Identical twins - naming

dinotwins22

Hey - I’m trying to get opinions and thoughts on naming identical twin boys. My husband is a ‘V’ or fifth generation name. I know - lots riding on this name. While I don’t mind his name, pretty classic - John. I had conceded to naming our first born son the ‘VI’ even though I’m not a huge fan of the family name thing. But now we are excepting our first sons - Identical twin boys! Sooo my husband thinks it really shouldn’t be an issue still naming the first 1 after him and his father etc. I just think they are twins and already going to have competing issues that naming one of them a family name will create another issue. Any thoughts out there on this?

meggyme

That’s tricky, but that competition could be equally present in singleton siblings. Perhaps they could both get John as a middle name. Otherwise I think it’s more about how you and your family treat the namesake, making sure not to give them special treatment.

knottie_knottie1

I agree that this is a tricky situation as it has the potential to cause hurt feelings, favoritism (real or perceived), etc.

I like Meggyme's middle name idea since they will then both get the name. Another thought I have is to use a second family name for the other child. My dad's side of the family alternated between naming the first born son James or Thomas. My dad's oldest brother was named James, but he sadly passed away in infancy, so when my grandparents had my other uncle, they named him Thomas. My Uncle Tom then named his son James

And hey, you could always pull a George Foreman and name both your son's John and just call them by their middle names 

harpseal135

Use the middle name John for both of them.  I think that is the best solution. 

flikyerbik

I agree with the above. It could cause hurt feelings if just one is named after dad. I think any of the above solutions work. Also, maybe they could have the same initials as dad but with different first names? Like name one James VB and the other Jack VB or whatever the initials are. Otherwise, maybe similar names like Jonah and Johnathan? Then neither one is exact and neither one has the jealousy. Otherwise, I would propose just hoping to have another boy later down the line for that VI name 🤣

karen983

I would give them unique names.