospital for a few weeks on bedrest before they came, and because of everything I was sacrificing for them, and doing NOTHING else, including taking care of my three older children who were at home with their dad an hour away, I felt like I knew them before they arrived. My husband didn't really have a say at that point :) I wrote in my journal the special meanings of their names, and how they were connected. Both of their names contain last names of great-grandmas from different sides of the family. That way they match, they are connected, they mean something to each other, but they didn't sound matching. I really needed that for these little identicals of mine. I love how special their names are to me.
Quote:
Thank you, everyone, for your replies! They are all very helpful, in seeing that there are so many different approaches out there... Sorry I didn't respond earlier - my schoolwork load is crazy busy nowdays, since I am trying to work ahead in anticipation of the girls' arrival.
We are still playing the alphabet game, although my husband started saying things like "I probably will have to see them before I could name them." I'm more with macrandall on this - I don't think there are really wrong names because the name will adjust to the baby and the baby to the name, but I don't want to be pushy about it.
So just in case - does anyone know if you have to name them before they leave the hospital?
You don't have to, but the hassle in paperwork is a little harder if you take them home without names. I've been "checked-out" of the hospital, and sitting on one of the benches, forcing myself to pick a name before we left because I didn't want to have the extra paperwork. I've always been like that with deadlines.
Which is why I picked out my twins names before they were born. I was in the hospital for a few weeks on bedrest before they came, and because of everything I was sacrificing for them, and doing NOTHING else, including taking care of my three older children who were at home with their dad an hour away, I felt like I knew them before they arrived. My husband didn't really have a say at that point :) I wrote in my journal the special meanings of their names, and how they were connected. Both of their names contain last names of great-grandmas from different sides of the family. That way they match, they are connected, they mean something to each other, but they didn't sound matching. I really needed that for these little identicals of mine. I love how special their names are to me.
Thank you for the advice - that's exactly what I was wondering about. I don't want to get tied up in complicated paperwork either, so this will provide additional motivation for having something to chose from right away.
And my, what a meaningful story you have about your twins' names! Sorry you had to be on bedrest in a hospital, but it is a really sweet how it all came together in the end.
I named my first -a singleton- probably before I was even pregnant. It fit her perfectly when she was born and still does years later. I decided on names for the twins - halfway through my pregnancy now- a few weeks ago. We are having two girls and I think we will go with the first one out gets name A and the second one out gets name B.
I'm a little nuts about being prepared for everything. We are so used to calling the babies these names that I can't imagine they will feel wrong when they are born. I think it makes us feel more like they are part of the family by naming them early. I always feel uncomfortable with calling unborn babies it or them.
My sister has two year old twins, Ella and Emma. Ella was a name she'd loved for a long time and knew she'd probably name her next daughter that, and Emma was the "matchy-matchy" name she came up with. She chose which would be which by their personalities in utero- she'd imagined someone named Ella with alot of personality and go, go, go, and she's imagined someone named Emma who was more laid back and thoughtful, so she gave them their names according to that. She'd also had a boy name she'd been wanting to use since forever, in case Emma was a boy, but she "knew" one of them would be a girl and she "knew" that girl would be named Ella.
Since twins run in my family, there's a possibility that I could have twins someday. I've also got twin names in the wings, "just in case". 
http://pregnancy.about.com/od/babynames/qt/toptwinnames.htm
Apparently Ella and Emma are the #1 girl-girl twin names in the US. It is interesting to look at the list. There are some on there I would expect would be unique but 9 families that year named their twins that - like Serenity and Trinity or Valentina and Valeria. I bet those parents didn't think other people had the same idea as them!
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