Cool name coincidences

---changed the names here but....

My daughter's name is Eleanor. I have a cousin in another country who I've only met once, her name is Ellie. A few years ago (my daughter is now 18, she was about 12 then), I was reading through a family tree that one of my cousins put together....and my cousin Ellie's full name is Eleanor...and her birthday is the same day as my daughter's!!!!

My 2 grandfathers were William Charles and Charles William.

My Dh's grandmas middle name is Mae. Same spelling as my great grandmas. With the same spelling. My Dh's grandma went by her middle name in her later years. My neice now how that middle name.

I've felt kind of "alone" in my family, no one with a name remotely like mine. I'm from north Louisiana and around 10 years ago, my first cousin was able to trace our grandmother's maternal grandmother's family all the way to France in the 1500's. It was made easier by the fact that she was the first female in that line. There are two Angelique's, one in Quebec and one in France that I'm a direct descendant of.

My names that I planned to name the daughter's are ALSO in that lineage. And one of those names, two of my male first cousins named their daughter that name. ALL of these people are related to that one French great-great-grandmother.

On both sides of my parents families are two Aunt Mary Jones, one by birth and the other by marriage. One was a great-aunt and the other a great-great aunt. I never met the oldest one but I do remember the younger one. In fact, her grandson contacted me a few years ago.

AND, an old fashioned name that I fell in love with when watching a TV show when I was a teen AND I just named one of my dogs that name, well, that was my French great-great-grandmothers name!

At a family event for my mum's side of the family, there was some heated discussion going on about Aunty Kath and Uncle Mick (lastname) and how many children they had. It took a while for someone to realise they were talking of two different - but related - families. Kath and Mick the elder had a son, also Michael, who happened to marry a Kathleen. One person was talking about the parents, the other about their son and his wife.
I gather this is not an uncommon problem in large Irish Catholic families!

I just read this story this morning on the BBC about two guys who met up because their names including their middle name was identical.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-38566161

It started when Sam Mitchell, a 19-year-old plasterer in Australia, contacted a 22-year-old British backpacker on social media because he shared his exact name.

"You may be wondering why I have sent you a friend request. I had to because we share the same name. Middle name as well. Good day sir," he wrote.

The reply came quickly: "Yeah, and what is stranger is that I've just moved from the UK to Australia."

Four hours later, the Australian and his friends pooled their money to buy the London man a ticket from Victoria to Tasmania for the following morning, New Year's Eve.

"The idea of flying him down got tossed about," Australian Sam told the BBC. "The more beers we had, the better the idea became."


The more beers we had, the better the idea became - LOL

We have multiple sets of Mike and Jennifer's in my family.  3 with the same last name!

My male cousin is Casey Smith, he married Kendall Smith. Then my daughter married a Kendall Smith so I have both a cousin's wife and a son-in-law, both named Kendall Smith. One is a male, one is female.

My mother in law gave up a baby up for adoption when she was young. The "baby" found MIL 40 years later. Mother in laws name was Mary Ann. Daughter's name is Maryanne. Such an odd coincidence. Both of my grandfathers had the exact same first and middle names. Both my mom and my grandmother had babies within days of each other (big news back in the late 60's) Both boys, both had the same fist and middle names...which were my grandfathers names.

In college, I had a married friend named Kathy Smith. She and her husband attended my wedding. Twenty years later, I see my friend, Kathy Higgins Smith, from high school. And then see her dh's picture. It's the same man! So I was friends with Kathy Smith in college and Kathy Smith from high school. Two different women married (at different times!) to the same man.

Well, I don't think it was cool, but someone did ;-)

My name is Jennifer, and my parents are Roger and Kathy. My freshman year college roommate's name was Jennifer, and her parents are Roger and Kathy.

I am convinced whomever was making roommate assignments at the college saw this, and matched us up based on this alone because we had NOTHING else in common. She was an evil, crazy thief. LOL.

I don't have a name story, but an interesting birthday story. My great-grandparents were born on the same date, same year, so they were exactly the same age. They both passed away on the same date, but 9 yrs. apart (May 9, one in 1967 and the other in 1976).

Their daughter, my grandmother, was married but my grandfather was killed in the war when my my mother was 1. She didn't remarry, but had a companion and they had the same birthday.

My dad's name is Larry. My mother's boyfriend's name is Larry. It gets confusing at times.

My grandmother used to call me by my initials - CJ.  She was the only one who called me that, it was 'her' thing.  She died when my oldest DD was young, so she wouldn't remember that.  When DD was expecting her 2nd child she had an ultrasound, found out she was having a boy and going to name him Caleb James - CJ.  Another Grandmother with a CJ!   I'm the only one allowed to call him that.
Both of our daughters married men named Chris, kind of confusing when we're all together, but we manage.  Luckily we love both of them.  Our son is under orders not to date anyone named Christine or anything close.  Old brains can't handle any more.