Dictionary Definition
namesake n : a person with the same name as
another
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Etymology
From the phrase "(one's) name's sake"; first recorded in the mid seventeenth century.Pronunciation
- , /ˈneɪmseɪk/, /"neImseIk/
Noun
Translations
person, place or thing named after another
person, place or thing
- Bosnian: imenjak
- Croatian: imenjak
- Serbian:
- Cyrillic:
имењак
- Roman: imenjak , prezimenjak (surnamesake)
- Cyrillic:
имењак
person, place or thing having the same name as
another
- Bosnian: imenjak
- Croatian: imenjak
- Estonian: nimekaim
- Finnish: (person with the same name as another person) kaima, nimikaima
- German: Namensvetter italbrac male person or place, Namensschwester italbrac female person
- Icelandic: nafni (used of men), nafna (used of women)
- Serbian:
- Cyrillic:
имењак
- Roman: imenjak , prezimenjak (surnamesake)
- Cyrillic:
имењак
- Spanish: tocayo, tocaya
- Swedish: namne
Extensive Definition
- For the book and the movie with the same title, refer to The Namesake.
If a person, place, or thing is named after a
person, place, or thing, then one is said to be the namesake of the
other. Using a namesake's name is a relatively common practice in
naming children, hence the large number of "Jr.", "III", etc. Names
are often used in tribute to older, related persons, such as
grandparents.
There has been some discrepancy as to whether the
first-named or the second-named person, place or thing takes the
term namesake. According to the
American Heritage Dictionary, a namesake is a person or thing
named after another. According to the Oxford
English Dictionary, a namesake is a person or thing having the
same name as another. This ambiguity may sometimes be resolved by
the term namegiver, which clearly refers to the first-named
person.
Generally, usage allows for either:
I was named after my grandfather. He is my
namesake.
or,
I was named after my grandfather. I am his
namesake.
Modernly, both are correct. Its first known
recorded usage is in 1646.
Use of a namesake's name in a leadership position
may indicate certain things, usually referring to certain traits of
the namesake, such as in the use of papal regnal
names.
Some commercial entities and products are named
after their creators, such as the Trump Tower
and Ford
Motor Company.
Items are also named after people associated with
them, such as the teddy bear.
This is especially the case with scientific discoveries and
theories, such as Gibbs
free energy.
Some of these usages may more accurately be
called an eponym.
Examples of namesakes
Popular culture
- Theodore Roosevelt (for the teddy bear)
- Mario Segali (for the Nintendo mascot, Mario)
Scientific items
- Josiah Willard Gibbs (for the concept of Gibbs free energy)
- Leonor Michaelis and Maud Menten (for Michaelis-Menten kinetics)
Commercial products and entities
- Amar Bose (for Bose Corporation)
- Donald Trump (for the Trump Organization and Trump Entertainment Resorts)
- Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley (for Morgan Stanley)
- Martha Stewart (for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia)
- Roy and Walt Disney (for The Walt Disney Company)
- David Thomson, 3rd Baron Thomson of Fleet (for Thomson Corporation)
- Michael Dell (for Dell, Inc.)
- Sam Walton (for Wal-Mart and Sam's Club)
- James M. Cox (for Cox Enterprises)
- Fred C. Koch (for Koch Industries)
- Franklin Clarence Mars (for Mars, Inc.)
- Gerard Adriaan Heineken (for Heineken)
- Ty Warner (for Ty Inc.)
- Pirojsha and Ardeshir Godrej (for Godrej Group)
- Mario Prada (for Prada)
Professional examples
See also
namesake in Dutch: Naamgenoot
namesake in Russian: Тёзка
namesake in Swedish: Namne
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
appellation, appellative, binomen, binomial name, byword, cognomen, cryptonym, denomination, designation, empty title,
epithet, eponym, euonym, handle, honorific, hyponym, label, moniker, name, nomen, nomen nudum, proper name,
proper noun, scientific name, secret name, style, tag, tautonym, title, trinomen, trinomial
name