> And, as an aside, I always thought it was dumb when people named all of their kids with names that started with the same initial: Debbie, David, Donna (Darleen?!). Then, two weeks after I had my second child, I realized I'd done it.

Did you pick those names out of a hat, or have you been talking to Leen? Her siblings have those names, plus Denise. It wasn't on purpose, either, until the last two.

When I lived in Germany, there was an American family a couple houses down from us who were all D's, too. In their case, both parents were D's, and they named their two kids Dustin and Delisa.

The only thing I can think about is, how do these people play card games? Ok, so maybe they don't -- I don't know -- but in our family if we're playing a game that requires keeping score, we put initials at the top of the score columns. For example, if my parents are playing Bridge against my brother and I, the score column headings are "S + D" for my parents and "S + J" for my brother and me. It gets tricky when Darleen and I play my parents, because then it's "S + D" against "S + D." My Bridge-playing grandparents are "S + J." Sometimes the initials for "Mom and Dad" work better, but the "D" for "Dad" is of course already in use, and the "M" could mean my other grandmother, and "G" could mean any of the grandparents. You see something like "D + J" on a score sheet, and who knows what it is.

So I can just imagine trying to read score card that reports the results for a game where "D + D" play against "D + D." I suppose that's when you break down and commit to writing out full names.