  Black hole masses for samples of active galactic nuclei (AGN) are currently
estimated from single-epoch optical spectra. In particular, the size of the
broad-line emitting region needed to compute the black hole mass is derived
from the optical or ultraviolet continuum luminosity. Here we consider the
relationship between the broad-line region size, R, and the near-infrared
(near-IR) AGN continuum luminosity, L, as the near-IR continuum suffers less
dust extinction than at shorter wavelengths and the prospects for separating
the AGN continuum from host-galaxy starlight are better in the near-IR than in
the optical. For a relationship of the form R propto L^alpha, we obtain for a
sample of 14 reverberation-mapped AGN a best-fit slope of alpha=0.5+/-0.1,
which is consistent with the slope of the relationship in the optical band and
with the value of 0.5 naively expected from photoionisation theory. Black hole
masses can then be estimated from the near-IR virial product, which is
calculated using the strong and unblended Paschen broad emission lines (Pa
alpha or Pa beta).
