# name

> English word · Noun · IPA /neɪm/ · frequency rank #220

## Definitions
1. Any nounal word or phrase which indicates a particular person, place, class, or thing.
2. A reputation.
3. An abusive or insulting epithet.
4. A person (or legal person).
5. Those of a certain name; a race; a family.
6. An authority; a behalf.
7. An identifier, generally a unique string of characters.
8. An investor in Lloyd's of London bearing unlimited liability.

## Etymology
PIE word
 *h₁nómn̥
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥
Proto-Germanic *namô
Proto-West Germanic *namō
Old English nama
Middle English name
English name
From Middle English name, nome, from Old English nama, noma, from Proto-West Germanic *namō, from Proto-Germanic *namô (“name”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥ (“name”).
Cognates
Germanic Cognates: Yola naame, name, naume (“name”), North Frisian Naam, neem, noome, nööm (“name”), Saterland Frisian Nome, Noome (“name”), West Frisian namme (“name”), Alemannic German Naame, namä, noame, nomu, nàmund (“name”), Cimbrian naamo, name, nåm (“name”), Dutch naam, name (“name”), German Nahme, Name (“name”), German Low German Naam (“name”), Luxembourgish Numm (“name”), Mòcheno nu'm (“name”), Vilamovian noma (“name”), Yiddish נאָמען (nomen, “name”), Danish, Faroese and Norwegian Bokmål navn (“name”), Icelandic nafn (“name”), Norwegian Nynorsk nabn, namn (“name”), Swedish namn (“name”), Gothic 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐍉 (namō, “name”).
Indo-European Cognates: Latin nōmen (“name”) (whence Spanish nombre (“name”)), Russian имя (imja, “name”), Ashkun nām (“name”), Kamkata-viri nom, num (“name”), Prasuni nom, nëmë (“name”), Waigali nām (“name”), Sanskrit नामन् (nā́man, “name”). Possible cognates outside of Indo-European include Finnish nimi (“name”) and Hungarian név (“name”). Doublet of nomen and noun.

## Easily confused with
- **ne** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/name-vs-ne)
- **nm** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/name-vs-nm)
- **nap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/name-vs-nap)
- **Nat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/name-vs-nat)
- **NAS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/name-vs-nas)
- **nan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/name-vs-nan)
- **nay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/name-vs-nay)
- **nye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/name-vs-nye)
- **nav** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/name-vs-nav)
- **naw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/name-vs-naw)
- **nom** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/name-vs-nom)
- **nee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/name-vs-nee)
- **nao** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/name-vs-nao)
- **nim** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/name-vs-nim)
- **Noe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/name-vs-noe)
- **Nar** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/name-vs-nar)
- **nau** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/name-vs-nau)
- **NME** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/name-vs-nme)
- **nice** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/name-vs-nice)
- **note** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/name-vs-note)

## Common misspellings (5)
`anme`, `naem`, `namme`, `nmae`, `nname`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/name