Thread:Artful Dodger/@comment-100066-20131009131808/@comment-217293-20131010141227

"characters who share a last name, but have nothing in common"

In this case the name is a coincidence and does not reflect actual connections. Better to keep them apart unless a story connects them somehow.

There is some precedence. Until fairly recently 1940s character Betsy Ross and 1960s Betty Ross had no known connection to each other. Then Captain America: Patriot Vol 1 retconned them to great-aunt and great-niece.