namesake
Americannoun
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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.
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a person or thing having the same name as another.
The cities of Hyderabad, Pakistan, and Hyderabad, India, are namesakes.
noun
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a person or thing named after another
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a person or thing with the same name as another
Etymology
Origin of namesake
First recorded in 1640–50; alteration of name's ( name + 's 1 ) sake 1
Explanation
If your parents named you after your Great Uncle Abner, then you are his namesake. The two of you share a very nice name. Use the noun namesake to describe the recipient of a handed-down name, like Bob Jr., or Ricky Smith III. Less often, the word also means anyone who shares a name with someone else, so you could refer to all the Emmas in your school as namesakes. The first recorded use of the word namesake was in the mid-1600s, and it probably began as the phrase "for the name's sake," before being condensed into a single word.
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.
There are its namesake drugstores, but also pharmacy-benefits manager Caremark, insurer Aetna, primary-care center Oak Street Health, and in-home services provider Signify Health.
From Barron's • Apr. 30, 2026
And there was also a nod to the Navy in the choice of gift - with Charles presenting the president with a bell from his WW2 submarine namesake, HMS Trump.
From BBC • Apr. 29, 2026
The Danish brewer behind Tuborg, 1664 and its namesake label said it had seen no major changes in consumer behavior over the year’s first three months, despite a “volatile and uncertain” geopolitical environment.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 29, 2026
Heineken—which alongside its namesake lager brand makes Amstel, Desperados and Birra Moretti—said it expects operating earnings to grow between 2% and 6% this year, backing guidance it set out earlier in the year.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026
“Thy namesake tamed the desert and sweetened the minds of thy people, didst thou know that? It is in the books.”
From "The Pearl" by John Steinbeck
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.
