Would it confuse my readers to give two siblings nicknames that can be abbreviations of the same name?

Question

In my book, there's two brothers, who are named **Nick** and **Cole**. Now, I've always thought that *Nick* and *Cole* are cool names, so therefore I named the two brothers "Nick and Cole". But then I found out that both *Nick* and *Cole* **can** be short for *Nicholas*. Sure, *Cole* can be short for *Coleman* or *Colton*, and *Nick* can be short for *Dominick* or *Nikon* (not that those names are very common), but still, I believe confusion can arise. Of course I will clarify that the names are short for different names, but would it even be realistic for parents to name their children as such? Is it normal for parents to do this?

Answer 1

I think as long as you make the distinction clear, it shouldn't be a problem. A bit anecdotal, but my parents named my two sisters Kori and Lori. Some parents don't really care if some confusion about names comes up. Besides that, personally I don't believe the names 'Nick' and 'Cole' are going to be easily confused anyway as they are both already common names on their own, even without being short for a longer name.