My name was supposed to be Kari but my mom’s cousin used it first. However, by the time my mom gave birth she had discovered a name she liked better (Erica, which she said she’d never heard of until the eighties), so she wasn’t upset. I don’t like the name Kari anyway (as a full name – I do like the name Caroline) so it all works out.
If it was a family member, I wouldn’t reuse it. You’re in contact with these people for your entire life. But if it’s just a friend, go for it. These people could move away tomorrow, or your kid might not even get along with their kid enough for them to become friends and have it be weird that they have the same name. (Wow, that was a really poorly constructed sentence.)
I had always thought of naming a daughter Emi Patricia. After the two grandma’s in our lives. ( Hubby’s grandma and my mom.) I didn’t say any of this to anyone because that is just me. I beleive strongly in the decoy effect.
My SIL begats a girl and names her Emilena, Emi for short, after the two grandma’s in their lives(Emi and Lena,) There are about 7 emily’s in both of my kids classes.
I am very happy that she did this.
you could always go with your fav. name in another language.
faith for instance is:
shinro in japanese
creideamh in gaelic
bepa in russian
vertrauen in german
fidelidad in spanish
etc…
Damn you – I wanted to say that! :mad: 
Bear in mind that any child named after a virtue will be the exact opposite of the virtue. I.E. Faith will be a Satanist, Hope and Joy will be angsty Goths, and I dare not even speak of Chastity.
A favorite cousin of mine died when he was young, and I’d thought of naming my first child after him if it was a boy. However, another cousin had a boy one month before my baby was due, and he gave him the name first. Far from being bothered by this, I was relieved, because although I wanted to honor the memory of my cousin, I really didn’t like the name that much, and Mr. Legend rather disliked it.
So name-snatching has its positive side after all.
Although she usually goes by her middle name, Staci.
Our surname is Smith (YUCK) and my husband was Scottish (a Scot called Smith? Yep that’s what I thought too). He was insistent that our child had a Scottish name. Actually that is not entirely true, he insisted if we had a son there would be a Scottish name.
I was equally sure that Smith was a daft overly common name so I wouldn’t be having a James Smith. We argued for months. Ok we didn’t argue I just said NOOOOOOOO to Angus, Dougal, Hamish (sorry ** Hamish **, I quite like the name now I just hated it at the time).
Finally he said “How about Callum?”. I had never heard the name before. It suited his Scottish need. It suited my slightly different need. It was a deal.
A week after Callum Smith was born I heard of 2 other Callum Smiths. Pick a name you like and go with it. If it is that unique NO ONE else has it then it isn’t a name. If you like it who cares…your John Smith is still unique.