first name
noun
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first name
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first-name
first-nameadjectiveof or relating to one's first, or given, name; familiar; intimate.
first name
1 Americannoun
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first names
plural
first-name
2
American
[furst-neym, furst-neym]
/ ˈfɜrstˌneɪm, ˈfɜrstˈneɪm /
adjective
verb (used with object)
first-named,
first-naming
first name
British
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of first name1
Middle English word dating back to 1200–50
Origin of first-name2
First recorded in 1300–50
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The letters were apparently signed with the first name Daniel, while his surname was kept anonymous, in line with German privacy rules.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
“Misha’s on his own here,” the lawmaker said, using another version of Fedorov’s first name.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
"We are on the beach and looking for a way to get away," Sophia, a homeowner in the region who only gave her first name, told AFP by phone.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
Baker laughed and shook his head before calling Chipper by his first name, Larry.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Twig’s mom insists that everyone, including Twig, call her by her first name.
From "The Science of Breakable Things" by Tae Keller
The credibility of these lawyers earns their appeals special attention from the court, and the justices know many of them on a first-name basis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
He was quickly on a first-name basis with Paul Rudolph, the intimidating head of the school, and the influential art historian Vincent Scully.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025
He was also part of the thinking to famously drop the donuts from Dunkin' to move "to a first-name basis with America", given it was also one of country's the biggest coffee sellers.
From BBC ● Nov. 23, 2024
“He married a Miss Universe runner-up, owned a purple helicopter and a Tuscan vineyard, and was on a first-name basis with Hollywood A-listers.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2024
She seemed to know every realtor in Germantown on a first-name basis.
From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride
Jefferson is the first-named of the 12 authors on the paper, but it appears from the text that he had relatively little to do with it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2023
The most vigorous action so far has been the application by the first-named for an injunction against the New York Sugar Exchange.
From Time Magazine Archive
In the '70s, I am first-named on first meeting more often than not.
From Time Magazine Archive
So commanding in character and performance was Marshall that even the supremely self-confident Franklin Roosevelt deferred to him, never first-named him.
From Time Magazine Archive
The first-named case was carried to its place, and Paulina was busy selecting the key when Clodagh ran in with a startled face.
From Fairies Afield by Mrs. (Mary Louisa) Molesworth
The public saw him as a reserved, almost gentle man who quietly repelled intimacy; even first-naming Franklin Roosevelt invariably called him "General."
From Time Magazine Archive
Too quick first-naming is like stepping into that critical distance within which an animal will attack a trespasser.
From Time Magazine Archive
Watch John Connally attempting to prove what an amiable fellow he is by jovially first-naming Mike Wallace all through the 60 Minutes program in which Wallace skillfully cuts him up.
From Time Magazine Archive
"I don't see how you do it," he said one day when two old friends were first-naming each other.
From Time Magazine Archive
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
