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According to Wikipedia:

  • A patronymic is a name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather or an even-earlier male ancestor.
  • A matronymic is a name based on the given name of one's mother, grandmother or an even-earlier female ancestor.

Is there a gender-neutral word for this?

  • A ---------- is a name based on the given name of one's parent, grandparent or an even-earlier ancestor.
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    – Helmar
    Commented Sep 18, 2016 at 10:05
  • 3
    This Untranslatable Words Reddit thread says They mostly seem to have to do with naming, the age system, and family... In the list of examples it specifically cites Parentinom (Estonian? Russian?) and translates it into English (using "scare quotes", 'cos it's not really a valid word) as parentonymic. Native Anglophones just call them all family names, because we don't care so much about complex genetic / ancestral / historical relationships.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Sep 18, 2016 at 13:34

3 Answers 3

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If you want one what hints at is meaning by using the same suffix -- I would suggest "genonymic". The root is from genitore, which means "parent" in Latin. It's where we get our words generation and genetic.

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  • Hi, welcome to ELU.SE. I fixed your italicization for you, check the edit to see how to do it properly.
    – Azor Ahai -him-
    Commented Sep 30, 2016 at 19:49
  • A related term would be geronymic, or maybe, gerontonymic; coming from gerontocracy...rule by the elders. It does not however specify rule by elders to whom one is directly related, as would be in a p(m)atrocracy.
    – Sensii Miller
    Commented Oct 19, 2016 at 18:54
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Eponym

noun

1.
a person, real or imaginary, from whom something, as a tribe, nation, or place, takes or is said to take its name: Brut, the supposed grandson of Aeneas, is the eponym of the Britons.
2.
a word based on or derived from a person's name.

(Dictionary.com)

or possibly a Homonym:

2. b. A namesake.

(The Free Dictionary)

However, most of the other definitions of a homonym are slightly different in meaning, so you might have to qualify it; e.g. "parental homonym" or even "cognomenal homonym" if you wanted to refer to any sort of relative.

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    'Eponymic' is an adjective only, according to your reference. And 'eponym' isn't used in the ancestral sense. Again, 'homonymic' isn't given as a noun in your other reference, and OP's 'A ---------- is a name based on the given name of one's parent, grandparent or an even earlier ancestor.' clearly requires one.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Sep 18, 2016 at 15:24
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What about Androgenomic? As in androgenomic lineage?

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  • This is a wrong answer. Genome is gender neutral, but androgenome and gynogenome are gender specific. The derived form androgenomic given as the answer refers specifically to the male parent.
    – MetaEd
    Commented Oct 5, 2016 at 16:18

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