Jump to:

• big name
  big name

  noun

  a person who has a preeminent public reputation in a specified field.
• big-name
  big-name

  adjective

  having a widespread public reputation as a leader in a specified field; famous.

big name

¹ American  

noun

1. a person who has a preeminent public reputation in a specified field.

   He's a big name in education.

---

big-name ² American  

[big-neym] / ˈbɪgˌneɪm /

adjective

1. having a widespread public reputation as a leader in a specified field; famous.

   a big-name doctor; a big-name actress.

2. of, relating to, or composed of a big-name person or persons.

---

big name British  

noun

1. informal

   1. a famous person

   2. ( as modifier )

      a big-name performer

---

Etymology

Origin of big name¹

An Americanism dating back to 1930–35

Origin of big-name²

An Americanism dating back to 1925–30

Example Sentences

Big-name managers are facing numerous requests from individual investors to pull money out of private-credit funds.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026

Big-name authors like Jonathan Safran Foer, Toni Morrison and Julia Alvarez even wrote original short stories that Chipotle published on its cups and bags.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 19, 2026

Big-name retirements, an impressive display against Portugal but dominated by Spain days later.

From BBC • Jun. 3, 2025

Big-name free agents appear in no hurry to strike deals at the winter meetings, biding time until Shohei Ohtani potentially breaks the record for richest contract set 4 1/2 years ago by Mike Trout.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 4, 2023

Big-name brands like Major League Baseball, Bayer, Tyson Foods and eBay have had their advertising placed next to Stew Peters' X account, which has more than 400,000 followers.

From Salon • Sep. 16, 2023