Spanglish asks:
Are you going to name the first one out a specific name? Or are you going to take a look at them first and then decide who is Anna and who is Clara?
Last weekend, Bo, Mike, and I were sitting in the twin’s nursery. Bo was wanting to play in the cribs and Mike and I were discussing what needs to be done and what we need to purchase before the girl’s arrive when Mike brought up the topic of how we plan to name the girls.
I responded that I just figured that the first one out would be Clara and the second one out would be Anna. Mike said that is what he assumed too, but he was curious about my thoughts.
I told him about Spanglish’s comment and said that I didn’t see any reason to wait and look at both of them before naming them as I do not have any preconceived notions regarding what an “Anna” or a “Clara” should look like. They will be, who they will be, and I am sure their name will grow to fit them, just as Bo’s name has grown to fit him.
That said, I’m sure at some point down the road the thought will cross my mind — what if we named them the opposite names — but I assume that most likely that will just seem strange and silly.
So, the consensus here at Chez Sticky Feet is that the first baby born will be Clara Jane and the second baby born will be Anna James.
What are your thoughts on this decision? Would you want to look at the girls first? Why?
Friday’s Feature at Sticky Feet Part Deux is Ask Jamie. Feel free to email me or leave a comment with any question you would like for me to answer. Anything is fair game!
I think that makes perfect sense. We’re naming the boys the same way. The first out is named after my DH, Thomas, and baby #2 is Liam. No need to look at them.
Personally I would either totally wait to name them (esp. if I weren’t 100% set on the names), or I would name them based on their positions in utero (which may or may not correspond to who comes out first) so that we could all start to connect by name to each one as an individual. Bo is probably too young for it to matter, but I think with an older child it would be helpful to have a name to place with the ultrasound pictures, with the sides of Mommy’s belly, etc.
It’s hard for me to think that on the day of birth twin sisters will obviously “look like” one name or the other, so I wouldn’t wait to see who’s who but more to make sure that I was really set on the names.
A friend of mine IRL with boy-boy twins had the names picked out and thought of one name as a “little,” more delicate name. She gave that name to the baby who was smaller both in the ultrasound estimates and at birth. It turned out that ever since two months of age, he’s been the bigger one, and now he bullies the other one! She doesn’t think of that as a “little” name anymore, but just as his name.
I’m sure that each baby will grow into her name no matter what.
I think your naming method is perfect. My kids were all named before I saw them.
I think I would do it the same because if you had one baby that’s how it would be. With my kids we had their names before they were born, we didn’t change it once we looked at them.
I think it’s a perfectly acceptable way to name them. I wonder if the girls will secretly wish they had the other’s name?
We waited until the girls were born to assign their names. I am glad we did. But I actually didn’t get to look at them to decide. The nurses in the special care nursery helped (I was on bedrest post preeclampsia/unscheduled C-section and couldn’t see the girls for the first 25 hours) by giving us information about their personalities and their colorings. They said, “The little blonde one is feisty,” and we all (DH, me, and the nurses!) thought that Ivy was a better name for a rascally little blonde and Nina was a better name for a sleepy brunette. So glad we waited. Also, the girls were not consistent in growth or position during most of the 2nd and 3rd-trimester ultrasounds, which made it hard to say who was Baby A and who was Baby B.
I love the names! When my brother was in utero, my parents called him Mark Andrew…for months. When he was born, he didn’t look like Mark. So they named him John Andrew instead. I think that only you can know what the right names are for your babies, and when.
Happy ICLW!
I agree with Cassandra about assigning the name to either Baby A or Baby B. Like she said, they will have a name in utero that you all can start calling them, even before they make their grand entrance. This is what I would have done if my twins were of the same sex. I liked knowing who was who in my belly.
I don’t know why I think this but I would want to look at them first. Sometimes babies name themselves by how they look. You never know. I LOVE the names by the way.
I think your way is just fine. I only have one daughter, but we were calling her “Emma” long before she was out of my belly…it makes sense to me to name them the way you described, as you said, I think she has grown to fit her name.
Having never had twins, I don’t know how I’d feel about it! Interesting question…
You know, I think that is the biggest advantage to boy-girl twins: You will never wonder if you named them the opposite name. Still, I think your method is perfect.
ICLW
I was just curious. My mom named my twin brothers the same way you’re naming your twin daughters… names were picked, and the first one out had the name already established.
those names are good. my husband an i had our son’s name picked out after like…the first year we started going out. xD
I love the names! Oh, and I think you should name them in whatever fashion you prefer since they are your girls!
Congrats!
ICLW
Love those names!! I would think looking at them first would just confuse things (how can you really tell?) but I don’t have any kids of my own yet! *ICLW*
Congratulations! I believe that you should name them, how you see fit
~Stopping by for ICLW~
I think that makes total sense, too! What if you decided to wait and you kept looking at them and still couldn’t figure out which one to name Anna or Clara? You certainly don’t need that stress! Both are beautiful names. And I’m sure your girls will be gorgeous!
If I have a third, and it’s a girl, she’ll be named after my mom. If it is another boy, after my grandfather! 
Naming our children was easy – first born son named after my father-in-law, second born son, named after my father.
I had twin girls 2.5 months ago and the naming was such a struggle. (We have a 3 y.o. already and didn’t learn that I was carrying twins until 6 months into the pregnancy.) I was convinced that I had at least one boy in there so we came up with one girl’s name snd two boys’ names. (So much for my mother’s intuition!) When our daughters were born we didn’t have another name so we waited until we came up with one more. (It didn’t seem right to give one a name and not the other.) Ultimately, we decided to use one of our boy’s names and now we have a daughter named Jude. It works.