For English speaking friends: Is it common to use "namesake" for "tocayo"?

Question

I was trying to tell somebody that my friend was my "tocaya". My name is Susana. My friend's name is Susana. So, we have the same name. I checked on the dictionary here on SD, and found out that "tocayo/a" is "namesake" in English. I have been here in the U.S. for 15 years and have never heard anybody used "namesake" before. Is it common? I guess it is correct. Is there any other word that means "tocayo/a"? P.S. You are welcome to correct my English.

Tocaya/o is translated as "namesake" but it means "person with the same name" and "namesake" in English means the person or thing named after another - not one and the other having the same name. The 2 answers below are correct. - Jubilado, Jun 8, 2013

JulianChivi is correct also. In my opinion there is no exact equivalent in English to tocayo. - Jubilado, Jun 8, 2013

Muchas gracias, Jubilado! - Susy - 00e46f15, Jun 8, 2013

Answer 1

I would use "We have the same name". Unless your parents knew her and gave you her name. Then you are her namesake.

For the sake of the name "namesake". For the sake of keeping it "keepsake". Like Eugenio said.

Thank you! I thought that there was an adjective in English to describe it, just like there is tocayo/tocaya in Spanish. Mil gracias! - 00e46f15, Jun 8, 2013

Pura vida. - 00551866, Jun 9, 2013

Answer 2

Excellent question.

Strictly speaking, "namesake" designates a person named after another. And it is fairly common, or used to be, in that context.

Apparently people are now using it also to mean someone else with the same name.

So, if I want to say "Ella es mi tocaya" in English, how can I say that? "We share the same name", or "She is my namesake?" ??? - 00e46f15, Jun 8, 2013

If it is the formal, the latter, as opposed to just another person with the same name. But as JulianChivi notes, very few estadounidenses will follow. - EugenioCosta, Jun 8, 2013

Good answer.The word is not overly common in England either, but readily understood here. - annierats, Jun 8, 2013

Answer 3

It sounds slightly Victorian to me: My namesake gave me a keepsake, a lock of her hair..

"My namesake gave me a keepsake." Excelente. - EugenioCosta, Jun 8, 2013

Answer 4

It is common here to use " namesake" whether related to the person or not .

Answer 5

I agree with Eugenio and both "We share the same name", and "She is my namesake" are correct but beware: many contemporary native English speakers have never heard the word.

The main difference between the Spanish and English usage is that in English Namesake is not used as a personal title as is in Spanish, ie: ¡Qué hubo, tocayo!

Muchas gracias! - 00e46f15, Jun 8, 2013

O sea que por ejemplo, las personas que llevan "Jr, III, IV" son "namesakes" de sus padres, abuelos, bisabuelos, etc.; verdad? - 00e46f15, Jun 8, 2013

"Jrs" are often called "Junior", and "III" nicknamed "Terry", but these are not formal apellations. Sometimes for a "IV", you will hear initials plus 4, as in ""TR4", but that is a nickname too. - EugenioCosta, Jun 8, 2013

Sylyon, así es - 005faa61, Jun 8, 2013

Gracias! :-) - 00e46f15, Jun 8, 2013

Answer 6

I grew up in the US and have heard "namesake" being used plenty of times.

Answer 7

Note also "keepsake", something possessed for the sake of the giver.

Answer 8

It is not uncommon in the United States. I was my aunt's namesake. I was named after her.