Teknonym

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A name adopted by or given to a parent, formed from the name of one's child
2. A parent's name that derives from or references the name of their son or daughter
3. A naming practice where a parent is called by a name based on their child's name

Etymology: A teknonym is a name given to a parent that is built from the name of their child, as in "father of Ahmed" or "mother of Kofi." The practice is found in many cultures, and the word itself is a modern coinage made from Greek parts: "teknon" meaning "child" and "-onym," from "onoma," meaning "name." Put together, the term describes a naming convention rather than a name in the ordinary sense. The first element, "tekno-," comes from the Greek "teknon," a word for a child or offspring, while the second, "-onym," is the familiar Greek-derived suffix that forms words for names, as in "synonym" and "pseudonym." Combining the two gave English a precise label for a custom that anthropologists had been describing for a long time before the term existed.