I also have a very common name. In fact, there is a celebrity who lives in this area who has the same name as I do! If marriage or some such plan isn't in the cards to change your name any time real soon, I suggest that you (1) consider changing your name legally to be different from that of your cousin in some way, as in middle name or different spelling and (2) always, always, when doing anything where a credit check or background check may come up, inform your prospective employer or the entity of the situation immediately and let them know that this may come up. Work with the background checking companies and credit bureaus to get anything and everything that is NOT YOU removed from your particular credit and background history. Glad you got this worked out.