Same name as second cousin....who I've never met

Was unclear: my daughter is also DH's daughter, and the cousin's daughter is the older of the two Seraphinas!

Remind him that many men give their own sons the sam name as they have

It's really not an issue. My daughter and DH's cousin's daughter have the same fairly uncommon first name, come to think of it. I think I might have met her once? Everyone seemed to find it more flattering than anything, introducing her proudly: "And this is my Seraphina" (not actual name obvs).

We've got plenty of same/similar names within our family. Even those who see each other regularly. There's a couple of big name and little name when needing to reference. Never been a problem.

Stick with your first choice - I think it's fine. We have a similar issue - one of our first choice names has already been used for my DH's cousin's child - but they are in New Zealand! DH says that if we use it, his mother might well object - but that isn't going to sway us! It's a pretty common name and we see these people once a decade!

I have the same first name as my dad's cousin's daughter and we are only a few months apart in age. We have met perhaps a dozen times in our lives (but are fb friends).

At big family occasions we would be referred to with our middle names eg Sally Jane and Sally Anne.

It has literally never been a problem. I'd say go for it.

I personally wouldn't use the same first name, but my family see each other a lot so the second cousins would be together a lot. We do have three second cousins with very similar middle names, as the children have all been named after our grandfather so have variations of his name (one Charles, one Charlie, one Charlotte) as middle names, but different first names.

If there is going to be no/very little contact then it wouldn't occur to me not to use the name, especially if it was a name I loved.

My DH has three first cousins with the same name.

I would use it for sure. I see my cousins about once a year (it was multiple times a year when we were young) and I'd still use the same name as they have if I loved it.

It's fair enough to rule out names used by siblings and best friends, but if you start casting that net any wider, you just end up with an endless list of names you can't use - it'd be ridiculous.

I know a brother and sister who both used the same name for their ds. Quite a popular name. No one thinks it's strange. They are two completely different personalities. And about 7/8 years apart in age.

My cousin gave his daughter ( 9 years younger than me) the same name as me. We also had, until marriage, the same surname. I was named after my father's granny who was also her father's great granny, she was named after her mother's granny. Nobody batted an eyelid. I am known as Louise and she is Lou.

My son shares a name with my second cousin. It didn't even occur to me until my parent mentioned it.

If they have different surnames it isn't even an issue.

So tenuous you needn't worry about it - go for it.

DH has the first name as his second cousin but they hardly ever see each other and go by different names (e.g. Timothy and Tim, names changed)

It's never caused a problem but DH is older and had the name first so it does annoy MIL a bit

If you love the name I'd go for it personally

Why would the name of someone you've never met matter? Don't worry about it

I have cousins with the same name (I have a metric shit ton of cousins and cousins children). Even when they meet it's just a moment of ooh both the Emma's together (not actual name), it's not a problem

It doesn't matter a jot, go for it OP !

My niece chose the same first name as my DS, I thought it was lovely actually. They are known as big x and little x or Maiden's x and Maiden's Niece's x.

My son has the same name as my cousins son. I don't see her very often but she (and her son!) think it's cool. I'd go for it!

Go for the name you've chosen. It's fine :-)

My DS has a first name from my side of the family (there are 2 living members, both adults, with the same name) and a middle name that's on both sides - and then my surname as another middle name. So his two middle names are the same full name as one of my cousins e.g. if I'm a Smith and DH is a Jones then DS is Rupert Arthur Smith Jones and my cousin's an Arthur Smith.

And my DD has a first name from DH's side and again middle name from both sides so she's Fenella Ermentrude Smith Jones and my mother is Ermentrude Smith.

My DS is tickled that he shares his "Rupert" with other family members and tells everyone that he's got the same name as X relative (who in fact goes by "Roo").

That's a complete non issue.

Is it a top 10 type name and really common so its used a lot anyway or is it a family name which you both decided to keep going?

If its a common one, are you really sure you want to name your child it and have them have to use their surname in school to distinguish them from all the others with the same first name?

I have one child with a common name and one child with a rare name, and as its a few years later, I can safely say I am much happier with the rare name than the common name for many reasons.

It happens all the time in my family - we're overrun with Catherines at the minute . My niece has exactly the same names - first and surname as a second cousin. We didn't realise until the kids were about 2 - I think we've all been in the same place about twice in the past five years.

My daughter has the same gender-natural name as my cousins son, so DDs second cousin. They are each other very occassionally at large family get together.

It never even occurred to me it was a problem.

I do also like my cousins name, but I wouldn't use that for my child. That seems too much of a close relation.