- If you are giving birth to twins in 2024, you may want to consider opposite names.
- Although I was born as an identical twin, the unique name Mikhaila helped me maintain my individuality.
- My twin sister's name, Amy, is much more popular, and no other names exist.
With 2024 just a few months away, various baby name websites are predicting this year's top names.
But something I've noticed that isn't talked about a lot is naming twins.
I am an identical twin and was born in Glasgow, Scotland. My name Mikhaila is much more unusual than my twin sister's name Amy.
Although my name caused some problems growing up, I'm glad it was completely different from my sister's name.
It gave me a greater sense of personal identity. This is important for all children, but especially for twins.
If you're expecting twins this year, you may want to consider naming your babies opposites. Your baby will thank you for it in the future.
our parents couldn't agree on a name
One of the reasons my sister and I have such different names is that our parents had different opinions on popular and unique names.
My father preferred a more traditional name and wanted my sister to be called Amy. Her mother, on the other hand, thought the name was too fancy.
According to Scottish National Records, in 1996, the year we were born, 703 babies were named Amy, making it the second most popular girl's name after Emma.
They eventually changed the spelling to Aimee, which was not very popular at the time.
When giving me a name, my mother said she liked Mikhaila because of its unusual spelling.
She didn't know anyone with that name, but she had heard that Mikhail was a popular boy's name in Russia. This was completely by chance. We have no Russian ancestry or ties to Russia.
According to national records, in 1996 I was the only baby given the name Mikhaila in Scotland. In the same year, his 40th baby was born, named Michaela. Michaela is a well-known spelling of my name.
I always loved my name, even though I felt self-conscious at times. My family and friends struggled with spelling my name while growing up, resulting in several unfavorable nicknames (I'm looking at you, Mickey). Others couldn't pronounce it and one of my friends called me wrong for years.
I'm glad I was able to give my twin a completely different name.
Over the years, some have wondered why our parents gave us such different names.
I think they are missing the point. The main reason I like my name is because it distinguishes me from my twin. We have spent our lives sharing things. Why does it need to have a name in it?
There were at least five sets of twins in our high school, all with similar names. Their names often rhymed, started with the same letter, or had a similar number of syllables.
This is a widespread trend. For example, in Good To Know's list of her top 500 baby names for twins in 2023, names like “Aida and Eva” and “Gabriella and Isabella” topped the list.
Nevertheless, parents' attitudes on this subject seem to be slowly changing. SJ Strum, a UK-based baby name expert, told me that he's noticed a decline in rhyming twin names in recent years.
“Parents should recognize that their twins are different people and that their names should be different enough for others to know them individually,” said Stram, founder of baby naming consultancy Baby Name Envy. “I think so,” he said.
Having a completely different name than my twin helped me feel like a person at a time when I was often not treated like myself by my co-workers.
Amy and I spent a lot of time together. We were in the same class, in the same friend group, and looked similar. Naturally, colleagues and teachers confused us.
My name was completely my own. And looking back, I wouldn't have had it any other way.
