When is a pattern a theme?

[dustthouart.livejournal.com]

So we're gearing up for TTC #2, and naming #2 is a whole different thing than naming #1. My daughter's name is Philippa, so Philip is naturally out for a boy. There's having a name that "goes with" the first name, but I'm also thinking about not wanting to trap myself in future (since we will hopefully be going beyond two).

For example, I like the name Petra. In my opinion, same first-initial doesn't become a theme until kid #3. Eg, having two kids named Alice and Alexander isn't a theme, but if you name the third one Andrew, that seems like a theme.

But for other things, I think even two can be a theme. Like, having daughters named Lily and Violet, or sons named Thor and Odin. The theme leaps out at you.

Where I'm unsure is stuff like ethnic origin. A significant portion, but not all, of the names on our list are names traditionally associated with/popular in the British isles (like Petra, Iona, Rhys, Benedict). Are you ever locked into an ethnicity with naming? Do some ethnicities mesh better than others, perhaps because of related languages or cultures? Does it matter whether the child has the ethnicity of a name in his/her heritage? Can you name Mikhail and Dimitry's little sister Giulia? How about if you're part-Italian and part-Russian?

Ditto the more nouveau style. If your three are named Cooper, Mason and Piper, should you name a fourth an occupation surname as well? Will people wonder why you named your first two Makenzi and Zaiden, and your last two John and Sarah? (I know I would wonder what happened between #2 and #3.)

Is it better to jettison a theme that isn't working, or stick with it to avoid name disharmony/sibling resentment? ("How come everyone is named after a city but me?" or "Why did you give my brother a real name and my sister and I have made-up names?")

Interested in everyone's thoughts. (Cross-posting to my own journal.)

Comments

[lovetokate.livejournal.com]

This is a very interesting post! I have an Emilie, Hannah, and Leah. Should we have another child, I tend to really love biblical names (John, Samson, Sarah) or names that end in that soft "a" sound for girls (Cora, Nora, Clara, Celia.) I worry that should I got either of those directions, it would definitely seem like a theme, coming after Hannah & Leah. It wouldn't be, though...those just happen to be our tastes! So does it bother me enough to not use either of those types of names? Quite possibly. I almost feel like we should use a name with the long "e" ending to balance things out. :P But Emilie was born several years ago & while I still do love her name (and particularly that French spelling), other names with that ending (Bailey, Haley, Riley) are not my style at all.