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.