Naming my daughter the same as a cousins childs name

I have the same first name as a member of the Norwegian Royal Family, or it might be the Dutch, anyway so far it has not caused any issues, except once at Passport Control when they asked me if I had any cigarettes. I had none, as I don't smoke, but I like to think that any further interrogating stopped as they must have thought I was some sort of Royalty!

I think it's ok to use it op.

Mila is lovely! Congratulations 🌷✨

Congratulations, @Priya135 . Hope you and baby Mila are doing well.

OP's baby was born in January and will have a name by now.

Priya135 · 13/01/2026 23:55
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We've just had a baby girl ...

Is your cousin’s child Mia to rhyme with “Priya” or Mia to rhyme with “liar”.

Because if cousin’s child is a Priya Mia and you want a Liar Mia, just use the Maya spelling. If any of that makes sense….

Surely there are other names that you like. Is it worth the risk of potentially treading on someone’s toes?

The baby was already here in January.

This has occurred twice in my family, complete non issue for us.

This has happened several times in mine and also DH family. Not a big deal!

I think it would be a bit confusing for any family who see you both regularly, me and my husband both have a niece on each side with the same name and have nicknamed them for ourselves.

Given there’s hundreds of names to choose from I would avoid it unless it’s a name you’ve loved and wanted for years. Amelia is lovely and could be shorted to Mia?

It’s fine! If your siblings daughter was called Mia I’d say don’t do it. They will be fairly distant relatives. My cousin named their son the same name that my brother named his and no one batted an eyelid.

Yeah it's weird. I was in a similar situation where my cousin and I were pregnant at the same time, she was a bit further along than me and I knew what name I liked for a girl. We're not that close and don't even live in the same county and hadn't discussed names with each other. She had a girl and named her the name I'd have wanted, same spelling too, luckily I had a boy. I wouldn't have called my baby the same name it he'd been a girl.

I was thinking the same.
But do love the name Mia

For me it would likely depend on how often you see them. Only at family events like weddings etc then it’s fine. But if the girls would be together regularly then it might seem more odd/confusing - especially if Great Gran or Great Grandad is still with you as they’d then have two Great Grandchildren called Mia.

But even if that’s the case, it’s not the end of the world, plenty of people do have family members with the same name and they manage.

A bigger issue might be if you’d feel odd having a rhyming name with your daughter - as while you’ll mostly be “Mia’s Mum” to many, occasionally you will be introducing yourselves together.

Not a problem imo!

My daughter has the same name as my cousin. Never been an issue

I wouldn’t do it if it meant my grandparents would have great grandchildren with the same names. If the two sides of the family never see each other then it’s not much of an issue, but honestly, I would think it a bit odd.

If this means that their grandparents have two grandchildren with the same first name, don’t do it.

I think it's fine. Incidentally we named our second child the same name as my cousin's child. We'd chosen their name years before (i.e. we only had one name we would use for a certain sex) but had a child of the opposite sex first so couldn't use it then. My cousin had their child after our first and used the same name, so when we had our second we also used it. I don't see my cousin at all due to distance and a family fall out, but interestingly when my parents bumped into their parent they asked whether I knew that my cousin had named their child 'X' and implied that it was odd that I'd chosen the same name. I've still never seen them and don't think it odd at all, but clearly it grates on some people. I can honestly say that even if my brother used the same name as my children then I wouldn't mind. Nobody owns a name.

I absolutely wouldn't. If you're in the same family, I think it could come across as incredibly rude. I would be offended and hurt if my cousin gave their child the same name as mine. That said, all families are different so you should do what works for you. I am confused by you saying your partner and their family love the name- what you and your partner think together is much more imporant, so go with a name you both love!

I expect the only people it will annoy are your descendants in a hundred years or so when they are trying to draw up a family tree!
You'd think the name Sylvester would be unusual but I have loads of them amongst my ancestors 😁

We did this, our daughters name was spelt with a Y and one with and the cousin with an ie.
They have the same surname but they live in another country and in 15 years of being with my husband we have never met, so we went for it. It didn’t cross my mind because we don’t see them

Never happened in my family and there were 3 or 4 cousins with the same name! It was either big, middle, little or blonde! Everyone knew who was being mentioned or addressed, the DC didn’t mind and loved it when they tripped across each other (usually at funerals).