There are many of us who bear names that come from another, a name that was selected, not by coincidence, but with intent to carry on the honor of that lineage into our own life.
There are many a John in the world, but even if you’re one of them you may stand apart from the thousands of others by who you were named after. Are you named after your father John?
Or perhaps your parents were true patriots and named you after John Quincy Adams. Namesake Day beseeches you to find out, and celebrate the heritage you carry in your name.
History of Namesake Day
The world has a long tradition of naming people after other people, most often our parents or grandparents, but sometimes aunts and uncles, or even just famous people for whom your parents hold in high regard.
But people aren’t the only ones who have namesakes! Not at all! The Trump Tower was named for both the company that built it and the man who runs the company (and became president in 2016, incidentally).
The Ford Motor Company was named after its creator Henry Ford, making the company his namesake. This particular type of namesake is an eponymous namesake, where the term eponymous means either a person giving their name to something, or a thing named after a particular person.
But then one can also name animals after things, consider for instance that the famous St. Bernard Beethoven from the movie of the same name was named for the composer.
Vehicles of all sorts are often the Namesakes of someone or something else, like the USS Washington, or the USS Gerald R. Ford, named for presidents of the United States. This isn’t isolated to that country either, the HTMS Chakri Naruebet of the Royal Thai Navy is named for the Chakri Dynasty.
Namesakes are everywhere, and Namesake Day encourages you to research the history of your name to find if you are someone’s namesake!
How to celebrate Namesake Day
The best way to celebrate Namesake Day is to contact your parents and see if they’ll tell you who you’re named after. If the person is alive and well, perhaps you can take them out for a special dinner, or just spend the day hanging out with them. It’s always good to know your roots and where you come from, and your namesake is part of that heritage.