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Naming twins takes creativity and taste. Here are the best twin names people have ever heard.

Having twins means double the fun, and double the pressure.

Photo credit: Canva

Twin girls, Ana and Luna.

Having twins means double the fun, and double the pressure. It’s a fairly known rule to name twins in a way that honors their unique bond, but that can lead to overly cutesy pairings that feel more appropriate for nursery rhyme characters than actual people. Plus, it’s equally important for the names to acknowledge each twin’s individuality. Again, these are people—not a matching set of dolls. For sure, finding the twin baby name balance is easier said than done.

Luckily, there are several ways to do this. Names can be linked by style, sound or meaning, according to the baby name website Nameberry. For example, Elizabeth and Edward are two names that share a classic style, whereas Ione and Lionel share a similar rhythm. And Frederica and Milo seem to share nothing in common, but both mean “peaceful.” Some other names that have the same meaning are Astrid and Nancy (divine), Ava and Zoe (life), Arthur and Leo (courageous), and Matthew and Theodore (gift from God).

Pamers suggests that if you're having identical twins that are the same sex, focus on names that are roughly the same length and start with the same letters, like with Cooper and Carter for boys. Or, for Aiden and Austin, for girls.

twins, twin boys, twins funny glasses, young boys, smiling twins, twins same shirt Smiling twin boys in funny glasses.Photo credit: Canva

What are some good names for twin babies?

Over on the /NameNerds subreddit, one person asked folks to share their favorite twin name pairings, and the answers did not disappoint.

One person wrote “Honestly, for me it’s hard to beat the Rugrats combo of Phillip and Lillian (Phil and Lil) 💕”

A few parents who gave their twins’ names that didn’t inherently rhyme until nicknames got involved:

"It's the perfect way! Christmas cards can be signed cutely with matching names, but when they act out you can still use their full name without getting tripped up.😂"

"The parents of a good friend of mine did this: her name is Allison and her sister is Callie. Their names don’t match on the surface, but they were Alli and Callie at home." Talk about parents playing 4-D chess.

“Alice and Celia, because they’re anagrams! Sound super different but have a not-so-obvious implicit connection.”

This incited an avalanche of other anagram ideas: Aidan and Nadia, Lucas and Claus, Liam and Mila, Noel and Leon, Ira and Ria, Amy and May, Ira and Ari, Cole and Cleo…even Alice, Celia, and Lacie for triplets.

twins, twin girls, young girls, twins dressed alike, smiling twin girls, 6-year-old girls Twin girls staring eachother in the eyes.Photo credit: Canva

Others remembered name pairs that sounded lovely together without going into cutesy territory. “I know twin toddler boys named Charlie and Archie, and they go so well together,” one person commented. Those names sound like the casual ways of referring to English nobility, Charles and Archibald.

Another wrote, “Tamia and Aziza. I love how they follow the same sound pattern with the syllable endings (-uh, -ee, -uh) without being obnoxiously matchy matchy.”

Still another said, “Lucy and Logan, fraternal girl/boy twins. I think the names sound so nice together, and definitely have the same 'vibe' and even though they have the same first letter they aren't too matchy-matchy.”

Other honorable mentions included: Colton and Calista, Caitlin and Carson, Amaya and Ameera, Alora and Luella, River and Rosie, and Eleanor and Elias.

One person cast a vote for shared style names, saying, “If I had twins, I would honestly just pick two different names that I like separately. I tend to like classic names, so I’d probably pick Daniel and Benjamin for boys. For girls, my two favorites right now are Valerie and Tessa. I think Val and Tess would be cute together!”

Overall though, it seems that most folks were fans of names that focused on shared meaning over shared sound. Even better if there’s a literary or movie reference thrown in there. Plus, the shared meaning makes for a great conversation starter when the twins get older.

twin teen girls, twins with cupcakes, blonde girls, hungry twins, twins, twins white shirts Twin teen girls getting ready to eat donuts.Photo credit: Canva

“My mom works in insurance, so I asked her. She’s seen a lot of unique ones, but the only twins she remembers are Gwenivere [sic] and Lancelot... bonus points... little brother was Merlin,” one person recalled.

Another shared, “If I had twin girls, I would name them Ada and Hedy for Ada Lovelace and Hedy Lamarr, both very early computer/tech pioneers. Not that I’m that into tech, I just thought it was a brilliant combination.”

Other great ones: Susan and Sharon (think the original “Parent Trap”), Clementine and Cara (types of oranges), Esme and Etienne (French descent), Luna and Stella (moon and stars), Dawn and Eve, plus various plant pairings like Lily and Fern, Heather and Holly, and Juniper and Laurel.

Perhaps the cleverest name pairing goes to “Aubrey and Zoe,” since…wait for it… “they’re A to Z.”

It’s easy to see how naming twins really is a cool opportunity for parents to get creative and intentional with their baby naming. Finding the perfect names might be challenging, and deciding with your partner may make it extra difficult. But if you get it right, your kids will live their lives with iconic names, which is worth it! If you or your partner is pregnant with twins, hopefully, this article got the creative juices flowing.


- YouTube www.youtube.com

This article originally appeared last year.

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Viral gibberish experiment has people convinced that all babies speak a 'secret language'

We all want to be in on this joke.

Photo credit: Canva

We need a translation, stat.

The general understanding is that—beyond the basic primal sounds that signal hunger, discomfort, etc.,—babies don’t truly grasp language until they begin to form the words that we adults teach them. But what if they have a secret language all their own that we grown folks simply can’t comprehend?

That’s the question raised in an adorable new trend taking over TikTok, where parents watch their wee ones react to the recorded sound of another baby’s gobbledygook. The way they all seem to find it hilarious at one particular part has moms and dads wondering if maybe it’s not gobbledygook at all, but instead a joke our matured ears aren’t in on.

Below is one particularly viral, extremely cute clip, that really gives you an idea. Across the screen, mom writes “I think she understood” as a sweet baby girl lights up and giggles towards the end of the baby spiel.

@jatziri.veliz

Baby language , love It 🥰 #babygirl #babyoftiktok #sahmsoftiktok #1yearolldbaby #funnybabyvideos

Aaaaaaand so does this baby…

@stackcracklepop

lol well seems like she likes what she heard 🥰😂 #babiesoftiktok

Aaand this one…

@viviantrejos

Jejeje ##risadebebe #bebeinteligente #mamaprimeriza #maternidad #paratii #foryoupage #bebeprematuro

You get the picture.

The noticeable pattern left many adults feeling out of the loop. On the bright side, it made for some fun comments.

"I need a translator."

"Probably means 'just laugh let's confuse the adults.'"

"At this point, we all need to start studying 'Gibberish' as a language.”

“I swear some curse words was in there.”

“Ok so we all need to know what was said because this is the 5th video seen in 10 minutes and my 14month laughs every time. We gotta learn baby talk ASAP!”

“Yeah they’re definitely talking about us.”

“Sad part is we will never be in on the joke.”

The concept of a secret baby language is something that’s seemingly always compelled the adult world. For heaven's sake, do we all remember the not one, not two, but FIVE Baby Geniuses movies? You know, the one where evil scientists discover the infants have highly sophisticated conversation and put them up in a lab to try to decipher it all? All cinematic masterpieces.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

However, all jokes aside, there might be something to this. Sure, babies don’t understand words like we do, but studies have found that they can pick up on the emotions of others, including other babies, even at five months old. So it could be argued that these babies are all intuitively responding to whatever silly, happy mood was going on with the baby in the recording.

Furthermore, other research has found that babies tend to prefer listening to other babies babble over listening to their own parents, so it looks like we’re’ gonna be out of the joke forever! But we can still enjoy it from afar.

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New moms share the 'weird' advice that helped them survive their first year of motherhood

"Sometimes all you can do is try new ideas, often nonsensical ones."

Image via Canva

New moms share best "weird" hacks that helped them in first year of motherhood.

New moms in their first year of motherhood are modern-day superheroes. They are masters in the art of powering through. New moms know that sometimes you have to resort to weird and unexpected hacks to take care of tired, hungry, and crying babies.

Over on Reddit in a subforum of parents, member Lina_reese shared her thoughts on "the weirdest advice I got as a new mom… and it actually helped!" She went on to explain, "One day my friend told me, 'Just take a shower if the baby won’t sleep,' and I laughed. Like, this is the time for me to shower? He’s the one who needs to sleep!"

She decided to take her friend's advice. And to her surprise, it worked. "But believe it or not, as soon as I stepped away and relaxed for a bit, he started calming down too. I had no idea how much my own energy affected him. Now whenever I feel overwhelmed, I try to take a small break and it often helps both of us," she added.

She concluded her post by asking other new moms to share their "weirdest" parenting hacks that also helped them with their new babies. These are 16 of the best pieces of advice that fellow new moms offered that helped them survive early days with new babies.

baby, newborn baby, new baby, new born, babies Loop Baby GIF Giphy

"I would put my twins in their cribs when they were tired/it was nap time and go shower. Within a week they barely cried when I put them down. It was huge for my mental health to have 10 minutes without crying babies and gave me a much needed reset. The inadvertent sleep training was a cherry on top. This is something I share with new moms because there is so much guilt involved in letting a baby cry. You can't pour from an empty cup though." —igloo1234

"Baby not sleeping? Turn on your favorite music and dance, you'll calm down and baby will fall asleep. It made sleep time, 1000x better." —mallowpuff9

"If they're big enough for baby wearing, I would wear them on my back and clean the kitchen. They always fell asleep while I was hand washing dishes when they got backed up and wiping down countertops/ table. I also turned on the TV to watch/listen to something adulty for my own entertainment." —Dr_mombie

"Use earplugs if the baby is colicky or whining a lot. It doesn’t make you a bad parent if you’re tending to their needs. I joked that the only thing I could control is if there was two people crying, and earplugs helped me deal with rocking a colicky baby for hours and stay sane." —zazrouge

ear plugs, earplug, baby crying, noise, noise gif the narrator GIF Giphy

"Baby won't stop crying? Take them outside. That's it. They'll almost always stop once they're outside. And if they don't stop, at least it doesn't sound as loud out there." —RoRoRoYourGoat

"Outside or water. Even just splashing around in the bath is enough to change the vibe." —littlescreechyowl

"Sometimes all you can do is try new ideas, often nonsensical ones, until you find one that works. Will the fourth silly idea that ended up working work tomorrow? Nope. Would it have worked if you tried it first? Who knows!" —jimmyw404

"I find that, if invested in something (a project, playing a game, etc) most people can easily push themselves past their bedtime without even realizing how tired they really are. The act of wanting to continue and having the thing you want to continue doing in front of you helps keep you going. And then once you stop doing what you were doing and sit down for a few minutes, it often catches up in a huge wave. Same thing applies to kids and babies. When the stimulation ends, it's easier for them to fall asleep." —thegimboid

"Make a Spotify playlist of songs you know the words to. Overwhelmed and can't think of a song? Pop in an earbud and sing along. Calm baby and yourself." —Icy_Marsupial5003

lullaby, singing, baby music, sing along, sing song Shawn Mendes Kiss GIF by BuzzFeed Giphy

"I had just given birth, still in the hospital, had a 21 month at home. A nurse told me, to help with jealously, the 21 month old remembers being the only child. the baby doesnt. Take care of his needs, put him down to sleep, play with the 21 month old like she was the only child. After a few weeks, when the baby didn't sleep as much she realized he was not to bad and OK to keep around. Never had a once of jealously. 20 years later, they are still best friends." —bethaliz6894

"Infant probiotics. At some point I read that a lot of colicky babies are dealing with digestive upset, and someone recommended clinical-grade infant probiotics, and they were a lifesaver. People love to recommend gripe water, but I was ON IT with the probiotics whether he or I had just been on antibiotics, or he had diarrhea, etc. Total game changer." —invah

"When you get mad at your kid, look at his tiny hands." —CaptainSensible17

baby, baby hands, hands, baby hands gif, babies Way To Go Good Job GIF by Ginghamsburg Church Giphy

"When your kid is really driving you crazy, get down on the floor with them and play. Look at the world from their point of view." —plantverdant

"I don’t remember who told me about the 1-2-3 hours nap schedule but I tried it and was blown away. When your baby ( not a newborn) wakes up, look at the time. Put them back down for a first nap again 1 hour after. When they wake again, they stay up for 2 hours. Then after the next nap it’s 3 hours, and then bedtime for the night. Put them in their crib before they are showing you physical signs of being over tired." —majadadim

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Mom brings painter's tape on a flight and it just might be the best parenting hack ever

So many simple but brilliant uses for it, both during and after the flight.

Courtesy of @nicholaknox/Instagram

A roll of painter's tape can keep kids occupied for hours.

Any parent who has traveled with a baby or toddler knows the joy of keeping them contained in a seat for hours when most of them would prefer to do anything but be contained to said seat. Wee ones are wired to move and explore, and an airplane cabin is not exactly the best place for them to exercise those instincts.

So parents flying with babes bring all manner of toys, books, drawing pads, and other things to (hopefully) occupy them, often with varying levels of success. But one mom has shared a simply brilliant hack for traveling with little ones that might just keep them busy for longer than 30 seconds: painter's tape.

tape, painter's tape, blue tape, roll of tape, parenting hack Painter's tape is made to be only a little sticky.Photo credit: Canva

Painter's tape is like masking tape, but less sticky. It's made to temporarily adhere and be easily removed without leaving chunks of tape or residue behind. What's that got to do with babies, you ask? Have you ever given a baby a piece of tape? Or stuck a sticker to them? Almost universally, they're fascinated.

Mom and photographer Nichola Knox shared various ways she used it with her kiddo on a flight, including counting tape squares, "rescuing" a toy, making letters of the alphabet, building a "troll swing" (genius), making a truck bridge, attaching a napkin bib, and more.

The tape even comes in handy after the flight. Knox showed how they created "roads" in the hotel room for toy cars and trucks. The mom also wrote that she uses the tape to "Label the kid’s cups, a 'Band-Aid' for when your toddler 'really needs one,' taping over locks and drawers you don’t want them getting into. The list goes on. It’s forever the 'weird' thing I bring on trips."

For little kids, tape is magic. It can stick them, to you, to a window, to a seat back—anything. It can stick things to things. It can be written on. It can be wadded up. It's endless fun.

tape, painter's tape, blue tape, roll of tape, parenting hack There are countless ways to use painter's tape when you're traveling with small children.Photo credit: Canva

And, because it comes on a handy-sized roll, you don't even have to sacrifice any luggage space for it (not that it takes up that much space anyway). Just wear it onto the plane like a bracelet or hook it onto a loop of a backpack.

Other moms are loving the tip. As one wrote on a video, "To all the moms who insisted I bring masking tape on my 6 hour flight, you're literally geniuses. This was the only thing that entertained my 1-year-old for more than 5 minutes besides the pamphlets on the back of the seats."

There's a saying, "Why give a kid a toy when they'd prefer to play with the box it came in anyway." It's so true. Kids are often more interested in real-life items than toys, and tape offers the kind of imaginative, open-ended play that parents so often want their kids to engage in. It's definitely better than putting them in front of a screen.

The idea is a hit, according to parents in the comments:

"Ohhh flying in less than a month to California with 5 kids 😯😯 will be bringing 2 rolls of tape!"

"Totally love the idea.. will be using it for my coming road trip."

"Love this idea! It’s so hard to travel with a 1-2 year old since they are so young and don’t understand they need to be quiet, etc. So distraction is key when they aren’t sleeping. Thanks for this!"

"I wanna bring tape with me everywhere now."

Seriously, it's not a bad idea to just keep a roll of tape in your diaper bag. Anything that makes traveling with small children easier is worth keeping on hand.

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