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:
For 19-year-old Li from Shanghai, who didn't give her first name, these are places where she "can see so many possibilities, and where existing ideas can be challenged".
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
A German major at the site, who only gave his first name Martin, told generals visiting the area that it had looked "totally different" before the work started.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
Baker laughed and shook his head before calling Chipper by his first name, Larry.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Where there were once hecklers and whistles, there is rowdy chanting of his first name.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
“I thought V. V. Avenmora had a nice ring to it. Avenmora is my first name, and the V. V. is for Valley—Valley Valerian.”
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
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 says he made several visits to A&E during attacks, to the point he was known on a first-name basis.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
For decades, Graham was on a first-name basis with world leaders and among the most plugged-in Beltway insiders regardless of who occupied the White House.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
As Cressy drove up the street, Daryl Gross stopped to talk with her neighbor whom she didn’t quite know on a first-name basis.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 10, 2024
“Wait. Wait. I’m sorry. I’m still stuck on the part about David getting snuck in by a guard. An Exclusion Guard. One that you’re on first-name basis with.”
From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed
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
Thorez chummily first-named the ambassador: "We are all friends, aren't we, Alex, and brothers?"
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 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
The first-named method is distinctly superior to the others.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 7 "Horticulture" to "Hudson Bay" by Various
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
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
Too quick first-naming is like stepping into that critical distance within which an animal will attack a trespasser.
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.
