Two babies named Romeo and Juliet were born in the same South Carolina hospital.

Romeo, the newborn son of Morgan and Edwin Hernandez, was born on 19 March at Coastal Carolina Hospital in Bluffton, South Carolina.

Christiana and Allan Shifflett welcomed a baby girl they named Juliet 18 hours and 8 minutes later, according to local news channel WDSU.

It was a “Shakespearean coincidence,” Today.com wrote. The two sets of parents did not know each other before the birth of their children.

Cassie Clayshulte, the official newborn photographer working at the hospital, posted pictures of the “star crossed babies”, side by side, wrapped in their hospital blankets on Facebook with the parents’ permission.

Ms Clayshute told Today.com that the parents chose the names early in their pregnancies and were not influenced by the Shakespeare tragedy but the character Juliet on the US television show “Psych” and the singer Romeo Santos.