Living in Nether Garrel, Kirkmichael, Dumfries

When I looked at the IGI and found the work you've done already and discovered that I could link it into research I was doing for Falkland Family History, I got quite excited. And as I looked through this list of children for James Patterson and Esther Hope I was puzzled.
I know that quite often when a dearly loved child dies, another child born later is given the same name as the deceased child. And at first I passed over the fact that there are 2 James' and 2 Thomas' and 2 Janets'. because of this, but I later found James (1823) on the 1881 census for Great Britain. with him was Esther, his mother his brother William and sister Janet. also on the census return was 2 nieces and a nephew.
They were all at Nether Garrel, Kirkmichael, Dumfries. So I began to feel worrying vibes about the second James (child 6)
Why would a mother and father name another child James when their first child James was still alive. People just don't do that.

Please forgive me if it turns out that I am wrong, but I feel that the 2nd James is not a child of James and Esther.
From the 1881 census I have learned that James (1823) and William (1835) never married.

Ann Reid, April 2004