I can think of (a few) examples in historical fiction (real persons, thus not the choice of the writer, or real traditions eg: in ancient Rome etc.) like for instance in Dumas, Balzac, Tolstoy (russian writers tend to diffentiate them by not using the same abbreviated form of the name for everyone)

As far as I can tell from my own reading, I'd say most writers who duplicate names don't do it for "realism" but on purpose to create a specific connection between characters, or to play with the confusion etc.

Mind you, I guess few writers have +1700 named characters in a single work, but I guess people who level that sort of criticism at Jordan sometime tend to forget it is a fictional universe.

Even then... pick at random 1700 people from over 20 nations (Westlands, and we also have Seanchan coming from everywhere around their Empire, and many Aiel clans, and the SF) from kids to old folk (and many people born centuries ago...) and how many will have duplicate first names? Probably not a whole ton more than in the WOT cast, I'd say. AS FT's list or WOT encyclopedia show, Jordan has included many of those (especially in rural areas like the TR, or in noble families), and there are many more when you include local variations (slightly different spellings or cases like Alexandra/Alexandrine etc.)