Rhyming First Name and Last Name

PinkFridge

Tue, Feb 26 2013, 7:58 am

crl wrote:

I think it depends on the name. With two different syllables, it might be easier than if it was just one. Like, "Eitan Levitan" doesn't sound bad (sorry if that's your name, haha, I was just making it up!) but Eitan Beitan sounds stupid. I don't even know if thats a name, but thats my general gist.

I agree, OP, I don't think you'll have a problem as you described.

amother

Tue, Feb 26 2013, 8:01 am

don't do it. please I know the name sounds nice to you right now but there are many many nice names and it's not fair to your child to make him/her have a name they really dislike or feel self conscious about. I have felt like that with my name and it's not good, I'm changing my name. Think about a name your child could grow up with happily, that is important as much as what you think of the name.

Teacup9

Tue, Feb 26 2013, 8:19 am

I like some rhyming names and think they sound nice and others just don't roll off the tongue as well. I say use your best judgement, and avoid an obvious name that makes a child a teasing target or adults raise their eyebrows. For instance I think Jack Black is nice. It is only silly because we know the person. I also think the incidental married names mentioned above like Lily Rose and Goldy Gold are just fine. I think Goldy Gold sounds a little like a superhero in a good way. Two of my children have alliterative names and I know some people avoid them, but everyone has only told me how lovely their names are. Imagine if someone had worried about alliteration when they named Menachem Mendel or repetition with Dov Ber. I like Eitan Levan.

It is too tiring to avoid teasing with every name. I'd like to think that our yeshiva bochurs only do a little teasing in good fun, but it is really hard to avoid. My son for instance hates being called Eli, the traditional nickname for his name and I've heard other kids sing that at him and he has complained about children calling him that. When I used his first and second names together all the time at home, how was I suppose to know he'd avoid teasing if I got him use to a traditional nickname? And teachers and most children have always called him by the full two names, even younger siblings who can't pronounce much. I find teachers always respect what I put in the "what does your child like to be called" section of registration forms. Some great names would be lost if we worried too much about how they sound in new cultures (it is cultural to go by a first and last name - sometimes a last name is even called a xtian name - a son will truly be named --- ben ----) Imagine if Americans weeded out Pinchas, Pessia, Eli (a common girl nickname in the USA), Berel, Chaim etc or any Yiddish name that sounded a bit off in America.

I know if you name a boy you name a boy for life, but imagine considering the rhyming "problem" for a girl. G-d willing a girl will go by her married name (should she care to change it legally, professionally or not she will still be called by her married name often) for longer than she ever used her birth name so if it is her mazel to rhyme it is just her mazel. If Hashem doesn't worry about poetic names I won't either.

amother

Tue, Feb 26 2013, 9:11 am

I had rhyming names until I got married. I hated it. It's part of why I changed my name.

I took my maiden name as a middle name, legally, though. I don't mind it that way and it makes life easier.

It really depends on how the two names go together. I met another girl with the same first name as me and a similar last name, but not the same. Still rhymed, but sounds better in English than my combo. It's the same when pronounced by Israelis.

My personal experience is that it is worse to rhyme in America than in Israel. A lot of Israelis have rhyming first and last names, especially when the last name is a Hebrecized name. So names like Shmuel Yisrael and Itai Banai and whatever else are really common. In America this isn't the case. So I wouldn't worry so much about how it is when pronounced in Israel/Hebrew, unless it's really bad (Chen Ben, but Eitan Levitan in Israel wouldn't stand out IMO.)

amother

Tue, Feb 26 2013, 9:18 am

wouldn't do it -- give a rhyming name.

b'shaa tova!

amother

Tue, Feb 26 2013, 9:18 am

wouldn't give a rhyming name

amother

Mon, Oct 21 2013, 6:49 pm

I would not rhyme twins names with each other

zaq

Mon, Oct 21 2013, 8:03 pm

No, please, don't do this to an innocent child. If a woman marries a man whose surname rhymes with her given name, she has the option of retaining her birth name or using a hyphenated name, but your child won't be able to do a thing till he's legally an adult, by which time the damage will have been done.

bluebird

Mon, Oct 21 2013, 10:28 pm

This thread's pretty old, so since it's been bumped maybe OP can tell us what she chose to do if she sees it. Smile