
Quoting
Mr. Knowitall
The best way to avoid confusion is to provide clear, accurate facts. When you don't explain what happened, people aren't going to know.
Only one county has jurisdiction. If dad litigated and lost in the county with jurisdiction, he's going to get nowhere trying to relitigate the matter in a county that lacks jurisdiction. Also, a separate lawsuit in a different county is not an appeal.
If the matter has been litigated to a final judgement by the court, with nothing happening in the interim that might justify revisiting the prior ruling (and in a name change case it's difficult to think of what would be relevant), then the mother can simply point that out to the court and assert res judicata. If it was only a couple of months ago, the court likely remembers the prior litigation.