Avoid mistake sending to similar recipients

Thanks, I have created the individuals with these similar or same names as contacts. In the contact window I can change the "Full Name" to a nickname or something else for distinction, and this works. However, I wonder if this nickname shows up in his inbox, or with others who may be receiving mail from me to him and others - something I may not necessarily want.
Another alternative I found is to put the person's photo or some other graphics into the "Picture" field, and this shows up prominently as I prepare the message to be sent. I will use that for now, but any further comments are welcome.