About Namesake

Namesake is a free resource for expecting parents, name enthusiasts, writers, and anyone curious about the origins and history of given names.

Our data

Popularity counts come from the U.S. Social Security Administration's national baby names dataset, which tracks every name given to at least five U.S. babies per year since 1880. This data is public domain.

Meanings, origins, and etymology are curated from recognized etymological references and reviewed for accuracy. We prioritize well-documented origins and flag disputed derivations where relevant.

How we're funded

Namesake is supported by advertising. We do not sell user data and we do not have affiliate relationships with name-related products or services. Ads are served by Google AdSense and are labeled as such.

Editorial standards

Every name entry is reviewed by a human before publication. Popularity figures are regenerated automatically from the U.S. Social Security Administration dataset on each deployment, so statistics stay current without manual transcription errors. For names rooted in the Islamic tradition, our depth content draws directly from the Qur’an, Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Lisan al-‘Arab, and Lane’s Arabic-English Lexicon; verse references are cited in the form Surah Name, chapter:verse so readers can verify independently.

Where a meaning or derivation is contested among reputable sources, we note the disagreement rather than picking one. Machine-generated text is not used for any editorial content.

Corrections

Found an error in a meaning or origin? Please get in touch. We update entries as new information becomes available and credit contributors where appropriate.

Who runs Namesake

Namesake is an independent editorial project. We have no affiliation with the Social Security Administration, any religious authority, or any commercial name-related service. Questions or partnership inquiries may be sent via our contact page.