Cousins with same name?

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-23-2004
Cousins with same name?
14
Mon, 06-28-2004 - 7:46pm
Give me your input. I love the name Lindsey. My husband's cousin has a 2 1/2 yr. old named Lindsey. Her mother has custody of her, but we see her occassionally at holidays and such. Would it be too weird to have 2 kids with the same name in a family?

Thanks!!!!!

(If you think it would be too weird, what would be some cute names along the lines of Lindsey?)

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Mon, 06-28-2004 - 8:00pm
Would your baby and your husband's cousin's baby share grandparents? I think it would be confusing for grandparents to have two grandaughters with the same name. If they will have the same last name that might also be confusing later in life, especially if they go to the same schools (even if they are years apart).

Also, be prepared for your baby to be called something in addition to her name. For example she could be "Little Lindsey" or "__(fill in your name)'s__ Lindsey" - something to distinguish her from the other Lindsey. Don't forget, your husband's entire family already thinks of the existing Lindsey as "Lindsey."

Another consideration is how your husband's cousin would feel about this. Is she going to be mad at you? Will this cause a rift in the family? A while back someone on this board posted about giving her baby the same name as her SIL's baby. The family stopped talking to her and the woman (the poster) ended up changing her baby's name.

Have you thought of the name Melinda with the NN Lindy? Also, for some reason, the name Lindsey always reminds me of Meredith - they seem to go together.

PS If you do go with Lindsey, I like the Lindsay spelling better.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2004
Mon, 06-28-2004 - 8:24pm
I don't think it would be a problem if you only see her occasionally.
Avatar for 3togetready
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-19-1999
Mon, 06-28-2004 - 10:10pm
In my dh family there are many many cousins with the same name. They name the first boy after the husbands father and the first girl after the fathers mother. The second boy would be named after the mothers father etc... So if there are brothers in a family and they each had 1 boy and 1 girl they would all have the same name. We did NOT carry on with this tradition, nor did his brother. I think if you don't see this child very often there should not be any problem with using the same name. If you never repeated a name a cousin had there would probably be very few names to choose from.
Avatar for cathylarson
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Mon, 06-28-2004 - 11:46pm
One of my cousins has a Tyler and so do I. I don't see anything weird about it at all. Now if it was one of my sister's with a Tyler, that would be weird. But not a cousin. I also have a sister Robin and a cousin Robin. A sister Terri and a cousin Terri. It's not really all that confusing.
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-13-2003
Tue, 06-29-2004 - 6:55am
I think it's fine to have cousins with the same name. In my family everyone was named Joe for some reason. My dad, my uncle, my brother and my cousin. It just worked out that my mom and her sister married guys with the same exact name (first and middle!) and they each named their first sons after them...so there you have 4 Joe's. My aunt said if she had a girl she would have named her Sandy as well (I think that's a bit much since my name isn't after anyone.) BUT I do agree that it will cause confusion. My little cousin Joe will always be "baby Joey" and he is now 20 yrs old. It seriously bothers hima and I can blame him, but it's either Baby Joe or little Joe.

I can't think of anything else along the lines of lindsey other than names from the same era such as Dana, Heather, Rachel, Megan, Nicole etc...

Sandy

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-30-2004
Tue, 06-29-2004 - 10:34am

We are battling with this issue right now. We want to possibly name our son (if that is what the baby is) Christopher after me (Christina), and I already have a nephew named Christopher.


I don't think we will, but I don't see a problem with it for your family if you don't!


Good luck!

Lilypie Baby Days

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-16-2003
Tue, 06-29-2004 - 11:17am
I don't think it would be too weird, especially if you don't see her regularly. My SIL has a first cousin (that she does see regularly) with the same name as her, and neither one of them minds. They've survived 34 years of having the same name, and they are only months apart). Bottom line is that it's your child, so name her whatever you want!
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-24-2004
Tue, 06-29-2004 - 1:02pm
So these children would be second cousins? I think it depends on how frequently they'll be seeing each other and how many close relatives you have in common.

On my mother's side, I have 12 cousins, of whom only two are boys. They are both named Christopher. Even though my Aunt/Uncle ran it by my Uncle/Aunt and got the okay, it's always been annoying, since they both go by Chris. So if you are referring to one, you have to tack on his last name (which, luckily, are not the same).

But, if you don't see this other Lindsey regularly and the two Lindseys don't have the same grandparents/aunts/uncles/first cousins, I don't think it's a big deal.

If you do decide to use the name, I would pretend it was always your favorite and you had always planned to name a daughter Lindsey. Even if that's not strictly true. :)

I really like the name Lindsey. Other names that remind me of Lindsey:

Kelsey

Meredith

Mallory

Caroline

Ainsley

Jennifer

Alicia

Shelley

Chelsea

Chesley

Good luck!

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-01-2003
Wed, 06-30-2004 - 1:38pm
I think you should't use a name already used in the family. that's just me though.

here are some Lindsey-like suggestions:

Aubrey, Amy, Brittney, Courtney, Hilary, Kelsey, Chelsea, Whitney, Ashley, Chloe.

good luck.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-29-2003
Wed, 06-30-2004 - 2:13pm
I agree with what most of the previous poster's have said. I would never use the same name of someone in my immediate family, like a niece or nephew, and I would never use the same name of a cousin's child, IF that cousin was close to me and my immediate family and we socialized with that cousin often. However, it sounds like the situation you are describing is different in that you only see your husband's cousin and child on rare occasions. So I don't think it would be a big deal if you use the same name.

I like Lindsey, and I would second the suggestions of a lot of people. To me, Lindsey has a very "English surname" type of feel to it, so I would suggest names like:

Allison

Ashley

Brinley/Brynley

Brittany

Courtney

Kelsey

Mallory

Meredith

Wellsley

Whitney

If you are looking for a similar sound, instead of style, how about:

Lynley

Melanie with nn Lanie

Delaney with nn Laney

Laurie/Lorie (which may sound dated to some, but you could use it as a nn for Laura, Lorelie, Lorraine, Lauren, Laurel)

Lily or Lillian, nn Lily

Elise/Annelise/Elisa, nn Lisey (pronounced Lee-see)

Alyssa/Alissa/Elissa/Melissa, nn Lissy

Landry

Kinsey

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