There’s a method to the madness—even if you’re not doing it consciously!
Got Kids? We Can Probably Guess Your Second Child’s Name—Here’s How
Published on Mar. 14, 2025
All parents know this universal truth: When it comes to finding the perfect baby name, there’s lots of searching and debating and even a little (light-hearted!) arguing. But when you finally land on a name, it feels like a total victory … until you have to do the whole thing all over again for Baby No. 2. Now you have a whole new problem. If you plan to expand your brood, should you coordinate somehow? Do something totally different? It’s enough to keep you up at night.
But what if we told you that the decision wasn’t as difficult as you think and that we could predict which names you’ll like—possibly even your actual top choice—based on your first child’s name. Well, we can do that … with some new intel from the experts at BabyCenter. The smart folks at the digital parenting site did a deep dive into the popular naming patterns for siblings, and it’s fascinating.
Read on for the ways parents tend to sync baby names when a second, third and sometimes fourth tot joins the family, and see if this holds true for your favorite baby names—and for your siblings’ names too!
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How did BabyCenter determine the most common name pairings?
To determine the most common pairings for siblings, BabyCenter examined the info shared by almost 129,000 families who welcomed at least two kids between August 2020 and July 2024 and then registered their name choices on the site’s app. Once the site crunched the data, a bunch of cool themes began to emerge.
According to Rebekah Wahlberg, a specialist in baby-name trends at BabyCenter, the themes (noted below) make perfect sense. “Anecdotally, we may hear of some celebrities or know people in our personal circle that have these naming traditions or follow these trends,” she says, “but it was surprising to see that some are such a common occurrence among parents today.”
What are the major naming patterns for siblings?
The major naming patterns for siblings include a variety of different concepts, some of which you may have seen before, though others are decidedly modern. Here’s more about each one:
Alliteration
Per BabyCenter’s data, alliteration reigns for lots of sibling pairs (think: James and Jenna, or Ryan and Ruby). In fact, nearly a quarter of parents, 22%, chose the same letter to start subsequent kids’ names. This idea is cute as the dickens (er, Kardashians?), plus it’s ideal if you’re into monogramming, since both sibs will have the same initials. Here are some popular alliterative names parents are using, according to the research:
- Liam and Lily
- Harper and Hazel
- Mason and Madison
- Aiden and Ava
- Noah and Nova
- Oliver and Olivia
- Jeremiah and Josiah
Types of names
If you chose a popular baby name the first time around, BabyCenter found that some will continue on this path for the next. This means that if you picked Amelia, the No. 2 girl name of 2024, her sister (or brother) will probably sport a name like Charlotte or Leo—and not, say, and old-fashioned name like Agnes or Frank.
“Parents want their kids to have names that flow well together,” says Wahlberg, so it follows that popular names pop up more than once in a family of multiples. “[Plus], if parents picked a super-unique name for their first kid, moving on to a top 10 name might look odd.”
Below, you’ll find the survey’s popular baby-name pairings for girls and boys.
If you started with Olivia, you might name her sibling:
- Sophia, Emma or Evelyn, for a sister
- Liam, Oliver or Lucas, for a brother
If you landed on Emma, your next baby might be named:
- Olivia, Mia or Lily
- Liam, Noah or Levi
If you loved Oliver, his sibling could be:
- Charlotte, Olivia or Amelia
- Liam, Henry or Theodore
Themes
You opted for Rose, after your grandmother and also, conveniently, because you love flowers. So for your next arrival, you might continue the pattern (Daisy? Poppy?). Indeed, themed monikers are another strong trend that BabyCenter parents favor for siblings—and it makes the naming task less work since you can narrow your options to a single group. Celestial, biblical and nature-inspired names are tops right now too, so you’d be perfectly on trend!
- Luna and Nova
- Scarlett and Violet
- Jonah and Noah
- Elijah and Isaiah
- Autumn and Summer
Why do people gravitate toward certain paired names?
Babies are cutie-pies, so one reason people gravitate toward themes is to match this feeling of sweetness. For example, a parent might decide on a forest of boy names like Alder, Ash and Oakley, or a nursery filled with S’s, such as Savannah, Sophia and Sadie.
Alliteration, however, has been trendy for a long time, thanks to famous folks like the Kardashian-Jenner clan (Kim, Kourtney, Kylie, Kendall, Khloé and mom Kris). And Kris isn’t the only Kardashian who gave her kids the same first initial, notes Wahlberg: Khloé Kardashian’s kids with her ex Tristan Thompson both have names mirroring their dad’s initials, True and Tatum. Of course, there are also the Duggars from reality TV—all 19 of their offspring have names that start with J. And Jennifer Love Hewitt and Brian Hallisay have three kids named Autumn, Atticus and Aidan.
Beyond the slick sound of alliteration or the fun that a pointed theme offers, there’s also simplicity when you’ve got four or more. When I was growing up, a neighboring family named their kids in alphabetical order: Alberta, Bonnie, Carl, Dean and then my friend Ella, who was fifth—and last. And, of course, the Bridgertons of TV fame also followed this pattern with Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne, Edmund, Francesca, Hyacinth and Gregory.
The bottom line: “There’s no shortage of names parents can have fun with,” says Wahlberg. If you and your partner agree on the first one, why not follow it up with something similar? Done and done!
About the experts
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Sources:
- Rebekah Wahlberg, specialist in baby-name trends at BabyCenter; email interview, March 14, 2025
- BabyCenter: “More than 1 in 5 sibling names start with the same letter”
