Naming first cousins

[AInightingale]

Can I just ask if anyone has ever known a family where two first cousins (the sons of two siblings, I mean) have been given the same forename? I don't mean years ago, when everyone seemed duty-bound to pull a name from a pool of about ten names and rarely deviated from it. This is more recent times, talking the 60s/70s. I know it sometimes happens for reasons of religious conviction, but it isn't the case here, and it isn't that kind of name anyway.

Yes we have two sisters in our extended family (as in, they're cousins of my grandparent) who called their sons the same name. The boys are ca. 45/50 now. Strangely enough it wasn't a particular family name either.

Other than that, no, but I happened to be looking back in our family tree just yesterday and the number of Johns and Marys in three generations of a family was incredible, including plenty of matching first cousins.

I have 2 first cousins (same side) with the name Brian, late 70s /early 80s (edit: they had the same surname too). I never get the hoo-haa on MN about cousins having similar names (Molly and Holly... who cares?!)

My cousins (brother and sister) called their daughters the same name in the late 90’s. It wasn’t a family name, just a name they liked. There are so many lovely names out there, why on earth do it?

Yes my family recently. Dumb. Will forever annoy me/ so many names. No significance either:

Yes. Two boys named in the 70s, both named after their mutual grandfather. Both use derivatives of the name now (think Billy and Will names after William).

So it does seem to be something that some families do! A bit odd but not uncommon.

I have got three female cousins who share the same first name, all born within the same year. It's not in memory of anyone, it's along the lines of Sharon. In the same family I have got two male cousins with the same name but there is twenty five years between them .
I don't think my Dad's side had much imagination when it came to names.

Not on my family. I have 19 cousins and 14 of those have children of their own and there are no repeat names!

There is the odd spouse who shares a name with a cousin or auntie/uncle but that can’t be helped!

And all those are on my mums side - dad is an only!

Personally I’d find it weird to name your child the same as your siblings child or cousins child.

But I imagine with step siblings or both parents having siblings the chances of a cousin having the same name is greater?

So mums sister has an Ellie,

Dads brother has a child and names them Ellie,

Mums step brother has a child and call them Ellie.

It’s very likely those 3 adults have never met.

My first cousins are all my mums siblings children so we’ve all met!

My GM and her two sisters all called three of their daughters by the same forenames, very confusing. Not very common names either and not from the previous generation. In conversation their surname was often added so you could tell who was being discussed.

well obviously the people who raise the issue 🤦🏽‍♀️

It's quite an odd forename too. Not a name like Gary/Darren/Paul/David that was very popular back in those decades. I'd imagine most people, especially mothers, might be a bit 'oi, what are they playing at?' if a sibling did this, but who knows?

That's my point! It's only on MN that I've ever heard anyone raise the issue... 🤦‍♀️

My first cousin and I have the same first name and surname. We live in the same small town, I’m five years older than her.

Our dads (both deceased) were brothers.

Does depend on whether you are close too. You can be cousins because your parents are siblings but haven’t seen them for years,no significant connection at least so perhaps you just want to use the name you already had picked. My cousin “stole” the name I had picked (she had no idea as we aren’t that close) so I picked something else

Two boys born in the 80’s about a year apart were both named after their grandad - the second born cousin’s dad also had the same name so was probably bummed the first kid was given his name and decided to call his son after himself anyway. The first mostly uses an abbreviation of the name now though.

My mum's first cousin/neighbour and good friend had a baby called x in the April and she gave me the exact same name in the October. Not super common like Sharon or Karen, more like Frances and totally random with no family connection. I still can't wrap my head around why she would do that and why her friend wasn't bothered. We were in the same small classes from primary right through to high school too!

Yes, I'm named the same as my cousin. I was born in the 70's and she was in the 60's. I actually asked my mum the other day why?? She said she didn't know!

My mum and my auntie (her sister-in-law) have the exact same name - their first name is fairly unusual, say Ramona rather than Sarah, and when they each married a brother, they took their surname (they are in their seventies, so got married back when the prevailing tradition was to change your maiden name to your husband's surname). So just goes to show, that even when you don't deliberately give people the same name, you can end up with the same name anyway! My ex used to think it was amusing that when we got married, if I took his name I would have the same first name and surname as his sister. As it was, I have never gone by my first name, I've since changed my name to make my middle name my first name, and we're not together anymore anyway!

Did you ever ask her why @MumOryLane? Did her friend/neighbour/ cousin care?

In my family there are cousins called similar names like Eve & Eva. Never been a problem.

No I wouldn't dare ask for fear of starting a row lol

Yes, my cousin and I have the same first and last name.

My two maternal cousins (so also cousins of each other) both named their boy babies the same name within five years of each other. I know it's not quite the familial closeness you stated, and it is a very classic boys name...