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MonteCristo
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OP, I wouldn’t stress out over this. If it makes you feel any better, my second cousin and I have the exact same first name and last name- and we were born less than a year apart. 
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Hoosier_Daddy
Guest
With apologies to anyone on these boards named Jude or has a munchkin named Jude. My wife and I agree this lady did the op a favor…
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Gordon_Sims
Guest
I can sympathize with the OP a bit. Like a bunch of others, I come from a family with lots of people but not a lot of names, so there’s quite a few people sharing names. That didn’t seem to be a big deal with my parents’ and grandparents’ generations. For the current generation, though, it’s a much bigger issue for whatever reason. Everyone seems intent on having a unique name. To make matters worse, at least in my family, there are a handful of people who have intentionally swiped the chosen names of others. At least twice this happened when Pregnant Person A had announced what she was naming her baby, then Pregnant Person B announced what she was naming her baby, only to have PPA (who had an earlier due date) swipe PPB’s name purely out of spite. (And, no, like the rest of you I can’t comprehend how someone could put months into picking a name that was meaningful not just to you and your spouse but your parents/in-laws as well, only to chuck it a few months later just to upset someone else…and then do it again with your next child.) My one cousin supposedly never forgave me for naming one of our daughters a name that she’d been planning on using for her first daughter ever since she was a little girl. I had no realistic way of knowing that, and she didn’t start having kids until a full decade after us, but I still should have known it all the same. On top of that, I have a family member who was upset with me for several years because I named one of our daughters a variation of a middle name she’d been considering then decided against then later decided she wanted to use (and, yes, you read that right–this was all over her chosen middle name, a name she’d seldom use, being too close to our daughter’s first name). So I do understand being upset about someone swiping a name. I don’t know if it’s worth ruining a relationship or holding a grudge (except for the in the case of PPA and PPB), but I can understand the hurt feelings.
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Mintaka
Guest
Group hug for the OP! Nobody can irritate us like family, right?
I have learned a lot from this thread, so I will share something about the name Anam (Earth) being used as a Marian name.
One of the versions of the Creation story in Genesis has humans formed out of clay (or earth, or the land, depending on translation). In the Vetus Latina translation, the Latin even says that “you come from earth, to earth you will go.” (St. Gregory the Great quoted it that way, and a lot of people quoted him.)
Mary was the New Eve, so a lot of the Fathers described her as the virgin earth out of which God made the New Adam, Jesus.
So yup, Earth is a Marian title. Kinda obscure, but there.
I have learned a lot from this thread, so I will share something about the name Anam (Earth) being used as a Marian name.
One of the versions of the Creation story in Genesis has humans formed out of clay (or earth, or the land, depending on translation). In the Vetus Latina translation, the Latin even says that “you come from earth, to earth you will go.” (St. Gregory the Great quoted it that way, and a lot of people quoted him.)
Mary was the New Eve, so a lot of the Fathers described her as the virgin earth out of which God made the New Adam, Jesus.
So yup, Earth is a Marian title. Kinda obscure, but there.
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Hoosier_Daddy
Guest
Hmmm I can’t find that definition of the name. The closest I can find is one that defines it as all living creatures on earth but not earth itself. quranicnames.com/what-is-the-meaning-of-anam/
But then there is babynames.co.uk/meaning_origin_name_Anam.htm
Where it means blessing
Google translate comes up with mother. Which would be an odd name for a daughter.
Interesting
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bmaj
Guest
If I were you, I’d name your son if you have one in the future whatever name you wish. We have lots of people with the same name in our family, and it’s not a problem at all. Many of their middle names are the same as well. The middle name for yours would actually be different, but I don’t think it matters. St. Jude would be honored! The more people who remember his name by hearing it and recall all he can do in the name of Our Lord, the better! God’s blessings always to you.
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bitterhope
Guest
Anam in Huasteco (a Mayan language) translates as earth (English) or tierra (Spanish). My husband’s first language is Huasteco or tenek as the native speakers call it.Hmmm I can’t find that definition of the name. The closest I can find is one that defines it as all living creatures on earth but not earth itself. quranicnames.com/what-is-the-meaning-of-anam/
But then there is babynames.co.uk/meaning_origin_name_Anam.htm
Where it means blessing
Google translate comes up with mother. Which would be an odd name for a daughter.
Interesting
Interestingly though, my husband has deployed multiple times to the Middle East and found Anam to be relatively common name there as well. Pretty sure it means something different in Arabic though. Our last name (an indigenous name) is more common in Greece than it is in Mexico and is mentioned in both the old and new testaments in the bible as a first name (and a canonized Saint!), but in his language it translates as something different than the Greek does. I don’t feel comfortable putting our last name on the internet though.
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Hoosier_Daddy
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Yes don’t put names on the Internet! That is so interesting. My parents fought over my sisters name. Dad wanted Jane mom wanted Callie. My dad gave in but insisted he got to spell it. He chose Kali.
Find out later that kali is a Hindu goddess who wears a Chain of human skulls around her neck. Remember Indiana jones and the temple of doom? Yup that kali…
The great destroyer.
I think my point is, names, as with tattoos need to be triple checked. Especially if they have to do with a different language or culture. From what I can tell anam is almost an exclusively Islamic name. That’s fine, but one should not choose a name without really looking into it if the exotic comes into play!
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bitterhope
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I really think family names that hold both deep meaning and history for your family and culture are the best way to name children. If it fits your culture and holds special meaning for your family in particular it helps children develop a sense of pride and a feeling of belonging. We don’t do a naming ceremony for our kids like our parents did with us, but we take the job of naming our children very seriously. We pray about the names and never settle on one until our babies are born because often they sort of “tell” us their name. I don’t know how else to describe it other than that.
We don’t strive for “exotic” names specifically but we don’t exclude them either. But the names we use aren’t really exotic to us anyway because they are all familial names from one side or the other. Some are indigenous but most are Spanish or Irish. Something we’ve noticed is names are often similarly pronounced in more than one language, and sometimes the only difference is the spelling. Sometimes even the spelling is the same. Those tend to be higher on the list for us so that neither side of the family struggles. It’s also why we pick two names so if a family member can’t pronounce one they use the other name. They all end up with nicknames anyway. We have a Tubby, Sis, Chino, Marmie, Epi, MayMay, Missile and some have several nicknames. None given by us parents either but somebody started each one and they sort of stuck.
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Aggie414
Guest
Two of my sisters used the same boy name – Leo (that was our father’s name who has passed away.) Since the families are so spread apart – one of the Leos is in Belgium – it’s really not that big of an issue. If I’m talking to one of the sisters without a Leo, I generally use their first and middle name to distinguish between which Leo I’m talking about. On their rare occasions that we’re all together, the other nieces and nephews take care of this by referring to them as Big Leo and Little Leo. Eventually that won’t work, but it all manages to work itself out with no confusion.
OP, I would say quit fretting about it. It’s just a name. If it bothers you that much, choose another name but don’t tell the relative if you’re concerned they’ll choose that name again. Otherwise, I’d just name your child what you want to name your child. There’s always the possibility of their being more than one child with the same name either in church or school or extracurricular activities. There’s far greater things to worry about out there.
OP, I would say quit fretting about it. It’s just a name. If it bothers you that much, choose another name but don’t tell the relative if you’re concerned they’ll choose that name again. Otherwise, I’d just name your child what you want to name your child. There’s always the possibility of their being more than one child with the same name either in church or school or extracurricular activities. There’s far greater things to worry about out there.
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UbiCaritas
Guest
There’s this, too.
My first name is one that’s been in the family for generations. While the family got drastically smaller in my generations, so that I’m the only one who has it now, there were a couple of "UbiCaritas"s one generation back, and several two generations back. As a result, though I haven’t met several of the women for whom I’m named, I feel a bit of a connection to them because of having their name, just as I do the one second cousin (or is she a first-cousin-once-removed? Never can remember which is which!) with whom I share the name.
If anything, should you choose to name a baby Jude, he’ll likely get a kick out of having a relative near his age with the same name.
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