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I work as an ob/gyn (well, I'm a medical resident right now, but I still work in the field) and one of expectant parents' favorite things to talk about is names, so I hear a lot of interesting names, especially for twins. They like the names, obviously, but they specifically look for names to match. Let's say Mom likes Joan and Dad likes Sara. Do they name the twins Joan and Sara? Sometimes. But I've seen parents get rid of one name they do like (Sara) to find a matching name with Joan, like Joanna. Larry and Linda don't bother me-it's not that the names start with the same letter, it's that they rhyme (Larry and Mary) or match (Larry and Lara). I agree with you about the olden days, but now it's pretty easy to know how many babies you're having long before they're actually born, so last-minute naming isn't much of an excuse. Ultimately, other people can call their kids what they like, but this is just how I feel about matchy twin names. And I have seen Richard and Ricardo-one parent was from Latin America and they wanted a Spanish name to honor that. Never Paul and Saul, though, I'll admit.