name names

verb

"name-names" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“name names” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To identify specific people, especially people involved in misdeeds or other secretive activity.

Corpus desk

Index EN-name-names · name names · English

name names · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "N" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for name names
PropertyValue
Headwordname names
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “name names” in English

name namessits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

name names is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To identify specific people, especially people involved in misdeeds or other secretive activity.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for name names, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct English form is name names, spelled N-A-M-E- -N-A-M-E-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    To identify specific people, especially people involved in misdeeds or other secretive activity.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how name names appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. "Pr'ythee, peace, man," said Avenel; "what need of naming names, so we understand each other? [...]"
  2. They named names—names which I shall not record here.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "name names"?
"name names" is spelled N-A-M-E- -N-A-M-E-S.
What does "name names" mean?
As a verb, "name names" means: To identify specific people, especially people involved in misdeeds or other secretive activity.
What language does "name names" come from?
"name names" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list