I think it's purely coincidence, because--as Sephiroth1999AD pointed out--there are far too many differences between the worlds of VII and VIII for that theory to be very likely.

The most connection that might be there is the possibility that Nomura may have looked to some of the other FF characters for inspiration (including Cloud and Tifa) while drawing up the new folks for VIII. Besides, you can find similarities between a lot of the Final Fantasy characters (or any video game characters, for that matter) if you look hard enough.

Interesting observation, though. I hadn't really noticed it before.

Nova Briar