Am I alone in liking the fact that nearly all of my ancestors seem to have had the same names? Or just lucky in that the Scottish Naming Pattern has made things easier for me

Leagan, you asked about registered names and baptismal names, I have the same instance - registered one thing and christened another -and I believe that the legal name is the one on your birth certificate.
My daughter is called Isabel Alexandra, I wanted Alexandra and her father wanted Isabel. My grandmother was Isobel (as is my missing from birth certifcate christened name) so I agreed but wanted it spelt with an 'o'. My husband is German and objected on the grounds 'that people in Germany would think he couldn't spell'. Just before she was born, I was in a shop and noticed some 'name' mugs. 'Oh look' I said 'they have spelt Isabel incorrectly on that mug, they've spelt it with 2 L's'. 'No that's correct' he said 'in Germany Isabell is spelt Isabell'. 'Oh no' said I, 'people will think ...'
I was thrilled when I started doing genealogy to discover that Isabel's
5G Grandmother was Isabella Barney married George Millar, Dundee 1790
3G Grandmother was Isabella Meldrum married James Lindsay, Rattray 1839
6G Aunt was Isabella Glen born 1808, Campsie
3G Aunt was Isabella Gibson born 1895, Cadder
7G Aunt was Isobel Glen born 1761, Luss
GGrandmother was Isobel Lindsay born 1900, Glasgow
4G Aunt was Isobell Meldrum born 1799, Wemyss
She is the first Alexandra but again previously unknown to me, she has over 20 Alexander relations, must be genetic memory

Incidentally re: names in Germany, they actually will not allow you to register a child by an ambiguous first name, gender must be clear from the name.... also re: the post on Nellie and horse's names and someone wanting to have a Heidi, the Swiss will tell you that Heidi is a cow's name

Lindsay