3/27/11

Naming Identical Twins


One of the things I dreaded about having identical twins was answering the question, "Who's who" a trillion times before the boys turned three. Of course my husband and I could tell them apart the first day week they were born but what about relatives who only saw them a few times a year? Teachers at preschool? What about when their back was towards me? I wanted a fool proof system that would make it easier for everyone to tell them apart so I did a google search for ideas. Dressing one in red and one in blue was a common solution. I thought this was a good idea, but I considered myself a success if I have clean clothes in any color. Another idea was to iron on name labels to their clothing. I know one day I would have two Owens. The next day, two Oscars. And the next, I would switch their shirts up and be too tired to make it right.

Then around the first year, something amazing happened: They grew hair. That's when I figured about my Who's Who Solution: Longer hair, longer name. Oscar will always have longer hair. Owen shorter. Until the boys protest, this is the system I'm sticking to. Had I thought of this idea earlier I would have made their names obviously longer and shorter. Here's a list I put together of my favorite boy and girl names if you find yourself in a similiar situation:

The long haired list:
Maximillian
Theodore
Giovanni
Emerson
Phineas
Wilhelmina
Henrietta
Juliana
Beatrix
Margaret

The Short Haired List:
Ike
Jett
Alf
Gus
Moe
Reese
June
Noor
May 
Jo

How do you tell identical twins apart? Do you have photos of twins that your can't tell apart? I do! It's the one above of my boys. My rookie mistake: dressing them the same for a family photo shoot pre-hair and pre-brilliant naming idea.

9 comments:

  1. you are hilarious. and if i am ever cursed/blessed with twins i'm TOTALLY using that idea. question-what do you do if one's hair grows faster than the other?

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  2. we're lucky that our identical boys already have different lengths of hair at one month. It's the main way other people tell them apart.
    Someone sent us to your blog, and it is so cute!

    Stop by my blog: babymakingbybecky.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. I know this a long time after your post but I just stumbled upon your blog this weekend! I am an identical twin, and until we were about a year and a half and more identifible, my parents painted my sister's big toenail red. And up until we were about 7 years old, I cannot tell us apart until photos! It's really pathetic, actually. I think I identify myself too closely with her.

    Love the blog!

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  4. If I had been a boy, I was going to be named Jett. Too funny!

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  5. Just found your blog and loving it. My daughter's name is in your short haired list, yet she has beautiful long hair :-) but like the idea to keep them apart!

    love from Belgium,

    Cindy

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  6. the other thing to think about is initials. my sister has John and Joseph and has to use their middle initials with the J to mark their shoes, etc.

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  7. I was at school with identical twins, it was easy to tell them apart as one had much longer hair than the other, Then one day the girl with longer hair cut her hair shorter than her sister's. That caused quite a confusion for a few days!

    ReplyDelete
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