Word.ws English Dictionary

one's name is mud

one's name is mud phrase: one is unpopular, in disgrace or embroiled in scandal; one's reputation is tarnished.

Phrase

one's name is mud

  1. (idiomatic, informal) One is unpopular, in disgrace or embroiled in scandal; one's reputation is tarnished.
    • His name will be mud once people learn the truth about why he was fired.
    • My name is Mud / Not to be confused with Bill, or Jack, or Pete, or Dennis / My name is Mud, it's always been / 'Cause I'm the most boring sonsabitch you've ever seen / I dress in blue, yes, navy blue from head to toe / I'm rather drab, except my patent shoes / I make 'em shine, well, most the time1993, “My Name is Mud”, performed by Primus

Origin of one's name is mud

Ultimate origin unknown. Popularly attributed to Dr. Samuel Mudd's assistance to the assassin of president Abe Lincoln, but an older print dictionary already lists the phrase.

Questions about one's name is mud

What does one's name is mud mean?
One's name is mud means one is unpopular, in disgrace or embroiled in scandal; one's reputation is tarnished.
What part of speech is one's name is mud?
One's name is mud is a phrase.

Words near one's name is mud in the dictionary

  1. one's hour
  2. one's house in order
  3. one's jig is up
  4. one's last
  5. one's lips are sealed
  6. one's name is mud
  7. one's own boss
  8. one's own master
  9. one's place
  10. one's race is run
  11. one's self

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: one's name is mud (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “one's name is mud.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/one%27s_name_is_mud. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.