Quick question, no dictionaries or google allowed

[conuly]

Let's say you have two people, John Doe Sr. and John Doe Jr. Which one is the namesake of the other one?

Poll #24506 Namesake

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 128

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Which one is the namesake?

View Answers

The older one
30 (23.4%)

The younger one
80 (62.5%)

It can go either way
14 (10.9%)

I'm familiar with the term but don't really know
4 (3.1%)

I'm not familiar with the term at all
0 (0.0%)

Comments

[alexseanchai]

anytime someone (or something) is named for somebody, 'namesake' refers to the one whose name is an effect of the being-named-for, not the cause of it. my youngest sister is my grandmother's namesake, not vice versa.

[elainegrey]

oops.