{"id":10497,"date":"2014-10-01T09:24:20","date_gmt":"2014-10-01T13:24:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/?p=10497"},"modified":"2014-12-14T15:06:01","modified_gmt":"2014-12-14T19:06:01","slug":"baby-twin-girls-bedingfeld","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/2014\/10\/01\/baby-twin-girls-bedingfeld\/","title":{"rendered":"Baby Twin Girls Bedingf!eld"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi Swistle!<\/p>\n

I\u2019m SO. EXCITED. to finally be sending you my own baby name question, after reading your blog for at least 7 years and your baby name blog since its inception.<\/p>\n

Even more exciting? TWINS. They\u2019re quite likely identical, so anything that makes their names too matchy or hard-to-keep-separate is out for us (not the same first letter, definitely not rhyming), but I\u2019d love it if there\u2019s some subtle connection.<\/p>\n

We have two names that my husband and I both like, maybe love, and have had in mind for a good long time. It kind of surprises me that I latched onto something so quickly, so I\u2019ve resisted closing the case. We\u2019ll probably not decide for sure til we meet them.<\/p>\n

Top contenders:
\nEleanor nn either Ella or Nora
\nBeatrice nn Bea \u2014 okay with the alliteration, many in husband\u2019s fam have names that start with B. He goes by Bo, so is it cute that her nickname (and full name with nickname) would be so much like his, or weird?<\/p>\n

Others that we love:
\nMadeleine \u2014 maybe too close to my name?
\nEverly nn Eve \u2014 maybe too Southern (though we are Southern, and do love the Everly Brothers, but maybe not enough to give them what appears to be a namesake?)
\nLouisa nn Lula \/ Lou
\nAdelaide or Adeline nn Delia \/ Ada
\nOlivia nn Ollie \u2014 out because someone else in the family has dibs!<\/p>\n

Another strong possibility is that we could call one of them Cole, which is my last name; I didn\u2019t change my name when we got married. After some tense conversations, I\u2019ve accepted that the girls\u2019 last name will be the same as my husband\u2019s, Bedingfie!d. (Aside: does ANYONE out there agree with me that giving one my surname and one my husband’s is even an option? I get horrified looks from most people, including my husband, when broaching this, but it\u2019s the only FAIR thing, isn\u2019t it? Won\u2019t identical twins already have enough in common? I do grant that they could consider us to be crazy later on. No matter, pretty much vetoed. Don\u2019t worry, folks who think I\u2019m insane.)<\/p>\n

But I\u2019ve always thought Cole could be a very cute girls\u2019 name. I like it when I give my name as Cole and get the impression the other person thinks it\u2019s my first name and I\u2019m all cool girl. But given how much more common it is as a boys\u2019 name (3432 M, 13 F in 2013), I don\u2019t feel like it\u2019s okay to give it as a girl\u2019s first name by itself. We looked at possibilities for names for which it could be a nickname (Colette is my fave, Nicole, maybe Colleen), but don\u2019t love any of them. So maybe just Cole as a middle name to go by? But then should only one of them get my name as their middle? If one is going by it, it would be weird to give it as a middle for both, right? Maybe two middles, one first, one secondary? (Thanks for this post http:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/2014\/08\/01\/baby-girl-l______-sister-to-daniel-danny-and-thomas-tommy\/<\/a> on the logistics for your family with two middles!) We have a few family names we love that could get in the middle name game, primarily my husband\u2019s grandmother, Lita, who\u2019s an identical triplet, but also two great-aunts of mine, Ruth and Virginia.<\/p>\n

May have more kids later\u2026 not sure I can think about it with a house remodel still not finished, and two (!!) newborns en route in the next few months. Due date is December 6, so we hope they\u2019ll stay put at least til November. On the chance we do end up with a boy someday, some boys\u2019 names we like: Milo, Emmett, Hugo, Oscar, Finn.<\/p>\n

So \u2014 help with middles, any ideas that could trump our faves, any cute connections between names aside from general stylistic compatibility?<\/p>\n

Thanks so much! Can\u2019t wait to send pictures! I mean, I can wait, especially as long as we still have sheetrock dust in our house, but I\u2019m very excited about the update to this post!<\/p>\n

Cheers,
\nMarilyn<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

I think Eleanor and Beatrice are wonderful twin names, and it’s my favorite pairing from your list. I like the subtly matching -ea-. I think it’s cute and not weird to have a father Bo and daughter Bea. If you were to decide it was too similar, my second favorite set is almost a tie: Eleanor and Louisa, with Eleanor and Adelaide\/Adeline right behind. The one thing that makes Eleanor and Adelaide\/Adeline my second choice is that you’d prefer nicknames for Adelaide\/Adeline that I think could be tough to implement, and she might end up Addy. I also like Louisa and Adeline—but again, it sinks lower on my list because of nickname issues.<\/p>\n

Cole is dramatically different in style from the rest of your list, and it seems like trying to call one twin Cole immediately creates a tangle of issues. I think my top choice would be to use it as a middle name for both girls (and all subsequent children).<\/p>\n

If you were strongly motivated to call one twin Cole, I would suggest this:<\/p>\n

1. Beatrice, called Bea, would share ties with her dad’s name because of the similar nicknames\/alliteration,<\/p>\n

2. So then Eleanor would share ties with your name, by being named Eleanor Cole and called Cole (the Elean- part of her name also sounds similar to the -ilyn part of your name).<\/p>\n

I would choose a different middle name then for Beatrice, perhaps Lita (another tie to her dad’s side) or Marilyn (so that each girl would have a part of her mother’s name).<\/p>\n

Or if you decided you loved the name Colette, you could have Beatrice (called Bea, a tie to her dad) and Colette (called Cole, a tie to her mom). Perhaps Beatrice Lita and Colette Ruth.<\/p>\n

I do think giving twins different surnames is a startling idea. I think it would be a statement not worth the ensuing confusion. The symbolism seems tricky to handle: surnames are packed with meaning, which is why it can be so incredibly annoying\/upsetting to give up our own, or to give our children our husband’s family’s name. Applying those issues in such a dramatic and potentially divisive way to twins’ names makes me feel uneasy.<\/p>\n

If the girls are going to have their father’s surname, and you have kept your surname, this makes me vote a second time to give them your surname as a middle name. I think it would also be an excellent name to keep in mind for a possible future son. (I think it would be fine to use it as the girls’ middle names AND as a son’s first name. I would think of it as “including your surname somewhere in each child’s name.” If there were to be a second son, I would use it as his middle name. Or I might decide to use it as a middle name for all the children, and not as anyone’s first name.)<\/p>\n

Middle names. My favorite option is to use your surname AND an additional middle name, so that preserving your surname doesn’t mean losing the fun of choosing middles. I first thought to ask what Lita’s sisters’ names were, but then realized it would be awkward to use two triplet names and leave out the third. So: Lita, Ruth, and Virginia. I think my favorite would be to use Ruth and Lita, since they’re both four letters.<\/p>\n

Eleanor Lita Cole and Beatrice Ruth Cole
\nEleanor Lita Cole and Louisa Ruth Cole
\nEleanor Lita Cole and Adelaide Ruth Cole
\nEleanor Lita Cole and Adeline Ruth Cole<\/p>\n

Another option, since the children will have your husband’s surname, is to use both names from your side of the family. This feels roughly even to me: two middles come closer to the impact of one surname.<\/p>\n

Eleanor Virginia Cole and Beatrice Ruth Cole
\nEleanor Virginia Cole and Louisa Ruth Cole
\nEleanor Virginia Cole and Adelaide Ruth Cole
\nEleanor Ruth Cole and Adeline Virginia Cole<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Name update!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hi Swistle!<\/p>\n

Thanks so much for all your sweet thoughtful input on our daughters’ names. Everyone helped us seal the deal on Eleanor and Beatrice. In light of wanting Bo’s maternal grandmother (an identical triplet) to be a namesake, we looked up my maternal grandmother’s name, Rhea, and realized she’s in Greek mythology as the mother of Romulus and Remus! So we ended up with Eleanor Lita Cole Bedingf!eld and Beatrice Rhea Cole Bedingf!eld. We’re calling them Nora and Bea. Merry Christmas to you all!<\/p>\n

\"BeaNora\"<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi Swistle! I\u2019m SO. EXCITED. to finally be sending you my own baby name question, after reading your blog for at least 7 years and your baby name blog since its inception. Even more exciting? TWINS. They\u2019re quite likely identical, so anything that makes their names too matchy or hard-to-keep-separate is out for us (not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-name-update"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3iyiG-2Jj","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10497"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10743,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10497\/revisions\/10743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}