Is there a single word for when two people have the same name?

Question

Note: I'm not looking for namesake.

I heard a friend use such a word in the context of the following sentence, and now I've forgotten it:

"Anna and my sister [Anna] may not have much in common, but they are [word]"

I am a hundred percent sure that the word wasn't namesakes, but I think it might have started with an n as well. I tried some reverse dictionaries, but couldn't find anything, so I turned here for help.

Are there any other single words to describe the situation of sharing someone's name (when not named after that person; or in a coincidental manner)? Thanks.

I've known a number of people with the same first name as mine and I've never been made aware of a set term for that situation, much less a single word. — Hot Licks, Mar 27 '17 at 22:04
I've never actually met anybody whose first name was Hot although I've seen a few advertisements. — Ronald Sole, Mar 27 '17 at 22:13
A fancier, Latin-ier word for namesake is eponym, or adjectively, eponymous. — Dan Bron, Mar 27 '17 at 22:32
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because the answer to the question as posed is namesake. "What word am I thinking of? No, you're wrong" is not a proper Stack Exchange question. — Tim Lymington, Mar 27 '17 at 22:37

score 8 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 27 '17 at 22:32

Could it have been cognominal? From the OED:

A. adj. 1. Having the same name or cognomen, like-named.
†B. n. One who or that which has the same name as another; a namesake. Obs. rare.
("cognominal, adj. and n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, March 2017.)

Only the noun is marked as obsolete/rare, but I'd venture to suggest that both forms are pretty darn unusual nowadays. However, I can imagine a word enthusiast using it in the context you describe.

Anna and my sister [Anna] may not have much in common, but they are cognominal!

At the less obscure end of the spectrum, the common term synonym is occasionally used for namesakes, since its root meaning is something like "similar name". This is the fourth (and last) definition of the word in the OED, but I would expect that usage today would generally be tongue-in-cheek.

That's a great word...that I have never heard before. :-) – Adam Mar 28 '17 at 15:11 — Adam, Mar 28 '17 at 15:11
Just what I was looking for! – Sašo Živanović May 07 '23 at 20:25 — Sašo Živanović, May 07 '23 at 20:25

score -1 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 27 '17 at 22:04

-1

Hunting for a bit of time led me to the adjective homonymic. Taken from Dictionary.com

homonymic adj. a word that is both a homophone and a homograph, that is, exactly the same as another in sound and spelling but different in meaning, as chase “to pursue” and chase “to ornament metal.”

As someone said in the comments, it's not typically used for people, but I wouldn't say it's out of the quesiton to do so.

answered Mar 27 '17 at 22:04

Andre Angelo

535

1

Ah, yes! "I'd like to teach the world to sing / in perfect homony!" – Hot Licks Mar 27 '17 at 22:06

Is there a single word for when two people have the same name?

2 Answers2