namesake

[ neym-seyk ]

noun

1. a person or thing named after another or whose name is given to another person or thing:

   Little Dora lay asleep in the arms of her namesake, great-aunt Dora.

   The memory of Robert and Signe McMichael is honored in their namesake, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection.

2. a person or thing having the same name as another:

   The cities of Hyderabad, Pakistan, and Hyderabad, India, are namesakes.

namesake

/ ˈneɪmˌseɪk /

noun

1. a person or thing named after another
2. a person or thing with the same name as another

Word History and Origins

Origin of namesake¹

First recorded in 1640–50; alteration of name's ( name + 's ¹ ) sake ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of namesake¹

C17: probably a shortening of the phrase describing people connected for the name's sake

Example Sentences

Aside from fronting his namesake band Dio from 1982 through 2010, the diminutive singer was known for his piercing vocals and being among the first rockers to flash the famed devil horns hand gesture.

From Los Angeles Times

Her administration recently deployed hundreds of troops to Sinaloa, in northern Mexico, where a war between rival factions of the state’s namesake cartel is raging.

From Los Angeles Times

Jamison began dancing for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1965, a year after meeting the company’s namesake at a fruitless television audition.

From Los Angeles Times

Elysian Park Notably home to two things: Dodger Stadium — itself so inaccessible on foot that there has been a years-long effort to build a gondola to ferry people there from Union Station — as well as the neighborhood’s namesake 600-acre park, which may put it toward the top of a strollability index.

From Los Angeles Times

Johnny and Jake, now 17 and 14, along with their father — Tiffany’s husband and Johnny’s namesake — were aboard a boat that unexpectedly went down over the weekend in rough waters in Bodega Bay, where they had been out crabbing with three loved ones.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• brand
• flag
• label
• nickname
• sign
• signature
• style
• term