| onomastics |
| Definition - The study of proper names and their origins. Notes: 1. As opposed to onomatology, the science of the formation of names and terms, and onomasiology, the study of common names — specifically, the principles of naming, especially regarding regional, social, and occupational variations. 2. The branch of onomastics that studies human names is called anthroponymy. |
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Etymology - The word derives from the Greek onomastikos, of or belonging to naming (from onoma, name). |
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Oxford English Dictionary - Its first citation in this sense is from 1930: "The man learned in sciences, in onomastic." [sic] (T. S. Eliot tr. St.-J. Perse's Anabasis x. 67) |
