Namesake

Namesake is a term used to characterize a person, place, thing, quality, action, state, or idea that has the same, or a similar, name to another^[1] - especially (but not exclusively) if the person or thing is actually named after, rather than merely sharing the name of another.^[2][3]

For example, if a person, place, or thing has the same name as another - especially if they are named after another person, place, or thing, then the name target is said to be the namesake of the name source. The earliest use reported in the Oxford English Dictionary was in 1635. Dictionaries suggest that the word probably comes from "name's sake", "for one's name('s) sake", for "name sake".

History

The term namesake was first recorded in 1635, referring to a place with the same name as another.^[1] Among other recordings, a 1646 usage was carried through in an 1806 publication, entitled A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary, and Expositor of the English Language.^[4] Modern-day usage has expanded to several uses for the term.^[5]

Usage

Naming a child after a relative, friend, or well-known person is a fairly common practice. In the case of sons named for their father this can necessitate "Jr.", "III", and other name suffixes in order to distinguish - especially when both father and son become famous. 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. When the target name merely is derived from the source name without an additional "sake" connection, such usage more accurately may be called an eponym rather than a namesake.

Discrepancies in meaning (US usage)

There has been some discrepancy as to whether the name source or the name target takes the term namesake. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, a namesake is a person or thing named after another.^[6] In other words, the name target takes the term namesake, as in

I was named after my grandfather. I am his namesake.

or

Julian's Castle, Julian's namesake restaurant.

The Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary are not so restrictive. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a namesake is a person or thing having the same name as another. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines "namesake" as "one that has the same name as another; especially one who is named after another or for whom another is named",^[6] allowing the usage of:

I met a person who happened to have the same name as me. We are namesakes.

By "for whom another is named", Merriam-Webster's Dictionary allows the term namesake to be used in reference to the name source as in,^[6]

I was named after my grandfather. He is my namesake.

Both usages of namesake are correct. This ambiguity sometimes may be resolved by the term eponym or "namegiver", which refers to the name source as providing the name to the name receiver.^[7]

Examples of namesakes

Popular culture

• James Bond (after Ian Fleming's favorite ornithologist James Bond)
• Woody Allen (for his favourite jazz musician Woody Herman)
• The teddy bear (after Theodore Roosevelt)
• The Nintendo mascot, Mario (after Mario Segale)
• Daughtry (for its frontman, Chris Daughtry)
• Van Halen (for its founding brothers Eddie & Alex Van Halen)
• The Jackson 5 (later known as The Jacksons) (for its members Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, Michael, Randy, Rebbie, & Janet Jackson)
• Hanson (for its members Isaac, Taylor, & Zac Hanson)
• Fleetwood Mac (for its members Mick Fleetwood and John McVie)
• Bon Jovi (for its frontman, Jon Bon Jovi)
• Guns N' Roses (for its lead vocalist Axl Rose and former guitarist Tracii Guns)
• Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (after band leader Bruce Springsteen and E Street in Belmar, New Jersey)
• Footballers Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are named after Lionel Richie and Ronald Reagan respectively.

Scientific terms

• ohm named after Georg Ohm, similarly curie, volt, farad, hertz, watt, henry, kelvin, and many other electrical, physical, and chemical terms.
• Gibbs free energy (after Josiah Willard Gibbs)
• Michaelis-Menten kinetics (after Leonor Michaelis and Maud Menten)
• Von Neumann architecture (after John von Neumann)

Sports

• The Stanley Cup (after Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby)
• Heisman Trophy (after John Heisman)

Commercial products and entities

Professional examples

• Pope
• Regnal name

Namesake cataloguing

Casual or accidental identification of personal namesakes can occur in daily life via a number of sources, including: telephone directories, newspaper births/deaths/marriages announcements, dictionaries of biography, internet search engines, etc.

There are some notable examples of deliberate searching for and identification of non-related personal namesakes.

• Starting with a drunken wager, British Comedian Dave Gorman used a wide variety of methods to find namesakes, an exercise which then evolved into a 2001 stage show "Are You Dave Gorman" and which was subsequently made into a book and television series.^[8]
• US actor/filmmaker Jim Killeen used the Google search engine to find personal namesakes for his 2007 documentary "Google Me" ^[9]

See also

Look up namesake in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Code name, word or name used clandestinely to refer to another name or word
• Cognomen, inherited name
• Protected Geographical Status, product target name sourced to protected geographical name
• Scientific phenomena named after people

References