Sister in law using same baby name

I’d take it as flattering!

seriously people have same or similar names popping up in their lives all the time

exh had same first name as father, gf, ggf etc …except it’s seen as family transition…bloody confusing but what the heck …and I broke that tradition 😱🤣

in my family tree they’re are loads of Sarah’s giving birth to Sarah’s. And Williams calling son John, who calls his son William for bloody centuries.

my bff has same name as me. We’ve known each other for 50 years. it was and is still a fairly unusual name. At school togther. Actually, surprising how little we were confused by use of name and who it was referring to despite being in same classes all the way to A levels.

brother has same name as his son in law. One chooses a more diminutive version with immediate family on my brothers side.

dil and niece share same name. That’s confusing as they’re both similar name, similar profession so when talking to others outside of immediate families they can ask “which xxx are you talking about “

I have two friends with same name . Again sometimes a little confusing, but not problematic…

whilst they’re young they may well be in same place and time to you all, and therefore could cause some momentary confusion…but you are saying they’re not even completely identical ..so people will know which child they’re talking about. But as these cousins grow older and leave home their lives will diverge most likely, and they’ll be meeting partners with same name as your husband, cousin, sons anyway! 🤣

be flattered you’ve. chosen a name that’s liked in all its variations. Make sure your daughter knows that too.

I'm really surprised that so many people are saying you're over-reacting and that there's nothing wrong with this. I'd be quite pissed off in your shoes.
But at least people will know that they are the weird ones as you picked the name first as your dd is older.

My DH has 80 odd cousins (an underestimate if anything). There's a lot of repetition. It really doesn't matter.

Im talking close naming, think Grace/Gracie, Sophia/sophie, Rose/Rosie, Isabel/Isabella, Ella/Ellie….

I think it’s annoying because the names will likely get contracted into the same nick name e.g. Soph, Elle, Izzy.

No one owns a name but I can see why it’s annoying.

Were they annoyed you got pregnant first?

Really? Seems pretty blooming obvious

how so? How will this in any way affect OP or her DD’s life?

It used to be the norm for names to run in families- and cousins having the same name not at all unusual. This idea that everyone has to have a unique name is a curiously contemporary , western idea. Not sure what the rational basis is? I suppose it’s linked to the culture of individualism/ narcissism?

Our family has a tradition of naming after, so there are lots of John's for example. Big, little, jnr etc. I like it. Always seen it as a compliment, a sign of familial bonds. On the other hand a woman I know never talked to her in-laws ever again as they called their DD the same name as hers. That's crazy in my view. I don't understand people like that at all.

This 💯

It's weird and annoying. There's thousands of names out there.

I don't see a problem, but that is probably because when researching family history for people I often found families would do names that were similar and the exact same for cousins

Think Elizabeth and a sister Eliza or Thomas and Tommy, Michael and Mikey and cousins Samuel and Samuel weren't uncommon

I had a friend who had granddaughters in the earlier 2000 and they were both called Ruby

Personally, I wouldn't do it, however I don't think it's all that unusual for certain names (the same, or similar), to be really popular amongst people of a particular generation.
It's no bigger deal than having a father and son named the same.

My brother and SIL did this. They named their daughter a very very similar name to my daughter. My daughter is delighted and takes it as a compliment. Doesn’t bother me in the slightest and they have different surnames anyway.

I have read your post and come back to it. I feel the horrible response from you and also your mum (she now has to say two almost identical names) is just nasty. I feel sorry for your brother and SIL. It’s not a big deal, you are making a big deal. Having a new precious niece and grandchild should be what matters.

@CheesePlantBoxes , your post made a claim that wasn't true, or was highly unlikely to be true.
I'd not mince my words if my sibling had done it to me either.

@YourWildAmberSloth , the Calebs aren't each other's cousins, so it's not like OP's situation.

They love your daughter. Be appreciative of that. This won’t harm you in any way. It’s a compliment

It really depends on the name for me and the popularity.

Leo and Theo wouldn't bother me at all because they just rhyme.
Ella and Ellie are similar but not too close to me and both super popular.

If the names are more unusual, I think it sticks out more.

But how did they mark their individuality, though - e.g. when addressing them or talking about them? Did each one strictly only ever use a different understood variation of James?

That reminds me of a thread on here from way back where somebody knew a family where 5 or 6 brothers were all given the same confirmation name - and that name was Mary!

Wasn't this quite common once upon a time, to have family names and cousins with similar or the same name? What impact do you think it will have? If the name isn't the same then the children will be easily differentiated. The Theo/Leo thing is really odd, they are completely different names.

Get your daughter to keep saying to her uncle how weird it is that her new cousin has copied her name 😂

Didn’t you understand that I meant that milliins of people have the same name and that classrooms have kids with the same name or did you literally think I meant there are classrooms with millions of people? Or were you being clever and picking apart my grammar to undermine, rather than engage with, my point?

I have to say I’m also baffled.

The exact same name? Yes. It would be really weird.
A similar but different name like Rose/Rosie? Leo/Theo? The only thing I’d be wondering is their names would be mixed up often. And even then….. it simply wouldn’t have crossed my mind.
A name/nickname like Margaret/Maggie, I think is more contentious. But then William/Liam wouldn’t have registered because Liam is now a name in its own right…..
🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Not really sure why people are going on about OP being upset, bothered "what difference does it make to you" comments as she has not said she is! Just that it's odd the couple haven't realised why others are finding this odd.

There are all sorts of reasons for picking a name for your child.

My SILs csme to literal blows and years of acrimony. Pg at almost the same time, it was clear what one of them would be called, if a boy - same as all first born sons in that family going back at least 150 years. The other one was born first and given that name. 2nd one was born and given 5hat name. 1st sister went batshit - even though the rest of us agreed that a) you don't own a name and b) if anyone "should" have flipped out that #2 had the better reason

I dislike them both so it was hugely entertaining.

@CheesePlantBoxes , millions of people do not have the same name in classrooms.

Like my husbands nephew is Theo and we liked Leo, but we thought that’s too close so moved on to other names.

But that's how you felt & obviously they don't!

You've put that the name is "practically" the same.

Maybe they would have liked the same name & thought that they had changed it enough?

It’s not that uncommon to have first cousins with the same name…

My mum has two cousins called Steve, THREE called John, two Carolines and two Catherines who are all first cousins to each other, too. My Grandmother even has the same name as her SISTER (think Joanne and Josephine, but both shortened to Jo).

So I wouldn’t have seen it as an issue…