Double E Question: are these two layouts the same electronically?
Pick a chip, say a DS3231 RTC, from ground to pin 5 to pin 6 to pin 7 to pin 8.
Same chip, ground to pin 5 to pin 6 to pin 7 to pin 8 to ground.
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I understand your question now. Look below.
At one level the order that the pins are connected to ground or the fact that multiple pins get connected to ground is not an issue. At another level, with high speed or high current signals, the fact that you have multiple ground to a set of pins may cause some ground loop issues. I would Goggle “Ground loop” for more info.
The issue is that no connection is a zero ohm wire. If a sudden slug of current where to be needed of generated by the chip, the voltage drop across the two traces to ground would result in a different voltage drop. Your ground pins would now be at various ground voltages. This can cause all end of grief.
In the DC world it would not be different. In the high frequency or medium frequency with high current it CAN be very different.
Further to Skye’s post, RTCs tend to be quite fussy with grounding and interference from nearby conductors, since the crystal drive levels are so low (to minimise power consumption). I would suggest precisely following the manufacturer’s guidance on PCB layout (eg on using split planes etc if that’s what they advise).
You’ll find MANY cases online (including for Sparkfun’s RTC “breakout boards”) where clocks are running fast due to occasionally picking up interference from nearby conductors.