Hi Swistle!
I have always loved thinking of baby names and have always been the person analyzing other people’s choices. Usually, I say, that’s so plain-Jane, so normal/overused/(s)he’ll be the 5th kid in class with that name. Now that I’m expecting for the first time and I actually have to come with up with real names, I’m finding it very difficult. To make it difficult further, my husband and I are expecting twins sometime in February 2016 and we aren’t finding out the gender, meaning we need 4 solid name choices that we love – two boys, two girls.
Our last name is long and mispronounced/misspelled 99.9% of the time – it’s French, though we have mostly Irish heritage. It’s pronounced Dee-Rose-Shures. My first name is Eileen and my husband is Kyle.
So far, for one boy, we love the name Sutton. We’ll probably use James as a middle name to honor my grandfather. Sutton James, I really like this name. I know people are using it for girls now, but I prefer it on a boy. I just hope there aren’t other Sutton’s in his class, but I think it’s getting more and more popular.
Other boy names on my list are:
Keegan (husband likes)
Boden (husband likes)
Brecken (husband doesn’t like)Girl’s names are hard for me. If I had to pick two boys names today, I could. I don’t feel like I could for girls though.
If I had to pick one right now, I’d pick Delaney. My husband likes this name, too. We’d probably name her Delaney Jane, Jane is my mother’s middle name. Delaney Jane.
Other girl names on my list are:
Henley (my maiden name starts with Henn – I like that Henley shares the beginning of that, but I’ve been getting negative reactions from some, and positive reactions from others. My husband likes it but I’m not sold 100% on it)
Arden
Emerson (but too popular?)
Madigan (again, husband and I both like it but I’ve seen lots of bad reviews on it – “it sounds like MAD AGAIN” “it sounds ugly” “it means little dog”)I feel all over the place with my girl names, but what it comes down to is I prefer stronger names for my girl(s), not girly-girl names.
Then there’s the issue of matching a boy name with a girl name if we have a boy and a girl. I feel overwhelmed! Help!
Thank you!
Name update!
Hi Swistle!
I wrote you a while back for advice on naming our gender-Unknown twins and got some great feedback from your readers. I ended up giving birth at 37 weeks to two healthy fraternal twin boys!
Naming them was quite easy as we had decided we really had our two top boy names that we absolutely loved. If they had been girls I don’t think we would have had such an easy time naming them.
We named our baby A, Sutt0n James and our baby B, Keeg@n Patrick (Patrick is my husband’s middle name and they share the same initials!)
We are so happy with their names and we think they fit these boys perfectly. I had a really rough pregnancy and swore off any other pregnancies throughout but the second our boys were born I knew I wanted to have more! I’ve already been thinking about names to go with these boys in the future, hopefully someday in the future I’ll be writing back to you to name their sibling!!
Thanks!
One question,
Do you want your twins’ first names to start with the same letter? Also, I think the way you name them will depend on who is born first- Baby A versus Baby B.
Girl names:
Hartley
Berkley
Brinkley
Isla
Keely
Neely
Adler
Aftyn
Kensington
Ainsley
Ansley
Carys
Cacia
Cambree
Boy names:
Bowen (as an alternate to Boden)
Smith
Stellan
Griffin
Blaise
Baxter
Ansel
Ridge
Fletcher
Thatcher
I think you’re well on you way and you have a pretty consistent style. I can imagine mixing and matching any of the names you suggested and feeling like it’s a pleasing sibling set.
Just a couple of names that come to mind. Mixing boys, girls, and unisex all into one list:
Rowan
Ronan
Blythe
Alden
Rory
Kennedy
Kendall
Sloane
Sawyer
Shelby
Reagan
Good luck! love to hear what you decide once the time comes!
Well, I do see Sutton as more “girl,” but not so much so that I find it unusuable for a boy. So Boy A seems pretty set as Sutton James.
I don’t feel like you need MORE choices at this point, so I would just cross Brecken off the list.
I like that Keegan has two e’s to balance Sutton with two t’s. And that they both have 6 letters. I also like that Boy B would come first in the alphabet no matter which one you picked, while Boy A/Sutton would get first born. It might help to have a middle for Boy B to try out. Keegan Kyle? Biden Kyle? Fwiw, Boden does make me think of the store.
For girls, again it seems like Delaney Jane is set for Girl A.
For Girl B, I also initially liked Madigan for a girl, but once I heard “Mad again?” I could never get that out of my head. Henley and Delaney is too much – EE for my ear. I like Arden (& it’s also on our list!), but Emerson seems like a better match with Delaney to me. The length I think is the main reason I like them together and they both have nickname possibilities and seem the right amount of “gender neutral, but leaning more towards girl.” I think Henley would be a cute middle name for Emerson. Or maybe just your real maiden name as the middle?
So – 2 boys: Sutton & Keegan
– 2 girls: Delaney & Emerson
– 1/1: Sutton & Delaney
It seems like you like a fair number of unisex names so maybe just pick 2 of those & you can use them no matter what the sex of the babies turns out to be!
All of your boy names and most of your girl names end in vowel-n. To me, that makes most of them too close, given the popularity of that ending, but you may like it of course. All of the girl names that don’t end in a vowel followed by an n end in ey. You might want to look out for ey names for the boy list, since you seem to like them and that would give you non-half-ryhme options no matter what the sexes turn out to be.
Brecken makes me think of Bracken which makes me think of Briar. Madigan makes me think of the children’s book Madigan’s Fantasia (though in that case Madigan was a surname), an association I think a lot of little girls would enjoy. I also mind two n endings less if the two names are not the same number of syllables, which makes me like Madigan or Emerson better with your boy names than Arden. Walden seems like a good match for your style though I think Walter has a pleasing mild contrast next to Sutton.
I like Rowan as a sister name for Delaney. Delaney Jane & Rowen Lily.
With Delaney Jane and Sutton James, which are liked by both of you, it seems like half your work is done!
Keegan is a great name and, for some reason, makes me think of Vaughan. Keegan and Vaughan!
I really like Rowan as a sister name for Delaney. Rowan Henley perhaps?
Madigan does sound a little “hard” to me and I do prefer Madison or Emerson. What about Cassidy, Riley or MacKenzie?
I’d also like to suggest Connor for a boy. Sutton and Connor look, and sound, so awesome together! Logan and Parker are others that I think might suit your style.
Spencer, Everett, Grayson, Lleyton, Sawyer, Auden, Reagan, Morgan, Piper or Finley? So many to choose from!
Good Luck!!
Ooh, I love Vaughan! Excellent suggestion! Sutton and Vaughan sound like brothers.
It sounds like you have one really solid names (“we love the name Sutton”) so I would use that as an anchor. Sutton James is a charmin name and not too popular.
You seem less convinced about Delaney but, to me, it is a great choice. Delaney sounds great on its own and paired with Sutton. Sutton James and Delaney Jane are a great sibset.
From your boys list, Keegan would be my top choice for a brother to Sutton. I agree with your husband on Breaken. Boden is okay but I prefer Bodhi. But rather than add more names for consideration, I think the boy/boy pair so Sutton and Keegan is the way to go. Do you have another honor name in mind for the middle?
Since you aren’t as sold on Delaney, I would look more at your list and other options. First, you could use Sutton (with a different middle name) for a daughter. However, I think you like Sutton for a boy so much you might want to save it for a future son.
I like Henley (not sure what the negative reactions reflect). I would avoid Henley with Delaney, however. I am not a fan of either Emerson or Madigan because I just see another little Emmie or Maddie, my favorite name on you list is Arden. i also really like Henley and Arden together – what a great pair so sister names. If you can’t see your way to using Henley, Delaney and Arden are also great together.
If you want to expand your girls list, I do like like the suggestions of Rowan and Kendall.
I love Delaney and Henley as sisters! It’s super cute. Also love Sutton and Sawyer together. Sawyer for either a boy or girl. Or Sutton and Sullivan for boys. Hayden and Henley for girls is cute too. Have fun deciding. Love your name style!
Not sure if it helps but my mum short listed Keegan and settled on Graham.
I know a Delaney and Hannigan sib set.
Logan?
Finnley?
Picking my favorites from your list to fill in the holes and continuing with one-syllable J names for middles (because it seemed fun), here’s what I got:
Sutton James & Delaney Jane
Sutton James & Keegan John (or Keegan Jay, Keegan Jude, or Keegan Jules)
Delaney Jane & Arden Joy (or Arden Jean, Arden Joan, Arden Joyce, or Arden June)
Madigan may feel really common since it is so similar to Madison or Madeline.
Henley is meh- the nickname Henny turns me off.
So many great surname names for girls:
Mckenzie
Campbell
Bellamy
Elliott
Everly
Holland
Winslet
I wonder if you would like Ainsley or Sloane.
Delaney and Winslet! Sutton and Holland!
Maybe you’d like Callagy for a girl or Tremain for a boy? Both would be unexpected and pair well with your other choices.
Oh–I forgot to add that I have a good deal of hesitation when I say Delaney Des-Rose-Shures, but maybe you like this kind of alliteration…..
You seem to like unisex names. Can you see Sutton on a little girl, too? Or is this a strictly boy name to you? Can you visualize a boy Henley? Or can you only see a girl Henley?
Personally, I think that you’ve already found your two names, regardless of your babies’ gender.
One Boy / One Girl:
Sutton James Des-Rose-Shures
Henley Jane Des-Rose-Shures
Two Boys:
Sutton James Des-Rose-Shures
Henley Boden Des-Rose-Shures
Two Girls:
Sutton Jane Des-Rose-Shures
Henley Arden Des-Rose-Shures (HAD initials don’t bother me.)
Instead of Henley for a boy, you could consider Henning or Henrik as a alternative. I prefer Henley.
This is awesome! I also like Henley!
Wondering if you’d like Merighan/Merrigan instead of Madigan.
Sutton James and Delaney Jane are wonderful! Great twinset <3 One task complete!! =)
Since the two names you seem pretty set on are surname names, I think it'd be great to stick with that theme! And maybe avoid copying the same ending sound? That may be what's throwing you off, because it makes the names sound less unique, or cutesy or singsongy? I think that's what I love best about Delaney and Sutton – they're surnames, but they stand on their own. Not sure if that makes sense. The trouble is that a LOT of the great surname boy names end in that n! I wonder if these sound different enough:
Franklin, , Langdon, Landon, Paxton, Griffin
Some with a different ending sound: Bennett, Monroe, Murphy, Ramsey, Randolph, Reid, Knox
My daughter went to preschool with a little Whitman and boy was he cute! Sutton and Whitman?
Delaney makes me think of Dashiell – would you like that? The nickname Dash is adorable! Or how about Watson? Again with the rhyming, but it's a pretty cool name – connection to Sherlock Holmes, nickname Watts (another speedy nickname). Has that same endsound with Sutton though.
With the surname first names, I'm guessing you'll want another recognizable classic for a middle – maybe Charles?
Sutton James and Dashiell Charles or Whitman Charles or Bennett Charles
With girls, since you have the option of Henley that's so cute, maybe you could make them mirror images – Surname/More Common Name then More Common Name/ Surname
Delaney Jane and Cora/ Grace/ Lydia/ Henley – is there another family name you could use in this way?
Emerson really is lovely with Delaney – right number of syllables, surname that reads girl, sounds great with Henley. It's more popular, but around here it isn't so popular that I'd eliminate it! Delaney Jane and Emerson Henley is pretty great!
When I think of Emerson, Cameron comes to mind – Cameron and Delaney are pretty together!
Or if you like Sutton for a boy, I wonder how you'd feel about Sloane for a girl? Delaney Jane and Sloane Henley
Good luck!! Can't wait to see what you come up with!
If popularity is an issue, I’d stay well away from Emerson and Madigan. Too easy to shorten to Emmy and Maddie, and there are plenty of those. Morgan has the same feel as Madigan, without the pun, and is a recognizable name, feminine leaning but certainly strong enough for a boy.
I love Spencer and Sloane for you. Other names I thought of, please forgive any repeats: Skylar, Avery, Quinn.
oo Delaney and Avery! I like those together. Also Sloane is nice.
Congrats on your twin pregnancy!
I love Sutton James and Delaney Jane! Sharing the middle initial of J is a nice nod to the twin-ness without being really matchy.
My main advice is to STOP telling friends and relatives what you are thinking! Keep it secret – just like the sex of the babies – and you won’t have to deal with people offering their negative opinions and ‘souring’ your view of a name you once loved. Once the babies are here and named no sane person will make mean comments about their names and they will just fall in love with the actual babies.
Boden is a popular clothing brand in the UK (and to a lesser extent in the US). This is by no means a deal breaker but if there is a chance you will end up in the UK it is something you might want to be aware of.
Sutton makes me think of Sullivan.
Madigan makes me think of Mallory.
I like your naming style! Please make sure you give us an update when your babies arrive. All the best…
I do think Delaney Jane is perfect for a girl. If you have two girls, I think people will think Sutton James is also a girl, considering the increased usage of both names for girls. I think if you have two boys, Sutton James will be perfect alongside another name. I think Keegan works best, as it is also a fairly ambiguous name and could go either way. Sutton and Keegan, I like it! If you have a boy and a girl, then Delaney (with girl nickname potential), and I’m not sure for a boy!
As far as two girls, I think Henley is not great. I’m sorry! But it’s too….a t shirt…for me. I also think Calligy, with a nickname of Callie, would be cute. Also Blythe. I am not a fan of Emerson, but I know a lot of people are, and so I’d say if you went with Emerson, to give a nice middle name like Ann in case they wanted to go by that in the future.
Yes! Henley = tshirt is my problem too!
Our friends named their little girl Henley and I still can’t shake the tshirt association!
My boy/boy favourites:
Sutton James & Lane Keegan, Sutton & Lane
Sutton James & Chase Henson (son of Hen), Sutton & Chase
Sutton James & Torben John, Sutton & Torben
Double double letters do look great on twins:
Sutton James & Merrick James, Sutton & Merrick
Sutton James & Barrett Rhys, Sutton & Barrett
-y endings are also great for boys!
Sutton James & Digby George, Sutton & Digby
Sutton James & Ashby James, Sutton & Ashby
My girl/girl favourites:
Delaney Jane & Blake Henley, Delaney & Blake
Delaney Jane & Lorelei Arden, Delaney & Lorelei
Less popular than Emerson:
Delaney Jane & Carrigan Wren, Delaney & Carrigan
Delaney Jane & Ellington Henley, Delaney & Ellington
Jane as a first name?
Delaney Arden & Jane Emerson, Delaney & Jane
Boy/girls:
Sutton James & Delaney Jane (great combo!)
Oooo Delaney and Lorelai! nn Lainey and Rory! Lovely!
So I think you have two great names to go off of. Sutton James for a boy and Delaney Jane for a girl.
Other boy names are Marrec, Henley (I like this better for a boy), Henrik, Griffin, Darius, Dallin, Madox.
Other girl names are Rowen, Emerson, Maren, Aniston, Layton
If you want to do really matchy twin names you could do Henley/Finley (boy) and Delaney/Quinley (girl).
I think you should find another boy and girl family name so all possibilities have a family name for their middle. I thought Kyle or Lee for boy. I thought maybe Isla has similar sounds from Eileen. Or pick middles that all start with J.
My favourite groupings are
Boys- Sutton James & Marrec Joel
girls- Delaney Jane & Maren Joan
G/b- Sutton James & Delaney Jane
I love Delaney for a girl, and Sutton for a boy! If I were thinking of modern/surname style names, one new favorite that I recently heard is Irelynn. I also love Marin (pronounced Mah-RINN). Or Avelyn (like Evelyn but with a short /a/ sound)
Sutton & Beckett (love the double tt)
Girl options – love Delaney!
Finley
Kennedy
Reagan
Macey
Rory
Hadley
Holland
Blakely
Blakesly
Hadley? Haley?
I love the name Sutton, to me it’s all boy, Sutton James & Delaney Jane are perfect boy/girl twin names, I don’t think you could do much better then that!
Henley is also great especially since it shares first three letters of your maiden name Delaney & Henley are great if babies are girl/girl.
Other girl/girl ideas
Quinn, Kensington, Ainsley, Everly, Emery, Remington, Lennox
I also really like Keegan and Sutton together for boy/boy twins.
Other boy/boy ideas
Lawson, Bennett, Sawyer, Arlo, Mitchell, Aston, Lennox, Marshall, Cohen,
Congratulations and Goodluck, I love your naming style and think your pretty set with the names you’ve got they are all great!
A few more suggestions:
Instead of Boden and Brecken, what about: Brody, Brock, Brynn, Bronwen, Beckett, or Byron?
Instead of Henley, what about: Hendrick, Hennesey, Henriette, or Henson?
Instead of Emerson, what about: Walden, Bronte, Harper, Holden, Marlowe, Darcy, Auden, Re(a)gan or Lyndon?
Instead of Madigan, what about: Madden, Maren, Marion, Morris, Maeve or Adrian(ne)?
BB pairs:
Sutton & Brody
Sutton & Beckett
Sutton & Morris
GG pairs:
Delaney & Brynn
Delaney & Marlowe
Darcy & Maren
BG pairs:
Sutton & Delaney
Sutton & Reagan
Sutton & Maeve
I would consider using your maiden name as the second middle name if you have BB or GG twins, rather than using a similar name as a first. Is there a second grandfather you would want to honor with a second boy’s mn? Or what about his mom’s or your dad’s mn for a second girl?
I love Sutton for a boy. Seconding suggestions of Morgan and Graham above, or if you want a matching S name, Spencer or Stirling. For girls, Arden is my favorite from the list. If Madigan is getting negative response, have you considered Magdalen? It’s too similar to Delaney to be a twin name, obviously, but could go with Arden or Henley. (I don’t prefer Henley myself, its so similar to Henry she’ll be forever correcting people.) But if you really want the Hen beginning, there is always Henrietta. Lastly, I think the name Hayden would work for either gender. Sutton and Hayden, Delaney and Hayden, Arden and Hayden, etc.
I like Henley!!
Other suggestions for girls:
Hadley
Kirrily
Mallory
Tamsin
Waverly
Whitney
Ellis
Alison
Rowan
Bridget
Romilly
Kit
Skyler
Quinn
I don’t think Sutton will ever be too popular Boys names to go with Sutton
Kieran
Payson
Julian
Declan
Dawson
Merritt
Roman
Sawyer
Campbell (this could work for a girl as well)
Schuyler
Landon
Orion
My favorite combinations are
Girls: Henley and Waverly, Hadley and Skyler, or Whitney and Quinn
Boys: Sutton and Merritt, Sutton and Kieran, or Sutton and Campbell
Boy/girl: Sutton and Henley, Sutton and Alison, or Sutton and Mallory
What about Boone? Sutton and Boone are great Brother names! Sutton James and Boone Henley? I really like Boone Emerson too!
I like Brynne with Delaney! Delaney Jane and Brynne Henley? Delaney Jane and Brynne Henley? Brynne Arden is cute!
I like Sutton James and Delaney Jane as a b/g twin pairing! My one picky thing is the almost-rhyme of the middle names, but I think the rhythm of the names is different enough to offset that.
Boy suggestions: Fisher, Nash, Alcott, Crane, Deacon, Dean, Walden, Winslow, Adler
Girl suggestions: Erin, Piper, Teagan, Shiloh, Larkin, Sinclair,
Unisex: Auden, Ellis, Reese/Rhys, Merritt, Blake/Blakely, Spencer
BB pairs:
Sutton James and Merritt Blake
Sutton James and Winslow Dean
Sutton James and Auden Crane
GG pairs:
Delaney Jane and Erin Reese
Delaney Jane and Piper Shiloh
Delaney Jane and Teagan Lark
If you are concerned about popularity, you could check the names on the Social Security Baby Name website. Not only can you look up the ranking of each name, you can also see if they are rising or falling & how fast. However, I seriously doubt any kid would be one of 5 names in their class today. Popular names aren’t as saturated as they were a generation or 2 ago.
I’ve actually never seen Sutton before, on a girl or a boy. I think it’s a nice name, it hits popular trends and should fit in well; however, it should still stand out. I think Brecken should be eliminated since your husband doesn’t like it. Perhaps Beckham, Brennan or Beckett for something similar? Of your other names, I like Keegan best.
I really don’t care for Henley. It makes me think of henley t-shirts and seems very not-name-like for some reason. It could also easily be shortened to Hen or Henny, which I don’t care for. Emerson is nice, but it is quite popular. It’s also very, very similar to a lot of other “em” names that are very popular, so it might seem more saturated than it actually is. I love Arden & rather like Madigan. I don’t find that it sounds like Mad Again. It also technically does not mean “little dog.” The original Irish name meant “descendant of Madaihín.” Madaihin was a given first name, though it did also refer to the mastiff breed of dogs (per behindthename.com). My biggest concern is that it is very similar to Madeline & Madison and I could see having to correct people fairly often. You may want to think about if that would bother you. Maybe something like Magdalene or Magnolia instead?
Sutton was a main character in a book turned tv show that was on ABC Family. She’s a twin as well (to identical sister Emma). I think that’s why I think girl.
So, it sounds like Sutton James is your starting point. Good solid name. You both like it. Goes well with your last name.
Moving forward, I’d be weary of any names that are difficult to pronounce or spell because of the issue with your last name.
From your your boy list, I’m loving Keegan with it. The double letters in each name are a subtle nod to the other without being too twin-y.
Delaney Jane seems to be a good starting point for the girls. It sounds nice with Sutton. My only hesitation would be the alliteration with your last name. I don’t mind alliteration in general, but Delaney Dee-Rose-Schures is a bit of a tongue twister in that it makes me want to mispronounce either the first or last name to make it flow. “Dee-laney Dee-Rose-Schures” or “Deh-laney Deh-Rose-Schures” Also, Delaney might trip some people up in terms of pronunciation/spelling, which in addition to your last name could be a big headache for your child.
Anyway, the girl name that immediately popped into my head was Hadley. Kind of like Henley, but without the t-shirt issue.
For girls, I like the suggestions of Maren and Brynn. Both could work with Hadley or Delaney as sisters and, if paired with Sutton in boy/girl twins, I think either would read as clearly female.
I love Sutton James for a boy or girl!
Other girl names: Hatley/Hadley, Rory, Kerrington, Mack, Tova
Other boy names: Wilder, Jones, Anton, Carver, Quinn
I like Sutton and Jones..mainly because it sounds like it would be a good detective show
If it is two boys, looking at your list, I love Sutton and Boden. By far, think this is a great combination. I also really love Sutton and Griffin. I love that both names have a double constanent in the middle and both end in -n but aren’t too matchy-matchy.
As for girl/boy combination, I think if your favourite is Delaney, then Sutton and Delaney sound perfectly find together. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Sutton and Winslow (a previous commenter had mentioned it for a boy, but when I hear Winslow I think strictly girl) I love that both aren’t typical/common names. If I heard those two names then I would for sure think Sutton was a boy and Winslow a girl.
For girls, I’m not sure if you like either of these names, but I LOVE Daphne and Blythe together. I think they are a perfect match. I love the way they sound together and the way they look together. They are both have a little spunk. I also think if you were to have a future both, Sutton would fit right in stylistically with them. Daphne, Blythe, and Sutton. SIGH. LOVE THIS.
Good luck and congrats!! Keep us posted!
Hi! I love your style of names. I agree that, if you have twin girls, I’d do something girly, as opposed to unisex, with Delaney so people know they’re both girls. Delaney is a gorgeous, long name. It’s so pretty and grandiose that it sounds kind of big to me, in comparison with say Erin…not sure if I’m the only one who thinks that way, but I wonder if you’d like Magdalena also. You could have Laney and Lena…and my heart just skipped a beat! So pretty!
For boy/girl twins, I think Sutton James and Delaney Jane are a great pair.
For twin boys, I like Sutton and Sawyer. Both names are slightly unisex, but both lean boy, in my opinion.
Another suggestion for boys would be Holden. For girls, Bellamy, Yardley, Liberty, and Ainsley. I also know a little girl named Arwyn, which is precious. Best of luck!
As a mom of 6-month old twins, I’d suggest you find out the genders before they are born. Then you can get all the clothes washed and sorted before they are born. Also, it’s good to have your baby shower before they are born and not after. After they are born, I needed my family and friends to make meals and watching the babies so my husband and I could sleep.
Life is very crazy with newborn twins. Often I didn’t have time to eat a meal, reply to a text or take a shower.