namesake

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a person or thing that has the same name as another

   My cousin Jane is my namesake, although we were named independently.

2. 2
   noun

   a person or thing whose name is given to another; an eponym

   The town's namesake was the queen who sponsored the expedition.

3. 3
   noun

   a person or thing named after another

   The new research vessel is the namesake of an earlier ship.

Recorded in the seventeenth century from the phrase for one's name's sake, later compressed to name-sake and namesake. Name descends from Old English nama, while sake descends from Old English sacu, 'cause or matter.' Usage can refer either to the source of a name or to the person or thing named after it.

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