Namesake
From Free net encyclopedia
If a person, place, or thing is named after a different person, place, or thing, then one is said to be the namesake of the other. Using a namesake's name is a relatively common practice in naming children, hence the large number of "Jr.", "III", etc. Names are often used in tribute to older, related persons, such as grandparents.
There has been some discrepancy as to whether the first-named or the second-named person, place or thing takes the term namesake. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, a namesake is a person or thing named after another. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a namesake is a person or thing having the same name as another.
Generally, usage allows for either:
I was named after my Grandfather. He is my namesake.
or,
I was named after my grandfather. I am his namesake.
Modernly, both are correct. Its first known recorded usage is in 1646.
Use of a namesake's name in a leadership position may indicate certain things, usually referring to certain traits of the namesake, such as in the use of papal regnal names.
Some commercial entities and products are named after their creators, such as the Trump Towers and Bose Corporation.
Items are also named after namesake people associated with them, such as the teddy bear. This is especially the case with scientific discoveries and theories, such as Gibbs free energy.
Some of these usages may more accurately be called an eponym.
Contents |
Examples of namesakes
Popular culture
- Theodore Roosevelt (for the teddy bear)
- Mario Segali (for the Nintendo mascot, Mario)
Scientific items
- Josiah Willard Gibbs (for the concept of Gibbs free energy)
- Leonor Michaelis and Maud Menten (for Michaelis-Menten kinetics)
Commercial products and entities
- Amar Bose (for Bose Corporation)
- Donald Trump (for the Trump Towers)
- Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley (for Morgan Stanley)