namesake
/ˈneɪmseɪk
/noun
A person or thing that has the same name as another: Hugh Capet paved the way for his son and namesake to be crowned king of France unlike its Scottish namesake, Leven is not by the sea...
- The similarities between the two namesakes are eerie.
- Unlike their high street namesakes however, fund supermarkets are not always so hot on choice or price.
- Unlike her Biblical namesake, Maria sees very little evidence of God's grace.
Origin
Mid 17th century: from the phrase for the name's sake.
sake from Old English:
Old English sacu ‘contention, crime’ is from a Germanic source, from a base meaning ‘affair, legal action, thing’. The phrase for the sake of was not in Old English and may be from Old Norse. It was originally a legal expression. Sake remains hidden in the language in the words forsake (Old English), which originally meant ‘renounce, refuse’; keepsake (late 18th century) something kept for the sake of the giver; and namesake (mid 17th century) which may be a shortening of ‘for one's name sake’. The Japanese rice wine sake, pronounced with two syllables, is simply the Japanese word for ‘alcohol’. See also seize