patronymies

Noun

patronymy (countable and uncountable, plural patronymies)

1. The practice of naming children after their fathers.
   • Neither of the two other Rodolfi in the oath can be Rodolfo di Andrea, it should he added, for they have other patronymies; and there are almost no other Rodolfi in the documents.1998, Chris Wickham, Community and Clientele in Twelfth-century Tuscany, →ISBN
2. A son's name which is derived from his father's name.
   • Masculine patronymies commonly terminate in ides, which is added to the stem of the proper name— as Priamides, Cecropides (from Cecrops).1862, Leonhard Schmitz, Grammar of the Latin language, page 168
3. An extended family grouping centered around the father's family.
   • It was a hierarchical group which consisted of concentric 'circles which formed patronymies of the first, second and tertiary order. A totality of patronymies made up a Patriarchal Clan.1986, James George Frazer, Marriage and Worship in Early Societies - Volume 2, page xx