Would you name your child the same name as your cousin's child?

OvariesbeforeBrovaries · April 2014

OvariesbeforeBrovaries · April 2014

Just curious if you would and why or why not.

heathera1979 · April 2014

I have no problem with that, but I do not see my cousins that often. My brother and cousin has the same name, and my dad, uncle, and another cousin also share the same name.

Mlewis2319 · April 2014

I would not choose the same name as a cousin. My DD name is Haley and my nephew is Hayden...that's close enough for me LOL

OvariesbeforeBrovaries · April 2014

One of my favourite names is my cousin's son's name. We are fairly close but we live in different countries so I see her maybe once a year if that so it isn't like they would grow up together.

windwithfingers · April 2014

I would because I really only see my cousins and their kids on major holidays. My brother is named Nick and so is my cousin, and they were born 4 months apart. We just call them Nick A. and Nick W. if we need to distinguish between them. Luckily, my cousins have named their children things like Gage and Ayverey (real spelling, no joke), so I don't think there will be much name overlap.

duckr · April 2014

Depends on the cousin. I have a group of close cousins and some I haven't seen in ten years. The close ones - no.

Heartwood0519 · April 2014

I definitely would not. I'm very close with a lot of my cousins, so I think it would be weird. Even the ones I'm not that close with, I wouldn't. Even if I really loved the name, I would think that they would feel like I forgot about them naming their child that or didn't care that they did. I feel like it would be selfish.

OvariesbeforeBrovaries · April 2014

windwithfingers said:

I would because I really only see my cousins and their kids on major holidays. My brother is named Nick and so is my cousin, and they were born 4 months apart. We just call them Nick A. and Nick W. if we need to distinguish between them. Luckily, my cousins have named their children things like Gage and Ayverey (real spelling, no joke), so I don't think there will be much name overlap.

Ayverey is that pronounced like Avery? lol

Sofia2529 · April 2014

Given the fact that you only see her once a year, I don't see the problem. It would be different if you had weekly dinners or your children were first cousins.

Maggie6424 · April 2014

I would ONLY if it was the only name DH and I could agree on.
It was battle royale when we tried to name DS.

AppleGrapeMSTK · April 2014

I have cousins I haven't seen in 15 years, so it wouldn't matter. But I'm also the only cousin having kids right now, so I get first picks. I chose No, though, because I avoid family names unless I am intentionally naming my child after family.

windwithfingers · April 2014

@OvariesbeforeBrovaries: yep! When my grandfather died and we sent in the obituary, the newspaper corrected the name to Avery, and my cousin was very upset. 8-|

meggiev123 · April 2014

I'm glad you asked this question because we're also grappling with this. Our favorite girl's name is also the name of my cousin's daughter. We're not super close since we live far away, but still see each other when we're visiting Detroit. I've been leaning again using the name because of this, but DH thinks it's no big deal.

Wishing35 · April 2014

I voted special snowflake. I have cousins that I never see so I wouldn't feel bad about using one of their children's names.

bennikki · April 2014

DS has the same name as one of my cousins. She's Charlee (it's not short for anything), and he's Charlie. She's 14 years old and thinks it's cute. It was the name DH and I loved, and it never even crossed my mind that it would matter. I don't buy into the whole name ownership thing though. I also come from a huge family with 5 Toms, 4 Bills, and 3 Lynns.

Sockgnome78 · April 2014

My mom named me the same as my cousin. We both shorted our names so it became known in the family as "Big name" and "Little name". She was not a fan of it as she got older because she was a big girl. I on the other hand was younger and much smaller so mine fit. I did not like it. So if a family member had the name we were to use I would either have an off the wall no or just find a different name.

AmandaJean12 · April 2014

I said yes I would, but I guess it would depend on the cousin. On one side there are only four of us, and we're not super close because there's a decent age gap, but we're close enough it would be awkward.

But on my other side, there's 14 of us and I totally would. I see my cousins maybe once or twice a year, and one has kids in elementary school I've never even met. Totally fair game.

lrobi13 · April 2014

No, 1) because I am pretty close to most of my cousins and 2) because I do not really like some of the names that they chose so it is a no-brainer.

youngin12 · April 2014

I think it would depend on how close the cousins are. Distant, I would be ok with but if it were someone I see and interact with on a regular basis, I wouldn't use the same name.

GretchenWeiners7 · April 2014

I probably would not because I am very close with my cousins and see them multiple times a year. But if we were not close (sounds like you're not), then I probably wouldn't think twice about it.

Dani0329 · April 2014

I said no, just bc I see my cousins enough that it would be weird.

MelanieAdam0707 · April 2014

No- we are too close to my cousins it would be awkward every time I saw them.

Emerald27 · April 2014

SS - I would if we rarely saw them and/or the kids were really far apart in age.

HappyCianci · April 2014

I think it depends on how close you are, and maybe a little on how unusual or common the name is. If the name is Olivia or something else in the top ten, no big deal. Something like, I dunno, Apollo, I would seriously consider not using it.

Jellybean813 · April 2014

I think if you don't see them all that often, or live far away from them - go for it.

IrishHoney123 · April 2014

Only if it was a name I'd always had my heart set on.

ohioloveyou · April 2014

Doesn't bother me. I have a cousin with my same name and it's never been weird. If my Dad can name his kid the same name his sister chose for hers, I think I can name mine the same as a cousin.

lilmissfancy · April 2014

No, but I guess it would depend on the closeness. It's hard finding a name for my LO because it seems like all the good names are taken.

2 of my cousins have a similar name as me. When we get together people slip up on the names, even our parents.

live4thegiraffe · April 2014

I said no because I only have 3 cousins that I actually ever see, and we're pretty close. I think it would get confusing. That said, I'm the oldest and the only one with any kids so far, so I don't think that's a decision we'll have to make in the near future.

I have cousins on the other side of my family that I never see. If they have kids, I wouldn't know their names, so I guess there's the possibility that LO could have the same name as a second cousin somewhere.

kindacrunchy · April 2014

I wouldn't purposefully but I have a VERY large family, I couldn't even count how many cousins I have, so it could be done by accident.

ktb31 · April 2014

EXACT same question I was just asking my husband the other day! My cousin I see only once every year or two has a daughter named Olivia and I love that name…I can't decide what to do. I voted yes though because I want it to be ok to do:)

TaylorH84 · April 2014

I would...I'm not very close with my cousins because of location and huge age difference so it probably wouldn't matter anyways. With that said, names are important and if it's a name I love nothing should change that. I also kind of feel like if it's not my cousin it'll be someone else naming their kid with the same name. If anything people should take it as a compliment.

jlz32185 · April 2014

My cousin has a daughter named Adison and if we have a girl her name will be Madison. Not exactly the same but close enough that it might bother some in my family. It's a name that DH and I have loved for a long time and I only see this cousin a few times a year so I really don't care. Oh and our EDD is oct 16 and Adison's birthday is oct 13 lol.

mamamurphy · April 2014

I would if I loved the name... I can't tell you how many Michael's there are between my family and my husbands family.

Depending on how close I was with the cousin... I would probably run it by them to see how they feel.

ladybug0088 · April 2014

Yes and no.

If it was a family name I don't think that's a big deal to reuse. For example, my grandfather was James and my cousin used it for her now eight year old boy. However, my brother was very close with my grandfather so I can see him using the name if he ever had a boy at some point.

I don't think I'd use a name otherwise. I see most of my first cousins four or more times a year so it would be kind of awkward.

irisheyes317 · April 2014

Depends on which cousins. I wouldn't think twice about naming my kid the same name as some one of the cousins we see only once every few years (actually one of our top boy names is the same name as the child of a cousin who fits in that category), but not the same name as one of the cousins I'm close to.

2goingon3 · April 2014

I voted No. I just think it's too much. I loved Ethan until DH's cousin named his kid Nathan, even those I feel are too close. But, if you love the name, go for it.

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