and baby a will be called...

We have loved the name Clara for years: Lily was almost named Clara, and I think that if Hugo were a girl, he quite likely would have been named Clara too.  It means "clear, bright," and St. Claire is an incredible saint with a beautiful story.  So baby A, who is lining up to be born first and who is on the left side of my bellybutton, will be named Clara.

In our family, we tend to go with a name we love, no matter how unusual (Zosia, which is Sofia in Polish, Hugo, which is still a fairly rare name).  But with the twins, we knew from early on that we wanted names with a ring of familiarity.  Maybe it's because these two will spend the first decades of their life being very unique inherently because of their status as identical twins?  And in the end, despite our attempt to be totally conventional, both Clara and Dorothy are actually quite unusual names!  So there you go.

Middle name, just like her sister, to be announced at birth.