Is Joel too similar to Joseph?

[Leapinglambs]

We’re due a baby later in the year and really like the name Joel, but we have a nephew called Joseph - is it too similar?

Other boy names we like are:
Jago (but we don’t have a Cornish connection)
Seth
Nathaniel

If baby is a girl we like:
Marnie
Elodie
Anna
Ottilie
Mara

Very open to suggestions too! Thanks for your thoughts.

It’s not too similar.

It's not too similar at all! I love it!

For a brother I'd say yes too similar. For a cousin I think it's okay...

It’s not too similar for cousins. For siblings it would be.

I think it’s fine for cousins, not brothers.

I agree with above, too close for brothers not for cousins.

I came on to say too similar but I see they are cousins not siblings so I think it’s fine. That said I prefer Seth to Joel. And love Jago.

I like Joel I think it's fine for cousins 😊 Nathaniel is lovely too.
I like Marnie best from your girls list it's lovely 😍.

I agree, would be too similar for siblings but cousins is fine!

@Leapinglambs agree with all others that it’s definitely fine for cousins. Nice name, I also like Seth. From your girls list I like Anna the best and not often heard these days. Marnie’s nice as well but can’t imagine on a grown lady... but that wouldn’t matter once she was here.

I disagree. Whether they're cousins or brothers, they're still close family members - they're too similar. I think the girl equivalent would be something like Annabel and Annie. Joseph is likely to get shortened to Joe, which is even more similar to Joel.

Have you spoken to Joseph's parents about it to see what they think?

Also, perhaps Noel could be an alternative? I find it much more original and interesting than Joel.

LotusClover I guess it depends how often you see your cousins. I wouldn’t have given the shiniest shite if I’d been called similar to my cousins, or even the same name entirely. If you see them every other day I guess it’s different. But I do think it’s slightly absurd that now now only are you not allowed to call someone the same name as someone else, you are also banned from any similar sounding names as well!

@Dyrne you're right, that's something I should have mentioned actually. I haven't seen my cousins since they were 2 so it wouldn't matter if we shared the same name or a similar name. But if you're seeing them regularly like I assume most children do, it would be a problem IMO.

Thanks everyone. The cousins would probably see each other maybe 3-4 times a year (though not at the moment, obviously), but their grandparents would see each of them separately a lot more often. We haven’t spoken to Joseph’s parents as we’re not close and it would feel odd to call them to discuss names. It’s reassuring that most think it’s fine, but we’d also hate to cause family drama if aunt/uncle/grandparents think the same as lotusclover.

Thankfully we have a little while to decide. If we went with Jago, does it matter that there’s no Cornish connection? It’s such a big responsibility choosing a name!

@Leapinglambs I don’t think it matters at all that there’s no Cornish connection, people use names all the time of different origins to themselves, the only Jago I know of is Northumbrian. I like Jory, another Cornish name.

I'm Anna and my younger cousin is Hannah 😂. Although the baby wasn't known about for months as his first marriage hadn't officially ended so she probably had no idea when she named her.

Oooh I like Jory too, it was on my list at one point, maybe DH took it off when we were trying to narrow the list down. Hmmm lots to think about!

I like Anna and Mara from your girls' list.