# If a twin dies what does it make the other twin? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 18, 2005, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-twin-dies-what-does-it-make-the-other-twin/285435 "2005-01-18T21:50:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![flamingbananas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@flamingbananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flamingbananas)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-twin-dies-what-does-it-make-the-other-twin/285435/1 "2005-01-18T21:50:23Z")
What about with triplets or more? Say one dies in a car accident, are the remaining people still considered triplets, or are they now twins? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-twin-dies-what-does-it-make-the-other-twin/285435/2 "2005-01-18T21:52:24Z")
What would you say if your siblings died? I would say that if one of my twin sons died, it would make the other one the “surviving twin.” ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-twin-dies-what-does-it-make-the-other-twin/285435/3 "2005-01-18T21:58:50Z")
Yeah, if one dies, the state of twin-ness or triplet-ness still exists. I know someone whose twin brother died, but it doesn’t change the fact that he was born a twin. He still talks about his “twin brother.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-twin-dies-what-does-it-make-the-other-twin/285435/4 "2005-01-18T22:16:47Z")
As far as I know, Romulus and Remus are still regarded as twins ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-twin-dies-what-does-it-make-the-other-twin/285435/5 "2005-01-18T22:27:23Z")
My mother was a triplet, but one baby died at birth. She refers to herself and her surviving brother as twins. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-twin-dies-what-does-it-make-the-other-twin/285435/6 "2005-01-18T23:20:08Z")
The way I hear it phrased most commonly is something like “John and Mary, my surviving triplets” or “Joe is a surviving twin.” ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-twin-dies-what-does-it-make-the-other-twin/285435/7 "2005-01-18T23:45:23Z")
The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll? ---
**Author:** ![pokey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ebca7d/32.png) [@pokey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pokey)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-twin-dies-what-does-it-make-the-other-twin/285435/8 "2005-01-18T23:46:09Z")
Hmm. That’s funny. That’s addressed in Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events book 5. One of the Quagmire triplets died in a fire and everyone calls the two survivors twins by mistake. They say that the death doesn’t change their birth identity. They are still triplets and to call them twins if you know better is to act as if their third sibling never existed. Which isn’t very nice. If your non-twin sibling dies, you will still identify yourself as a sibling when it comes up. You would not say you were an only child. So it’s the same if you were a twin or a triplet. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-twin-dies-what-does-it-make-the-other-twin/285435/9 "2005-01-19T00:36:49Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll? Especially in the [The Twilght Zone](http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/GuidePageServlet/showid-1702/epid-34381/) ---
**Author:** ![Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nefarious_chipmunk/32/1045_2.png) [@Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nefarious_Chipmunk)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-twin-dies-what-does-it-make-the-other-twin/285435/10 "2005-01-19T00:45:24Z")
As a triplet, if one of my sisters died, I would still call myself a triplet. That is what I am. It is what I always will be. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-twin-dies-what-does-it-make-the-other-twin/285435/11 "2005-01-19T03:08:43Z")
> [@](#): > > The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll? Sure they said he died, but maybe they just locked him up in the attic at Graceland with an iron mask concealing his face. Maybe Jesse was the rightful King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.