Jennifer,
 
Me and my husband are expecting twins this July and we do not know the sex of the babies. For boys we like Liam and Jackson. For girls we like Chloe and Mckenley (Kenley for short). My name starts with Mck and I thought it would be neat if I carried on the tradition. Do you think that if we have both girls that Chloe would feel left out?
 
Mckenzie

Dear Mckenzie,

I do think that Mckenley and Mckenzie are too similar, whether you are having twins or not.  I’m not a big fan of naming after parents for two reasons: 1. the child should have his or her unique identity in the household and 2. sheer confusion. 

I do love that you are thinking of completely unique names for the twins – they will have to share everything in life from their birthday to clothes to looks. My stance is that twins should have their own unique names!

Go back to “name storming” and let me know what you come up with!

Sincerely,

Jennifer

 

Jennifer Moss (she/her) is the founder of BabyNames.com, author of The Baby Names Workbook, and Producer of The Baby Names Podcast. Jennifer is widely regarded as the leading expert on popular baby name trends and the naming process, serving as the authoritative source on the subject for national and international media.

Jennifer entered the tech arena in the 80s as a software developer and database architect, and became a pioneer in the Internet industry. In addition to operating BabyNames.com, Jennifer owns a web development agency in central California.