Definitions of Namesake from: http://dictionary.reference.com

Name”sake`\, n. [For name's sake; i. e., one named for the sake of another's name.] One that has the same name as another; especially, one called after, or named out of regard to, another.

–noun
1. a person named after another.
2. a person having the same name as another.

Parents, often named their children after Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, and relatives who have passed on. It was a way of honoring loved ones. Names were sometimes Biblically derived, or for someone popular during that particular time period. Your name is a part of your identity which is something you are recognized and known by.

Namesakes in my family:

1. My great-great aunt Lucy Powell was named for her maternal grandmother Lucy Savannah

2. My great-uncle  Edward L. Johnson was  named for his maternal grandfather Edward Franklin

3. My great-great grandmother Pennie Powell was named for her paternal grandmother Penny Johnson

4. My grandmother’s 1st cousin Edwina Johnson was named after her father Edward L. Johnson

5. My grandmother’s sister Maud Esther Johnson was named for her paternal aunt Maud Johnson

6. My great-grandfather’s 1st cousin Dora Felecia Johnson was named for her paternal grandmother Dora Johnson

7. My maternal Aunt Penny is named after her maternal great-grandmother Pennie Powell

8. My maternal granduncle Benjamin Jr is named after his father Benjamin Johnson Sr.

9. My older brother Anthony Jr is named after my father Anthony Garnett Sr.

10. My great-grandfather Charlie Starks was named for his maternal uncle Charlie Ellis

11. My paternal grandfather Charlie Jr was named after his father Charlie Starks Sr.

12. My paternal grandmother Jane Garnett was named for her maternal grandmother Jane Travick-Garnett

13. My paternal great-aunt Rosie Garnett was named for her maternal Aunt Rosie Travick-McClinton

14. My paternal grand-aunt Martha Garnett was for her grandmother’s sister Martha Travick-Slater

15. My great-grandmother Louise Garnett was named for her maternal aunt Louise “Lucy” Travick-Bivins

16. My paternal great-aunt Mary Garnett was named for her maternal grandmother Mary Travick

17. My paternal great-great aunt Mary Travick-Russell was named for her mother Mary Travick

18. My paternal great-uncle Frank Garnett was named for his grandfather Frank Travick

19. My great-grandmother’s 1st cousin Frank Bivins was named for his maternal grandfather Frank Travick

Naming Patterns have allowed me to locate relatives on Census records and other documents.