QOTW: How I Chose the Twins' Names.....

Twins, Part 1!

These are 4 year-old twin girls named Caitlyn Renee and Charlotte Alayna.

Did you stick with family names?

For these 2, not really. Charlotte was named for my granddaddy, Charles, who had passed away the year before. I was an absolute Granddaddy's girl, so I felt like I needed to honor him in my life. Charlotte's middle name was for "Alan". Alan was my husband's youth bowling coach and a huge influence in our lives. Alan also had a son named John Alan who was a few years younger than my hubby. They had been friends pretty much their entire youth. He was killed in an auto accident in 2000, so we used Alayna as a way to honor the 2 Alans. Caitlyn was a "C" name we could agree on. At the time I was pregnant, we said that these 2 were going to be our last 2. Picking out a 4th C name wouldn't have been such a big deal to me if it wasn't for the fact our oldest 2 also had C names. We got to thinking, "Either this baby will thing its an odd ball and that's why we didn't give it a C name or the other kids will think this is the special kid and got a special name." So, we settled on Caitlyn and after much debate, I told hubby to just pick a darn middle name. So, we got Renee.

How do you feel about "matchy" names?

That is completely up to the parents. Who am I to judge? I had considered naming these 2 Arabella and Isabella. LOL But, I wanted to honor my granddaddy more so I went in a different direction.

Did you worry about their names "coordinating?"

Not really. As long as they sounded good as a whole, it didn't matter to me.

Did you name your babies before you met them, or wait until you saw them to assign names?

Baby B was the first one that we found out the gender on. She became Charlotte. Weeks later we found out girl for Baby A and she became Caitlyn. We got Charlotte's name dead on! It means "womanly" and she is pure prissy!

What were your second choices?

For boys, Charles Alan and Christopher John (or Christopher Michael, Jr). If it had been boy/girl twins we would have had Christopher (Michael Jr or John) and Charlotte Alayna.

Did you consider the popularity of a name as a deciding factor?

Nope. I have no idea where these names are on popularity for 2005. Ok, I went and looked it up just because I have a curious mind. And, well since you asked, I wanted to know! In 2005, Charlotte was ranked #97 according to Baby Center. Caitlyn (or Caitlin) was not on the top 100 at all. According to Nickelodeon's Parent Connect, Caitlyn was 182 and Charlotte was 134 for 2005.

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Twins, Part 2!
These are 2 year-old twin girls named Cheyenne Elyzabeth and Courtney Michelle.

Did you stick with family names?

Nope. Not really at all. Chris actually named these 2. I had chosen an A and B name for them if they were girls. He decided that no, we had begun the C tradition (our names are Chris and Crystal and our 4 oldest children are also C's) that we were going to continue the tradition. He had originally chosen Cheyenne and Courtney, but we had no middle names chosen yet. One day he came home and said Cheyenne Michelle and Courtney Elizabeth? I said to change them to Cheyenne Elyzabeth and Courtney Michelle and he said ok. My older sister's name is actually Elizabeth, although it never crossed my mind when I was thinking of names. I changed the spelling, because honestly, I like odd spellings. Michelle is a variation of Michael, which is hubby's middle name.

How do you feel about "matchy" names?

See above for Twins 1.

Did you worry about their names "coordinating?"

Again see answer for Twins 1.

Did you name your babies before you met them, or wait until you saw them to assign names?

They were given their names prior to birth.I can't find a meaning of Courtney that I understand. LOL For Cheyenne, all I found was "brave warrior".

What were your second choices?

For boys, Christopher John and Charles Alan. For boy/girl twins Charles Alan and Cheyenne Elyzabeth.

Did you consider the popularity of a name as a deciding factor?

Nope. Again I looked it up and according to Baby Center, neither name was on the Top 100 for 2007. According to Nickelodeon's Parent Connect, Cheyenne was 148 and Courtney was 233 for 2007.

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