Names for Fraternal Twins

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-14-2006
Names for Fraternal Twins
10
Fri, 04-14-2006 - 12:35am

Hello all. My husband and I are expecting fraternal twins (a boy and a girl) and are finally narrowing it down to six names, three for each one. Please let me know which two names you prefer. I'll leave my own personal favorites, as well as my husband's, out of it so it won't affect your decision.

Boys: Liam Michael, Elijah James, Noah Andrew

Girls: Ophelia Elizabeth, Portia Anne, Penelope Grace

I'm American; my husband is a half-Irish Briton. All twelve of these individual names have certain significance for us. We both have a love of Shakespeare and literature (Portia and Ophelia) and Greek epics (Penelope). We are also both active in our church (Elijah, Grace, Michael, etc.) and we wanted to include traditional-yet-timeless British and Irish historical names (Anne, Andrew, Liam, James).

We are having a very difficult time finally narrowing down the list. I would appreciate any input. All I ask is that there be no mix-and-match of the first and middle names if at all possible. Thank you very much! Please forgive any errors in typing; it's quite early here and I haven't had my tea yet. :-)

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-06-2006
Fri, 04-14-2006 - 12:52am

I like Noah Andrew & Portia Anne. Noah is my firm favorite among your boy name choices. For girls, I actually prefer Penelope, but I think Noah & Portia are a better sibling match.

Congratulations on your twins!


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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-25-2006
Fri, 04-14-2006 - 2:16am
ooo my favorites together are Liam Michael and Penelope Grace. Liam and Penelope sound so cute together but not matchy.
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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-09-2005
Fri, 04-14-2006 - 10:26am
I really love your boy's choices, especially Elijah and Noah. I find Liam a bit trendy now, I would cross it from your list. It just doesn't seem to "go" with any of the other (most unique) names.
My favourite combo is Elijah Michael (I prefer the sound of it with Michael rather than James) and Portia Grace (As Portia ends in "a" and Anne begins with it, the sounds run into one another. I prefer Grace as the mn).

                             
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-28-2005
Fri, 04-14-2006 - 10:40am

All the boys' names are nice, but my fave is Liam Michael, love this!! For the girls, the only one I really like is Penelope Grace. Would love to see Penelope being used more!

Good luck,
Sunny

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-29-2003
Fri, 04-14-2006 - 10:49am

Liam Michael and Penelope Grace

It was between Liam and Noah, but Liam has a nice slant to it...and is a little truer to your husband's heritage. Also, it seems a stronger name to me, a handsome name. Michael works with it beautifully. It was between Portia and Penelope. I think Penelope has a spunk Portia doesn't so if she is a mild baby, quiet, Portia might be a better choice. Penelope has a verve to it, an energy. I had thought at one point I might use Penelope but then married a man whose last name begins with P and it just seems too much. Overall, very nice, rich, historically significant names. My least favorites are Ophelia and Elijah. Ophelia is one of my least favorite Shakespearean names (and the Natalie Merchant album always comes to mind) and Elijah is overused these days. Also, I taught Kindergarten and for some reason most of the Elijahs I knew in that context were very challenged behaviorally. So, I have personal reasons for not liking that one.

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-25-2001
Fri, 04-14-2006 - 11:32am

Very pretty names.


I'm thinking my favs are Liam Michael & Portia Anne.


Good Luck!


iVillage Member
Registered: 04-04-2006
Fri, 04-14-2006 - 12:37pm

I like Liam Michael & Penelope Grace.

Good luck!

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-14-2006
Fri, 04-14-2006 - 1:06pm

Thank you all so much for your input. I'm actually keeping a tally of which names receive the most votes. We have a bit further to go yet (sadly enough) so I suppose there's always time to make a concrete decision.

I will admit I have personal reasons for liking Ophelia. I agree she's not the best of Shakespeare's female characters, but I've always wanted a Shakespearean daughter. Portia and Ophelia are the names I like the best at face value from the plays. Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing is actually my favorite overall character, but I'm not crazy about the name.

I also should mention that Elijah would have the nickname Eli. We decided that from the off, when we selected the final names. I don't know if that impacts anyone, but it's worth mentioning.

Again, thank you all for your suggestions.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-23-2004
Fri, 04-14-2006 - 1:14pm

Noah Andrew and Portia Anne

Portia Camille is top on our list right now. :)

Terra.
Mommy to
Ethan Robert
and Logan Ryley

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-26-1999
Fri, 04-14-2006 - 2:10pm

Hi there. Congrats on your twins! You've got some nice names on these lists. Here are my thoughts-

Liam Michael-Liam is definitly my favourite from your three boy names, but I don't like how LiaM & Michael runs into each other. Why not Liam Andrew?

Penelope is my favourite from your girl list. Penelope Grace sounds fine, but Grace is horribly over used for a mn these days. I much prefer Anne or Elizabeth, although those aren't particurally unusual mns either.

Liam & Penelope wouldn't be two names that I'd personally pair together, but they're both great names. Hope this helps!